Divorce
The first two weeks after you separate
Money, the kids’ routine, the house and your phone: what to settle now, and what can wait until you’ve talked to a lawyer.
Imogen Varnell7 min read
Family law on Chattanooga’s North Shore
Know the next step before you have to take it
I’m Imogen Varnell. I handle divorce, custody and adoption, and nothing else. Watch the six-minute video, read a guide tonight, and call when you’re ready. You’ll know what happens next, and what it costs, before you sign anything.
214
parenting plans drafted167
divorce petitions filed41
adoptions finalized
A tally of paperwork, not a promise about outcomes. Every family’s case goes its own way.
Start here
Six minutes on what a first meeting covers
I walk through an hour at the Frazier Avenue office: the questions I ask, the papers worth bringing, and what your case would cost from there. Rather read it? The same walk-through is written out step by step.
What happens at a first meeting with Imogen Varnell
Guides
Guides for the first hard weeks
Plain-language guides for the questions parents bring to a first meeting. Nothing to sign up for.
CustodyWhat goes into a parenting plan
The weekly schedule, holidays, school decisions and handoffs: the parts every plan needs, and where plans usually come apart.
Imogen Varnell8 min read
The processFrom first call to final order
The five steps a family case moves through here, what each one asks of you, and roughly how long it takes.
Imogen Varnell4 min read
The practice
Three claims, and the family behind each one
Each line below comes with the kind of matter it’s drawn from. These are sample matters with details changed; your case will have its own facts.
DivorceMost divorces here end on paper, not on the witness stand.
Sample matter: a Red Bank couple, married 16 years, with two kids and one house. Four drafts of a settlement agreement, one day of mediation, and a final decree five months after filing.
How a divorce works
CustodyA schedule built around the kids’ week, not the calendar’s.
Sample matter: a Hixson nurse on rotating twelve-hour shifts. A parenting plan that follows her rotation month by month, signed by both parents and approved by the judge.
How custody works
AdoptionStepparent adoption, from consent to order, in one office.
Sample matter: a Signal Mountain stepdad who had raised his wife’s daughter since she was three. The other parent’s written consent, one short hearing, and a final order the week she turned nine.
How adoption works
One hour, one flat fee, a written plan
A first meeting is an hour, at the office or by video, with a set fee quoted when you book. You leave with the next three steps in writing and a price for the work, and the meeting fee comes off the bill if you hire me.