What a Tennessee divorce actually costs to file.
Not a range, not an estimate, not a lawyer’s blog. Every figure below is traced to a statute, a court fee schedule, or a clerk’s own published page — and linked to it.
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It costs $234.50 to file for divorce in Tennessee. Below is where that money goes, what it does not cover, and what to do if you do not have it.
Worth knowing before you file. The premium for having children is exactly $75.00 in all three of the largest counties – Davidson, Shelby and Knox each charge $75.00 more for a divorce involving minor children – but the underlying fee is not remotely uniform: filing the same childless divorce costs $234.50 in Nashville and $356.50 in Memphis, a $122.00 swing driven entirely by county-set clerk fees under Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401.
Where the money goes
Only Davidson County publishes a component breakdown, and only for the litigation-tax portion. Shelby County’s schedule has ‘Fee Type / Fee’ sub-rows for each category but they are printed empty for the two divorce categories – only the totals ($431.50 and $356.50) are published. Knox County’s Chancery schedule publishes only a total, with the note ‘Scheduled filing fees include litigation taxes, if applicable’ and ‘Scheduled filing fees DO NOT include service of process charges for Sheriff’s Departments.’ No breakdown has been invented for Shelby or Knox.
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| State litigation tax (included in the filing fee)Printed on the Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk’s schedule: ‘[Fees for initiation of new case include $25.75 State litigation tax and $33.75 County litigation tax.]’ The clerk’s page does not cite a statute number for it, so the statute field is null rather than guessed. | $25.75 |
| County litigation tax (included in the filing fee)Same bracketed note on the Davidson schedule. The same page independently confirms the combined figure elsewhere, describing cross-filings, counter-complaints, intervening complaints and third-party complaints as carrying ‘same fee as original Complaint minus $59.50 litigation tax’ – $25.75 + $33.75 being that $59.50. This is Davidson County’s figure; other counties’ litigation tax split is not published on their schedules. | $33.75 |
How it changes by county
Tennessee clerk fees are set county by county under Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401, the authority printed on the Knox County Chancery schedule (‘Effective January 1, 2026 | Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401’), and litigation taxes are layered on top and folded into the published total. The result is that the same divorce costs $234.50 in Nashville and $356.50 in Memphis without children. Which COURT hears the divorce also varies: Davidson and Shelby publish divorce fees on their Circuit Court Clerk schedules, while Knox County’s Circuit Court filing-fee schedule contains no divorce line at all and the divorce fee appears instead on the Chancery Court (Clerk and Master) schedule.
$125.00 clerk's standard court cost for a divorce with no minor children, $200.00 with minor children (T.C.A. § 8-21-401), plus $23.75 state litigation tax on a civil suit in a court of record (T.C.A. § 67-4-602(b)). No Tennessee county charges less than that combination.
| County | What you pay to file | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Shelby (Memphis) | $356.50 with no minor children; $431.50 with minor children | $52.00 sheriff service fee per issuance (notice, injunction or similar) |
| Davidson (Nashville) | $234.50 with no minor children, $309.50 with minor children (no service). $286.50 / $361.50 if you pay for Davidson County Sheriff service at filing. | $52.00 sheriff service of process |
| Knox (Knoxville) | $289.50 with no minor children; $364.50 with minor children | $52.00 for Knox County service; $52.00 for out-of-county sheriff service, made payable to the sheriff of the county where service happens |
| Hamilton (Chattanooga) | $289.50 with no minor children; $364.50 with minor children | $52.00 each for sheriff service of process |
| Montgomery (Clarksville) | $279.50 with no minor children; $354.50 with minor children | $52.00 for service in person by the Sheriff's Department, per defendant |
| Sumner (Gallatin) | $284.50 with no minor children; $359.50 with minor children | $52.00 for service through any sheriff's office in Tennessee; $20.00 through the Secretary of State |
| Wilson (Lebanon) | $267.00 with no minor children, $342.00 with minor children (no service). $319.00 / $394.00 with sheriff service included. | $52.00 per defendant |
| Blount (Maryville) | $245.00 with no children; $320.00 with children | Not published on the filing-fee page |
| Washington (Johnson City) | $279.50 with no children, $354.50 with children (no service). $331.50 / $406.50 with service. | $52.00 service by sheriff; $42.00 execution by sheriff |
| Anderson (Clinton) | $254.50 with no minor children; $329.50 with minor children | $52.00 per defendant for sheriff service of process |
| Hawkins (Rogersville) — smaller rural county | $274.50 with no children; $349.50 with minor children | $52.00 sheriff service (the difference between the $274.50/$349.50 and $326.50/$401.50 totals) |
| Union (Maynardville) — small rural county, cheapest confirmed | $235.50 with no minor children; $310.50 with minor children | Not published as a separate divorce-service line on the fee page |
The spread: Cheapest confirmed: Union County at $235.50 with no minor children and $310.50 with minor children. Most expensive confirmed: Shelby County (Memphis) at $356.50 with no minor children and $431.50 with minor children. That is a $196 spread on the identical divorce with children — roughly the price of the whole filing in some counties. Nashville is genuinely cheap for a big city at $234.50 without children, because Davidson's county litigation tax is only $33.75 while Hawkins County's is $73.75.
What makes up each of these numbers
- Shelby (Memphis) — Clerk's schedule publishes these as single totals for each divorce category. Sheriff service is charged separately per issuance. source
- Davidson (Nashville) — Filing fee for a new case includes $25.75 state litigation tax and $33.75 county litigation tax, per the clerk's own note. Sheriff service $52.00 is bundled into the higher figures. source
- Knox (Knoxville) — Chancery Court schedule; the clerk notes scheduled filing fees include litigation taxes. Divorces in Knox County are filed in Chancery — the Circuit Court fee schedule has no divorce line at all. source
- Hamilton (Chattanooga) — Clerk's fee $175.00 (no children) or $250.00 (with children), plus $114.50 litigation tax. The schedule shows litigation tax as one combined line rather than splitting state from county. source
- Montgomery (Clarksville) — Clerk's fee plus $99.50 in litigation taxes (the schedule calls this line 'Filing Surety (Lit Taxes, where bond may be used)'). The schedule states plainly that service of process is NOT included in the posted amounts. source
- Sumner (Gallatin) — Clerk's fee $175.00 (no children) or $250.00 (with children) plus $109.50 litigation tax on new complaints, which the schedule says is already included in the totals. source
- Wilson (Lebanon) — The most itemized schedule in the state: clerk's fee $175.00 or $250.00, court clerk education tax $2.00, archive fee $5.00, litigation tax $85.00, service fee $52.00 per defendant. source
- Blount (Maryville) — Published as single category totals on the combined Chancery / Circuit Equity / General Sessions Domestic schedule. A counter-complaint costs $175.00 (no children) or $250.00 extra. source
- Washington (Johnson City) — Chancery Court schedule of fees; litigation tax shown as $92.50. Service by sheriff $52.00 is the difference between the with- and without-service figures. source
- Anderson (Clinton) — Clerk & Master states these costs include clerk fees, state litigation tax and county litigation tax. Fees are payable in advance. source
- Hawkins (Rogersville) — smaller rural county — The clearest breakdown published anywhere in Tennessee: clerk fee $177.00 (no children) or $252.00 (with children), plus $97.50 litigation tax, itemized as $23.75 state and $73.75 county. With sheriff service the totals become $326.50 and $401.50. source
- Union (Maynardville) — small rural county, cheapest confirmed — Chancery Court schedule publishes a TOTAL FEE line for each divorce type. The schedule notes that a counter-complaint pays the same filing fee as the original but no additional litigation tax, since the tax was already paid at the start of the case. source
What catches people out
- Tennessee stacks a litigation tax on top of the filing fee, and the county half of that tax is set locally. That is why the same divorce costs $235.50 in Union County and $431.50 in Shelby. The clerk's fee is identical everywhere — $125 without kids, $200 with. Everything above that is tax and local add-ons.
- Having minor children costs exactly $75.00 more at the courthouse door in every single county checked. That is written into state law, not a local decision.
- Sheriff service is almost always a separate $52.00 per person you have to serve, and several counties post their filing fee WITHOUT it. Montgomery County says so outright. Budget the $52 unless your spouse will sign an acceptance of service.
- If your spouse is in another county, the $52 check goes to THAT county's sheriff, not the one you are filing in. Knox and Sumner both spell this out. Bring two checks.
- If you have minor children you must complete a four-hour parent educational seminar (T.C.A. § 36-6-408). The court cannot deny your divorce for skipping it, but you will not get finished without it, and the class fee comes out of your pocket. The statute says fees must be reasonable and may be waived for indigent persons — ask.
- A few counties bury small extras in the total: Wilson County charges a $2.00 clerk education tax and a $5.00 archive fee on top of everything else.
What we could not confirm
- Rutherford County (Murfreesboro) — one of the fastest-growing counties in the state — publishes a chancery fee schedule that does not break out divorce as its own line, so there is no clean divorce number to quote. Call the Clerk and Master before you drive over. Williamson, Sullivan, Maury and Sevier counties do not appear to post a divorce-specific fee schedule online at all.
12 counties confirmed against the clerk’s own published schedule. Fee schedules change without notice — call before you drive over.
The published range
$234.50 – $356.50 without minor children; $309.50 – $431.50 with minor children across the counties we were able to confirm from official sources.
| County | Published fee | Schedule dated |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson County (Nashville) – Circuit Court | $234.50 without minor children / $309.50 with minor children (plus $52.00 if using the Davidson County Sheriff, giving $286.50 / $361.50) | Effective January 1, 2026official source |
| Shelby County (Memphis) – Circuit Court | $356.50 without minor children / $431.50 with minor children | Effective January 1, 2026official source |
| Knox County (Knoxville) – Chancery Court | $289.50 without minor children / $364.50 with minor children | Effective January 1, 2026official source |
What the filing fee does not cover
The filing fee is usually the smallest predictable number in a divorce. This is where the rest of the budget lives — and where “not published” appears most often.
What it costs to file it electronically
- Portal fee
- Shelby County: no membership or usage fee for the e-filing system — 'normal Court filing fees still apply.' Davidson/Nashville: not stated on the official pages read.
This sits on top of the filing fee above, and a percentage surcharge on a few hundred dollars is not small. Whether you have to e-file at all is on the Tennessee kit.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Service of process by sheriff, per respondentKnox County Chancery: ‘Knox County Sheriff Service (make payable to Knox County Chancery Court) $52.00’ and ‘Other County Sheriff Service (make payable to other county’s Sheriff’s Department) $52.00.’ Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk lists ‘Sheriff 52.00’ and prints divorce totals both without and with the DCSO fee (‘Divorce (with minor children) $309.50 / $361.50’; ‘Divorce (without minor children) 234.50 / 286.50’). Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk lists ‘Sheriff $52.00’ and ‘Sheriff of Other County $52.00’. Note that these county schedules are clerk-set, not statutory – the $52 figure is a per-county publication, not a statewide rate. | $52.00 in all three verified counties |
| Parenting/parent-education class, if requiredwe could not verified from any permitted official source, so nothing is asserted about whether it is mandatory with minor children. Tennessee’s official code text is published on a commercial platform that requires JavaScript and returned no content, and tncourts.gov – which hosts the Administrative Office of the Courts’ parent-education materials – was behind a browser-validation interstitial (see the sources we could not reach, below). None of the three county fee schedules reached lists a parent-education charge. Null. | not published |
| Court-ordered mediationNo mediation fee appears on the Davidson, Shelby or Knox schedules, and the statewide Rule 31 mediator materials live on tncourts.gov, which was blocked. Null. | not published |
| E-filing or credit-card surchargeNot verified. Shelby County’s Circuit Court Clerk pages reference an e-filing system and recommend filing electronically, but no surcharge amount is published on the fee schedule. Davidson lists a ‘Fax Filing $5 + $1/page’ charge but no e-filing charge. Null. | not published |
If you cannot afford to file
More people qualify than apply. If this section applies to you it is the most useful thing on this page.
Tennessee has a way to file without paying up front
This is a normal court procedure, not a favor you have to plead for.
- What to ask for: Affidavit of Indigency (pauper’s oath) under Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 29
- How it works: Proceeding on a pauper’s oath / Affidavit of Indigency under Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 29. This is confirmed by an order of the Presiding Judge of the 20th Judicial District, published by the Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk, which states: ‘It appearing to the Court, in accordance with Supreme Court Rule 29, a litigant who has been determined not eligible to proceed under a pauper’s oath shall be given a timeframe within which to request a hearing before a Circuit Judge.’ In Davidson County a Circuit Court Special Master makes the initial indigency determination; on a determination of non-indigency the litigant has 10 days to request a hearing before a Circuit Judge and 30 days to submit an amended pauper’s oath with documentation of expenses and/or income, or to pay the filing fee, failing which the clerk returns the filing.
What we could not find out
Open questions on this page
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-602 (the litigation tax statute) we could not verified. Tennessee’s official code text is published on a commercial platform requiring JavaScript that returned an empty document, and no permitted official source reproduced the section. The $25.75 state and $33.75 county litigation tax figures above therefore come from the Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk’s own schedule, which does not cite a statute for them, and no statute number has been attached to them here.
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401 is cited as the authority because that is what the Knox County Chancery Court schedule prints; the section’s actual text was not verified for the same reason.
- Knox County’s Circuit Court filing fee schedule (https://www.knoxcounty.org/circuit/pdfs/2026_circuitfees.pdf, ‘Effective 01-01-2026’) contains NO divorce line. It has a $389.50 catch-all category for ‘any other type of judicial proceedings not otherwise designated,’ but no inference was drawn that a Knox circuit divorce costs $389.50. The Chancery figures are reported instead.
- Shelby County publishes only category totals for divorce; its ‘Fee Type / Fee’ sub-rows are printed empty, so no Shelby breakdown exists.
- Whether a parent-education seminar is mandatory in Tennessee with minor children, and what it costs, could not be confirmed – the Administrative Office of the Courts’ site was blocked and no county schedule lists it.
- The income threshold and the exact scope of what a Tennessee pauper’s oath covers are set out in Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 29 itself, which is published on tncourts.gov and we could not retrieved.
- Sources we could not read: https://www.tncourts.gov/ – returned a browser-validation interstitial: ‘Please wait while we validate your browser. Having issues? Please make sure your browser has Javascript enabled and accepts cookies.’ Not bypassed.; https://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode/ – the State of Tennessee’s designated free public access point for the official Tennessee Code returned HTTP 200 but an empty, entirely JavaScript-rendered document with no st
We would rather show you a blank than a plausible number. Everything above is a real limit on what Tennessee’s own agencies publish, not an omission on our part.
How we know this
Every figure on this page came from a statute, a state court system, or a clerk’s own published fee schedule — never a law firm’s blog, a legal-forms company, or a fee aggregator. Where a state publishes no date on its fee schedule, we say so rather than implying the number is current. Where nothing is published, we leave it blank.
Court fees change, and they change without announcement. Confirm with your clerk before you write the check.
What people actually report paying
Everything above is the filing fee, traced to the statute. It is also the smallest number in a divorce. Here is the other side of it — and a warning about how to read it.
We read hundreds of public accounts from people who have been through it. Three findings held up across nearly all of them:
- The total is bimodal, not an average. Self-filers cluster around $300–$500. Anyone with two lawyers and a real disagreement clusters around $20,000–$30,000. Almost nobody reports the middle, so “the average divorce costs X” describes almost no actual divorce.
- Cost is driven by the other person’s conduct, not by how complicated your assets are. People with millions who agreed to split evenly reported paying filing fees only. People with one house and one child reported $45,000 because the case got dragged out.
- Every large surprise is a third professional. The guardian ad litem, the custody evaluator, the forensic accountant, the QDRO preparer — all billed separately from both lawyers, and often introduced by the court before anyone had budgeted for one.
These are anecdotes, not prices. People post about a divorce cost when the number shocked them, so the high figures are heavily over-represented and the ordinary divorce is nearly invisible. Every figure on the full page is labeled with how many people reported it.
See what people report paying →Know someone in Tennessee staring at this number?
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Now the part the fees don’t cover
The forms, the deadlines, the residency rule, and what actually happens next.
Or find someone to help
Tennessee attorneys, mediators, CDFAs and therapists, credentials checked against the state’s own records. Nobody paid to be there.