Member

Rebecca McKelvey Castañeda

Rebecca McKelvey Castañeda is a Member of the firm in the Nashville and Franklin offices. She works exclusively in the practice known as Family Law with an emphasis in international family law, especially parental child abductions from country to country. She has significant experience with cases brought under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act. The United States has signed this particular Hague treaty along with about 73 other countries. You can find out more about this law and how it applies, by clicking here. Rebecca’s published work on the Hague Convention, An Overview of the International Parental Child Abduction Provisions of the Hague Convention, 7 ANKARA L. REV. 1, 65 (2010), is available upon request. Rebecca and her team have much experience in Hague Convention litigation and can help your family navigate these difficult international issues.

In addition to her international family law work, Rebecca also represents clients in Tennessee family law. Her practice includes many years of experience representing clients who must face divorce. Rebecca and her team can handle intellectual property matters in divorce. She helps clients with a variety of issues related to families, children, custody, grandparents and other family members, divorces, prenuptial agreements, and family relocations. Rebecca serves on the editorial committee of the Tennessee Bar Association that updates the Tennessee Alimony Benchbook each year.

With offices in Nashville and Williamson County, Rebecca is easily accessible.

Capabilities
Practice Areas
Family Law
Recent News, Articles & Speaking Engagements

40 Under 40: Rebecca Castaneda, Stites & Harbison PLLC

Nashville Business Journal, April 9, 2020

Family Law 101

Law Practice 101: Family Law, Power of Attorneys, and Wills 101, October 1, 2019

Where Family Law and International Issues Collide

Tennessee Attorney's Memo CLE, Nashville, October 2018

Interpreters Communicate When You Can't

presenter, ABA Family Law Section Spring Meeting, Nashville, May 2018

Family Law Basics

presenter, Nashville Bar Association, Nashville, February 2017 and 2018

Does the Outcome of In re Carrington change Tennessee Parental-Termination Law?

Co-Presenter, Tennessee Bar Association live webcast and webinar, 2016

The 21st Century Family: International Family Law, Multi-Generational Families and the case of In re Baby

Speaker and presenter, Women's Political Collaborative or TN, 2015

Where Family Law and International Issues Collide: Relocation and Child Abduction Issues

Speaker and presenter, Tennessee Attorney Memo statewide webinar, 2015

Lawyers with Big Hearts

International Family Law Practice

Presenter, Southern Law Network Litigation Group, 2014

Trends of Family Law in Tennessee: Relocations, Grandparent Visitation, and Adoptions

Presenter, Nashville radio program, 2014

Grandparent Visitation Law

Speaker, Manchester, Tennessee Rotary Club Meeting, 2013

Family Law and Rights of Grandparents in Tennessee (or Not So Much)

Presenter, Davidson County, Tennessee, Juvenile Court Bar Meeting, 2012

International Parental Child Abductions: Treaty Provisions

Speaker, Tennessee Bar Association Continuing Legal Education live webcast, 2011

Organizational Development in the Law Firm

Guest Lecturer, Florida State University Summer Program, Valencia, Spain, 2011

Tennessee Child Relocation Law

Speaker, Tennessee Bar Association Continuing Legal Education live webcast, 2011

Family Law: Tennessee Child Relocation Law

Speaker and Presenter, Continuing Legal Education seminar, 2010

Common and Not So Common Family Law Issues

Speaker and Presenter, Continuing Legal Education seminar, 2010

Family Law Round-Table Discussion

Panelist, Continuing Legal Education seminar, 2010

Walking Through a Lawsuit

Guest Lecturer, Ankara University Law School, Ankara, Turkey, 2010

Adoption Law Ethics

Speaker and Presenter, Continuing Legal Education seminar, 2009

Adoption Law: How to Terminate a Parent's Rights

Speaker and Presenter, Continuing Legal Education seminar, 2009

The U.S. Legal System

Guest Lecturer, Iliria University, Peja, Kosovo, 2008
Bar Admissions
Past Admission Pro Hac Vice in Other Jurisdictions
Tennessee
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Memberships
International Academy of Family Lawyers, Fellow
Harry Phillips American Inn of Court
International Child Abduction Attorney Network (ICAAN), Referral Attorney
American Bar Association, former Family Law Section Uniform Relocation Law Drafting Committee
Tennessee Board of Law Examiners, Committee to Investigate Fitness and Character of Applicants for Admission to the Tennessee Bar
Tennessee Bar Association, Family Law Section, former Executive Council; former Family Law Section e-Newsletter Editor; former CLE Committee
Tennessee Bar Associations Alimony Benchbook Committee, helping edit the alimony manual used by Tennessee judges statewide
Nashville Bar Association
Community Involvement

Belmont University Board of Trustees

Tennessee Justice Center, Board of Directors

Education
Representative Experience
  • After a person’s divorce, there are often subsequent matters for which someone needs advice from a Family Law attorney, and Rebecca assists clients with those matters.
  • She represents couples adopting children, both locally and internationally, including re-adoptions and adult adoptions.
  • She represented a party in one of the few grandparent visitation cases to be decided by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Lovlace v. Copley, 418 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2013).
  • She advises parents who are relocating for work or a spouse’s job, or parents who are considering moving or whose child’s other parent is considering moving to be with a loved one.
  • She provides consultations and full representation – all the way through trial – for parents involved in cases under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and International Child Abduction Remedies Act.
  • In her Hague Convention practice, among other cases, she has assisted a parent in Sweden to be restored custody of his son, and she has represented a father in having his son returned to his home in Turkey.
More Than Stites & Harbison

Rebecca is past-chair of the board of directors for the Tennessee Justice Center, served as a member of Belmont University Alumni Board of Directors (past president), and has been a member of the Belmont University College of Law American Inn of Court. She now serves on the Board of Trustees for Belmont University. Rebecca was awarded the Tennessee Bar Association's Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award (2015). In June 2011, she was chosen as a 2011 Nashville's Top 30 Under 30 by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In addition to being involved in her church, Rebecca and her husband enjoy reading, travelling, the Nashville Symphony, riding bikes, and snowboarding. Rebecca participated in the FBI Citizens Academy.

Accolades

Best Lawyers in America®, Family Law (2018-24)

Forbes Advisor, Best Divorce Lawyers Nashville, TN (2024)

Nashville Business Journal, Best of the Bar (2021)

Nashville Business Journal, 40 Under 40 (2021)

Mid-South Super Lawyers® (2019-23)

Mid-South Super Lawyers®, Rising Star (2012-18)

Tennessee Bar Association, Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award (2015)

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Nashville's Top 30 Under 30 (2011)

Castaneda Best Lawyers2024
Castanedasuperlaw
See more related to Rebecca McKelvey Castañeda
Press Releases

Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2025 Best Lawyers® Publications

Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 97 of its lawyers are included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence according to the publication. Additionally, 12 Stites & Harbison attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 30 attorneys are recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC August 16, 2024
Press Releases

Ten Stites & Harbison Attorneys Honored by 2023 Mid-South Super Lawyers

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The 2023 edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers recently honored 10 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys. Seven attorneys were named to the Super Lawyers list and three were named to the Rising Stars list.

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC December 01, 2023
Press Releases

Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2024 Best Lawyers® Publications

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 101 of its lawyers are included in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC August 24, 2023
Press Releases

Nine Stites & Harbison Attorneys Honored by 2022 Mid-South Super Lawyers

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The 2022 edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers recently honored nine Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys. Six attorneys were named to the Super Lawyers list and three were named to the Rising Stars list.

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC December 01, 2022
Press Releases

Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2023 Best Lawyers® Publications

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 98 of its lawyers are included in the 2023 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Additionally, 11 Stites & Harbison attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 19 attorneys are recognized in “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch,” which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC August 18, 2022
Press Releases

Mid-South Super Lawyers®, Rising Stars 2021

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The 2021 edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers recently honored eight Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys. Five attorneys were named to the Super Lawyers list and three were named to the Rising Stars list.

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC December 03, 2021
Press Releases

Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2022 Best Lawyers® Publications

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 93 lawyers are included in the 2022 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Additionally, 11 attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 14 attorneys are recognized in “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch,” which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC September 01, 2021
Press Releases

Nashville Business Journal Names Rebecca McKelvey Castaneda to 2021 List of 40 Under 40

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Nashville Business Journal recently announced that Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Rebecca McKelvey Castañeda has been named to the 2021 list of 40 Under 40.

by Rebecca McKelvey Castañeda January 13, 2021