Memphis, Tennessee Bankruptcy and Family Law Lawyer

Law Office of Charles Rich

3884 Summer Avenue Memphis, Tennessee 38122 USA

 (901) 201-6163 or (866) 935-6740
 (901) 323-0893

www.charlierichlaw.com
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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

At the Law Office of Charles Rich in Memphis, we are dedicated to providing high-quality legal services at reasonable rates. Local attorney Charles Rich has practiced law in Memphis for more than 30 years — guiding generations of clients through legal matters such as divorce, bankruptcy, criminal misdemeanors, and wills and probate.

You will find our offices to be friendly, and you will find our legal advice to be practical. Our goal is to help you get answers to your questions and a resolution to your problem as quickly and painlessly as possible. We are responsive to our clients' concerns and questions as their legal matter goes forward — no question is too small to receive a speedy and "plain-English" explanation.

Our guiding philosophy is to provide professional, high-quality legal services at affordable rates. It shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to get efficient and effective legal help from a lawyer who also believes in personal service. Attorney Charles Rich has more than three decades of experience handling family law matters and personal bankruptcy filings for residents of Memphis and the surrounding area. An experienced lawyer, Mr. Rich knows how to find the most effective and efficient solutions to our clients' legal problems.

Practice Areas

Practice Areas Description

- Bankruptcy Law

As your financial situation out of control? Are you behind on your mortgage or credit card payments? Have you lost your job or find yourself facing a mountain of medical bills? At the Law Office of Charles Rich, we have helped thousands of people file for personal bankruptcy as a way to get out from under the stress and strain of unmanageable financial worries. For more than 30 years, attorney Charles Rich has counseled clients about the pros and cons of filing for bankruptcy as a way to end financial misery.

- Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

With Chapter 7 bankruptcy — also called "straight" or "debt liquidation" bankruptcy — the federal government allows you to wipe out your unsecured debts. Unsecured debts include credit cards, doctor's bills, medical expenses, repossessed cars and foreclosed homes. After your bankruptcy petition is approved, those debts are completely gone. With secured debts (a house with a mortgage, a car with an auto loan), you have two choices in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You can either "reaffirm" those debts, which means you keep making your regular monthly payment. Or, you can surrender the debt, which means you walk away from the house or the car.

- Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a form of debt relief that is also sometimes known as the "wage earner" or "debt consolidation" bankruptcy plan. Chapter 13 is called the "wage earner" plan because you must have some type of money coming in to qualify. Chapter 13 is sometimes called the "debt consolidation" bankruptcy plan because Chapter 13 bankruptcy consolidates your bills into more manageable monthly payments — rather than wiping out your debt altogether. Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court helps you work out a five-year repayment plan with all your creditors. You will be able to get reduced interest rates, and — most important for many people — you can use Chapter 13 bankruptcy to save your home from foreclosure.

- Home Foreclosure Defense

Are you behind on your mortgage payments and looking for a solution? Has your home mortgage been accelerated or are you already facing foreclosure? Even if you have already received a foreclosure notice, you may be able to use Chapter 13 bankruptcy as a legal means to stop foreclosure proceedings and keep your home. It is a good idea to get legal advice as soon as you start to fall behind on your mortgage payments — or even sooner, if you can predict upcoming financial trouble. But when is it too late to use Chapter 13 bankruptcy to keep your home? You need to file bankruptcy before the foreclosure date or the sheriff's sale. After that, it's too late. If you organize your financial records, we may be able to successfully file a bankruptcy petition and keep your home out of foreclosure within three days of the foreclosure date.

- Family Law

Legal advice from a knowledgeable family law lawyer can be necessary in happy times or troubled times. Perhaps you are thinking about divorce. Or you are fighting with your child's other parent for visitation rights. On the other hand, maybe your new spouse wants to adopt your children from a previous marriage. When a family matter becomes a legal matter, a knowledgeable and friendly lawyer can make all the difference. You want practical advice and an efficient solution — and you deserve personal attention from a smart attorney who provides high-quality advice at a reasonable rate.

- Contested / Uncontested Divorce

Our office is led by Memphis divorce lawyer Charles Rich, who has handled divorces for Memphis-area residents for more than 30 years. Mr. Rich personally represents each of our clients, managing their divorces from beginning to end, including a divorce trial if one is necessary. During the course of his practice, Mr. Rich has handled more than 100 full divorce trials with successful results for his clients. An uncontested divorce with no children can be finalized in as little as 60 days. An uncontested divorce with children can be finalized in as little as 90 days. The length of time a contested divorce will take depends on how long each spouse is willing to fight the other.

- Child Support

Even though Tennessee's child support guidelines are meant to be straightforward so that there is less conflict about child support amounts, parents often get into fights over child support. If you are going through a divorce, then establishing child support will be part of the divorce process. However, if you are an unmarried parent, or if you need legal help with obtaining child support after the divorce decree is finalized, then you should also seek legal advice. The Law Office of Charles Rich handles child support disputes of all kinds: establishing child support as an unmarried parent; modifying an existing child support order; and enforcing an existing child support order or fighting the other parent's attempt to enforce a child support order.

- Child Custody / Child Visitation

Decisions about child custody (residential parent) and visitation (parenting time) are often the most stressful decisions to be made during the divorce process. When parents disagree about who should have primary custody, the resulting legal battle can have serious repercussions for everyone in the family. If your marriage is ending and you are worried that your spouse is going to fight you for custody of your children, it is critically important to seek legal advice as soon as possible. Early intervention by a lawyer with experience handling child custody disputes can make a big difference in how the child custody determination is eventually resolved.

- Modification of Court Orders

The final divorce decree is sometimes not "final" at all. People's circumstances change, and former spouses often find they need to go back to court to get a judge's approval for a modification of a family law order regarding child support, alimony, child custody or visitation. If your circumstances have changed — or if you think your ex-spouse's circumstances have changed — and you want to modify your existing divorce decree, it is important to seek legal advice and representation. Some reasons that a parent might want to file a request for a child custody modification include: to remove a child from possible danger due to unsafe behavior by a parent or the parent's friends or new spouse; and to change visitation arrangements if one parent wants to move out of state with the child. If either spouse's income changes significantly, then it may be possible to change the amount of child support or alimony.

- Enforcement of Family Law Orders

The Law Office of Charles Rich represents Memphis-area residents in all types of family law disputes, including enforcement of divorce decrees and related family law orders. We are available to help file an enforcement action or defend against an enforcement action filed against you. Our office is led by attorney Charles Rich, who has more than 30 years' experience as a family lawyer in Memphis. Over his three decades of legal practice, Mr. Rich has handled a wide variety of family law enforcement actions. Our office represents husbands or wives in issues like: refusal to pay child support or medical bills for the children; refusal to comply with a visitation schedule; and failure to pay alimony as ordered by the court.

- Actions for Contempt of Court

If an ex-spouse refuses to comply with the terms of a divorce decree or related family law order, then you have the option of filing a legal proceeding called an "action for contempt of court." If you win the contempt of court action, your ex-spouse will be ordered to comply with the original order and may be required to pay your court costs and attorney fees. In cases involving failure to pay child support, there may be additional penalties such as suspension of the parent's driver's license.

- Juvenile Court / Paternity Actions

Paternity Action: A paternity action is a legal action to establish the father of a child. A paternity action may be necessary if the father refuses to voluntarily establish paternity, or if the child's mother refuses to acknowledge the child's father. Paternity must be established before the unmarried parent can apply for child support or before an unmarried parent can apply for visitation rights. Juvenile Court: Tennessee's juvenile courts decide all legal matters relating to minors, including juvenile delinquency, paternity actions and actions for child support, custody or visitation by unmarried parents or grandparents.

- Adoption

The adoption process is an area of our legal practice that provides us with a lot of joy and professional satisfaction. Much of our family law practice involves guiding a client through a difficult family conflict such as a divorce or a child custody battle. Adoption proceedings, on the other hand, almost always produce a happy outcome. The circumstances leading up to the adoption may be difficult or tragic, but the end result is usually a happier family and a child with a better chance to thrive and enjoy the love and support of new parents.

- Uncontested Adoptions vs. Termination of Parental Rights

If the child's biological parents agree to the adoption or are deceased, then the adoption is uncontested. However, if either biological parent argues against the adoption, then the person or couple who wants to adopt the child must first file a legal action to terminate the parental rights of the biological parents. the Law Office of Charles Rich handles both uncontested and contested adoptions. If the adoption is contested, then we help the adoption clients with the application to terminate parental rights so that the adoption petition can proceed.

Attorneys

Mr. Charles Edward Rich Attorney Debtor and Creditor

More Information on Law Office of Charles Rich

Memphis, Tennessee Bankruptcy Law Attorney
Memphis, TN Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Lawyer
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Law Firm in Memphis, Tennessee
Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Attorney in Memphis, TN
Memphis, Tennessee Family Law Lawyer
Memphis, TN Divorce Law Firm
Child Custody and Visitation Attorney in Memphis, Tennessee
Juvenile Court / Paternity Lawyer in Memphis, TN
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