Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC

Family law work across Middle Tennessee

The Nashville office handles divorce and a defined set of related domestic relations matters. Miller Upshaw Family Law, PLLC lists child custody, child support, alimony, paternity, visitation, and parenting plans among its core areas. The firm also prepares and reviews prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. This focus gives prospective clients a clear account of the issues its attorneys handle.

Divorce work includes the division of marital assets and cases involving larger marital estates. The firm states that its attorneys work with financial professionals when a case requires business valuation. That point matters because ownership interests and other complex assets can affect both property division and support disputes. The website does not treat every divorce as the same type of case.

The firm's listed services extend beyond an initial divorce or custody proceeding. Its attorneys handle post-divorce modifications, enforcement matters, restraining orders, and appellate work. The firm also accepts same-sex divorce and family law cases. These services cover disputes that can arise when family circumstances or compliance issues change after a court order.

How the legal team is built

Three named attorneys work with a paralegal, a legal assistant, and a customer service representative. The firm reports more than 50 years of combined attorney experience. Each lawyer's published background adds a different point of reference for readers. The team pages identify Karla C. Miller, Rachel Sharp Upshaw, and Taylor L. Rippe.

Karla C. Miller

Miller founded the firm and has practiced law in Tennessee for more than 20 years. That is the longest individual tenure stated for any attorney on the website. The American Bar Foundation has selected her as a Fellow. Her profile connects the firm's family law work with a substantial period of Tennessee practice.

Her role also gives the office continuity at the leadership level. The site identifies her as the founding attorney without supplying a founding year for the firm. Its experience statement concerns the attorneys' combined work, while Miller's profile gives a separate measure of her own time in practice.

Rachel Sharp Upshaw

Upshaw graduated from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. She works across several areas of family law, and more than 80 percent of her practice involves litigation. That figure offers an unusually direct description of how she spends her professional time. It also helps explain the firm's capacity for contested domestic relations matters.

Her profile does not confine her work to one family law issue. It links her to a broader set of disputes handled by the office. The stated litigation percentage is especially relevant for clients dealing with contested custody, support, property, or enforcement questions.

Taylor L. Rippe

Rippe joined Miller Upshaw Family Law in 2022. Before that move, she worked as a Family Law Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. Her current work focuses on complex divorce and family law litigation. The prior role also places her experience within the same general field.

The website gives a clear employment sequence for Rippe. It identifies her earlier family law position, the area of her present work, and the year she joined the firm. Those facts make her professional focus easy to assess without relying on broad descriptions.

Litigation, appeals and complex assets

The firm's case list points to regular work with contested legal issues. Upshaw devotes more than 80 percent of her practice to litigation, while Rippe focuses on complex divorce and family law litigation. Miller contributes more than two decades of Tennessee legal practice. In my opinion, these individual details are more useful than a general claim about courtroom ability.

Appellate work is another stated part of the firm's family law services. An appeal asks a higher court to review legal issues arising from an earlier decision. The website does not present appeals as a separate general practice area. It places them within the office's domestic relations work.

Financial questions receive similar detail. The firm identifies marital asset division, larger estates, and business valuation as issues it handles in divorce cases. It works with financial professionals when those cases call for added input. This may be relevant when a couple owns a business or has assets that require formal valuation.

The post-divorce services add another layer to the case mix. Attorneys handle requests to modify existing terms and actions seeking enforcement of court orders. Parenting plans, visitation, support, and alimony can remain active legal concerns after a divorce ends. The firm expressly includes these later disputes within its work.

Local reach and consultation access

The firm reports that its attorneys have practiced in eight Middle Tennessee communities. Those locations are Nashville, Franklin, Hendersonville, Brentwood, Murfreesboro, Gallatin, Lebanon, and Mt. Juliet. This footprint places the team's work across several communities near Nashville. The firm's home base remains in the city.

Its office is in the Edgefield area and is near the courthouse. The firm also provides free parking for office visitors. These are practical details for people attending meetings in person. The courthouse proximity may also be useful during matters that require local court appearances.

The firm supports both office meetings and remote communication at the consultation stage. Prospective clients can choose an in-person meeting when they prefer direct contact at the Nashville office. Video consultations provide another stated option. Miller Upshaw Family Law offers consultations in person or by video.