Custody in Tennessee.
The starting point the law actually sets, what the judge has to weigh, and the deadlines that catch people out.
See a different stateTennessee
No. Tennessee Code Annotated 36-6-101(a)(2)(A)(i), as rewritten effective July 1, 2021, says that 'neither a preference nor a presumption for or against joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole custody is established, but the court shall have the widest discretion to order a custody arrangement that is in the best interest of the child.' The same paragraph says 'It is the public policy of the state to maximize the participation of both parents pursuant to 36-6-106(a)' – which is a policy of maximum participation, not a 50/50 starting point. Two other pieces of that paragraph matter to you: unless both parents have agreed to a custody arrangement and parenting plan, the order must include written findings of fact and conclusions of law explaining the basis for it; and if the parents themselves agree to joint custody (or say so in open court), there is a presumption that joint custody is in the child's best interest unless the court finds otherwise by clear and convincing evidence. The burden to modify a joint custody order later is a preponderance of the evidence. (Read in 2021 Senate Bill 1366 / House Bill 237 as passed.)
Use the state’s own words
Tennessee courts speak in terms of a 'permanent parenting plan' with a 'residential schedule' and 'parenting time,' rather than simply 'custody' and 'visitation.' The custody statute itself still uses the words joint legal custody, joint physical custody and sole custody. (Read in 2014 Public Chapter 617 and 2021 Senate Bill 1366 as signed, and in the Davidson County agreed-divorce packet approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court.)
The short version4 points · tap one to jump to it
- How Tennessee decides — Also inside subsection (a), added by 2025 Pub.
- The paperwork and the people — Yes. Every Tennessee divorce involving minor children requires a permanent parenting plan, filed with the court along with a child support worksheet.
- Moving away — The parent who wants to move must send notice by registered or certified mail.
- Later on — Sections 36-6-101(a)(2)(B) and (C) also set a material change in circumstance test for changing custody or the residential schedule. We read that from a FindLaw copy of the statute, not from the legislature’s own site. See how to modify custody and parenting time in Tennessee.
In this subject 4
How Tennessee decides
The short version4 points · tap one to jump to it
- How Tennessee decides — Also inside subsection (a), added by 2025 Pub.
- The paperwork and the people — Yes. Every Tennessee divorce involving minor children requires a permanent parenting plan, filed with the court along with a child support worksheet.
- Moving away — The parent who wants to move must send notice by registered or certified mail.
- Later on — Sections 36-6-101(a)(2)(B) and (C) also set a material change in circumstance test for changing custody or the residential schedule. We read that from a FindLaw copy of the statute, not from the legislature’s own site. See how to modify custody and parenting time in Tennessee.
In this subject 4
Decisions against where the child lives
Tennessee Code Annotated 36-6-101(a)(2)(A)(i), as rewritten in 2021, expressly contemplates joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole custody, and gives the judge 'the widest discretion to order a custody arrangement that is in the best interest of the child.' In day-to-day practice those choices are written into the permanent parenting plan, which sets both decision-making and the residential schedule.
What the judge must weigh
Lead-in to the factor list, as it reads after 2026 Pub. Ch. 683 § 1 (effective 1 July 2026): "The court shall consider all relevant factors with the best interest of the child always being paramount, including the following, where applicable:"
- (1) The strength, nature, and stability of the child's relationship with each parent, including whether one parent has performed the majority of parenting responsibilities relating to the daily needs of the child;
- (2) Each parent's or caregiver's past and potential for future performance of parenting responsibilities, including the willingness and ability of each of the parents and caregivers to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and both of the child's parents, consistent with the best interest of the child. In determining the willingness of each of the parents and caregivers to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and both of the child's parents, the court shall consider the likelihood of each parent and caregiver to honor and facilitate court ordered parenting arrangements and rights, and the court shall further consider any history of either parent or any caregiver denying parenting time to either parent in violation of a court order;
- (3) Refusal to attend a court ordered parent education seminar may be considered by the court as a lack of good faith effort in these proceedings;
- (4) The disposition of each parent to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care, education and other necessary care;
- (5) The degree to which a parent has been the primary caregiver, defined as the parent who has taken the greater responsibility for performing parental responsibilities;
- (6) The love, affection, and emotional ties existing between each parent and the child;
- (7) The emotional needs and developmental level of the child;
- (8) The moral, physical, mental and emotional fitness of each parent as it relates to their ability to parent the child. The court may order an examination of a party under Rule 35 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and, if necessary for the conduct of the proceedings, order the disclosure of confidential mental health information of a party under § 33-3-105(3). The court order required by § 33-3-105(3) must contain a qualified protective order that limits the dissemination of confidential protected mental health information to the purpose of the litigation pending before the court and provides for the return or destruction of the confidential protected mental health information at the conclusion of the proceedings;
- (9) The child's interaction and interrelationships with siblings, other relatives and step-relatives, and mentors, as well as the child's involvement with the child's physical surroundings, school, or other significant activities;
- (10) The importance of continuity in the child's life and the length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment;
- (11) Evidence of physical or emotional abuse to the child, to the other parent, or to any other person, including the child's siblings. The court may, where appropriate, refer any issues of abuse to juvenile court for further proceedings;
- (12) The character and behavior of any other person who resides in or frequents the home of a parent and such person's interactions with the child;
- (13) The reasonable preference of the child if twelve (12) years of age or older. The court may hear the preference of a younger child upon request. The preference of older children should normally be given greater weight than those of younger children;
- (14) Each parent's employment schedule, and the court may make accommodations consistent with those schedules; and
- (15) Whether a parent has had custody or parenting time reduced or restricted in the past and if so, the reasons custody or parenting time was relinquished;
- (16) Whether a parent has failed to pay court-ordered child support; and
- (17) Without creating any presumption as to parenting time, the extent to which the parenting schedule proposed or ordered provides each parent with meaningful opportunities to participate in the child's life, consistent with the child's best interest; and
- (18) Any other factors deemed relevant by the court.
Also inside subsection (a), added by 2025 Pub. Ch. 265 § 1 immediately after the first sentence and then amended by 2026 Pub. Ch. 683 § 3 and 2026 Pub. Ch. 758 § 1, the subsection now also directs: "As required by § 36-6-404(b), only if the limitations of § 36-6-406(a)-(d) are not dispositive of the child's residential schedule, then the court shall consider all relative factors, including the factors found in this subsection (a), and in a child custody order, whether temporary or permanent, the court shall include written findings of fact as to whether the limitations in § 36-6-406(a)-(d) apply." (Each clause is verbatim from the acts; the assembly of the three amendments into one sentence is mine — see notes.)
Recently changed. Tennessee has amended this subsection six times since the 2014 act most guides still cite: 2022 Public Chapter 671, 2024 Public Chapter 799, 2025 Public Chapters 321 and 265, and 2026 Public Chapters 683 and 758. The list now runs to eighteen factors, not fifteen, and since 1 July 2026 the lead-in reads that the court considers all relevant factors “with the best interest of the child always being paramount.”
What the child wants
A child twelve (12) or older has a right to have a reasonable preference heard, and the court may hear a younger child's preference on request. The preference of older children should normally be given greater weight than that of younger children. This is factor (13) of T.C.A. 36-6-106(a) and it is repeated word for word as factor (D) in the relocation statute. Important: this is a preference the judge weighs, not a choice the child gets to make.
Where there has been violence or abuse
Abuse is factor (11) of the best-interest list: 'Evidence of physical or emotional abuse to the child, to the other parent or to any other person. The court shall, where appropriate, refer any issues of abuse to juvenile court for further proceedings.' Factor (8) also looks at each parent's moral, physical, mental and emotional fitness as it relates to parenting. Separately, T.C.A. 36-6-406 places limitations on a residential schedule where abuse or other listed conduct is found, and 36-6-404(b) says those limitations are applied first, before the best-interest factors. We could not reach an official copy of the text of 36-6-406, so we are not describing what those limitations say – ask the clerk or a lawyer for the current text of that section if abuse is part of your case.
The paperwork and the people
The parenting plan
Yes. Every Tennessee divorce involving minor children requires a permanent parenting plan, filed with the court along with a child support worksheet. The Davidson County agreed-divorce instructions – a packet approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court and by the Davidson County Circuit Courts – state that 'All divorcing spouses with minor children must complete the Parenting Plan' and that it must be filed together with the divorce agreement. The parenting plan statute, T.C.A. 36-6-404(b), was amended in 2014 to require the court to use the fifteen best-interest factors in 36-6-106(a) when setting the residential schedule, unless the safety limitations in 36-6-406 control instead.
Mediation
We could not confirm Tennessee's mediation requirement from an official source. Ask your court clerk whether your court requires mediation before it will set a contested parenting hearing – most Tennessee courts do refer parenting disputes to mediation.
If the court appoints someone to look into it
Not fully confirmed. What we can confirm is that under best-interest factor (8) the court may order an examination of a party under Rule 35 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, and may order disclosure of confidential mental health information under a qualified protective order limiting how that information is used and requiring it to be returned or destroyed when the case ends. We could not reach official material describing a standing court-ordered custody evaluation program.
Moving away
What you must do before you move
T.C.A. 36-6-108, completely rewritten by 2018 Public Chapter 853 (House Bill 1666), effective July 1, 2018. The parent who wants to move must send notice by registered or certified mail. If the parents do not agree on a new schedule within thirty (30) days, or the other parent objects within thirty (30) days of the date notice was sent, the relocating parent must file a petition asking the court to approve the move. The non-relocating parent then has thirty (30) days to file a response in opposition; if none is filed in that window, the parent proposing to relocate is permitted to move. If a petition in opposition is filed, the court decides whether relocation is in the child's best interest using eight factors: (A) the nature, quality, extent of involvement, and duration of the child's relationship with the relocating parent and with the non-relocating parent, siblings, and other significant persons; (B) the age, developmental stage and needs of the child and the likely impact of the move on physical, educational and emotional development, including any special needs; (C) the feasibility of preserving the relationship with the non-relocating parent through suitable visitation, considering logistics and finances; (D) the child's preference if twelve (12) or older (younger on request, older weighted more); (E) whether there is an established pattern of conduct by the relocating parent to promote or thwart the child's relationship with the other parent; (F) whether the move will enhance the general quality of life for both the relocating parent and the child, including financial or emotional benefit or educational opportunity; (G) the reasons of each parent for seeking or opposing the relocation; and (H) any other factor affecting the child's best interest, including those in 36-6-106(a). If the court approves the move it modifies the parenting plan to account for the distance; if it denies the move it enters a modified plan that takes effect only if the parent relocates anyway. Either parent may be awarded reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses in the court's discretion.
Later on
Changing the order
Partly confirmed. For a joint custody order, T.C.A. 36-6-101(a)(2)(A)(i) says the burden of proof to modify at a later proceeding is a preponderance of the evidence. Sections 36-6-101(a)(2)(B) and (C) also set a material change in circumstance test for changing custody or the residential schedule. We read that from a FindLaw copy of the statute, not from the legislature’s own site. See how to modify custody and parenting time in Tennessee.
If you were never married
We could not confirm Tennessee's rule for never-married parents from an official source.
We could not reach an official Tennessee source, so we have left every field blank rather than fill it in from secondary websites. Here is where to go instead. The Tennessee General Assembly does not publish the Tennessee Code on its own site; it directs the public to the official code at lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode, which you can browse free in a normal web browser. The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts publishes the state's court-approved forms, including the Permanent Parenting Plan, at tncourts.gov. Tennessee is a permanent-parenting-plan state, so expect the plan to be the central document in your case, and ask the court clerk which version of the form is current.
How we know this, and what we could not check
Tennessee does not publish its own codified statutes for free. The Tennessee Code Annotated is published online under contract by a commercial publisher, and the General Assembly’s own site links out to it; that link lands on an application that will not render text to anything but a live browser session. The court system’s site sits behind bot detection, which we did not attempt to defeat.
So the list above was rebuilt from the session laws — the Public Chapters published by the Tennessee Secretary of State, which are official — by reading every act that amended section 36-6-106 and applying them in order. The wording of each factor is the wording of the act that created it. What we cannot verify from a free official source is the numbering, because 2025 Public Chapters 321 and 265 amended the same subdivisions weeks apart and the Code Commission harmonises those. Treat the numbers as indicative and the words as reliable. The opening sentence of subsection (a) predates the Secretary of State’s online archive, so it is not quoted here rather than guessed at.
What we could not confirm
- We could not confirm: the text of the safety limitations in T.C.A. 36-6-406 that apply when abuse is found; whether mediation is required before a contested parenting hearing; the general 'material change in circumstances' standard for modifying a parenting plan; how custody is decided for parents who were never married; and whether a court-ordered custody evaluation is routinely available. If any of those matter to you, the Tennessee court clerk's office in your county is the right first call.
- 6 official pages we tried to read refused automated access. We did not try to get around that, so some detail above was read from a different official source — a published court opinion quoting the statute, or the court’s own forms and instructions.
Compare all fifty states
Where 50/50 really is the default, and the twenty-six states where nothing is presumed.
And the money side
How Tennessee calculates child support, and the overnight number that changes it.
The rest of what we have written about Tennessee. Every figure is quoted from Tennessee’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.