Divorce in Tennessee, start to finish
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Tennessee gives you the forms for free — but only if you already agree on everything and own no real property. It doesn’t tell you whether that’s Circuit Court or Chancery Court in your county, which of two very different waiting periods applies to you, or that a divorce with kids legally cannot finish without a document most people have never heard of. That’s this.
Put in the day you filed and this page works out every deadline in your case, then hands you a calendar file that reminds you a week before each one and again the day before. It opens in the calendar you already use. Free, no account, nothing stored.
Put in the day you filed and this page works out every date in your case, then hands you a calendar file that reminds you a week before each one and again the day before. It opens in the calendar you already use. Free, no account, nothing stored.
Which forms do you actually need?
Your route and its conditions, the forms grouped by route, how filing actually works in Tennessee, and the sequence with its costs.
First, which route you are on. Each one opens to the conditions the rule actually sets.
Agreed divorce on the Supreme Court-approved forms
Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-101(b); forms approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court and published by the Administrative Office of the Courts
Available only where all of these are true:
- Neither spouse owns any real property — a house, land, a mobile home permanently attached to the ground, a condo, or a co-op — alone or together.
- The spouses have already agreed on everything: dividing belongings and debts, and, where there are children, custody, parenting time, and child support.
Everything else — no statewide packet
Tenn. Code Ann. Title 36
This is the position wherever either of these is true:
- One or both spouses own real property.
- The spouses have not agreed on everything.
Grouped exactly as Tennessee labels them. Every number links to the official PDF.
Agreed, no minor children 1 form
- Packet — How to Get an Agreed Divorce in Tennessee — No Kids (Forms 1–8A)
You may e-file, but you do not have to
The checklist is not something you file. It is your worktable — what to do, in what order, and what it costs. The forms are what reaches the court, and this is how they get there in Tennessee.
- Portal
- No single statewide portal. eFileTN (Tyler/Odyssey) in some courts; eFlex in Davidson and Shelby; Tybera/TNCIS elsewhere. Appellate courts have their own system.
- Paper
- Still accepted — you can file over the counter.
- What it costs
- 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.
- Worth knowing
- Tennessee approves e-filing court by court, so what applies depends on which court your case is in — and in Nashville that is true within the same county. Davidson County Circuit Court lists self-represented and indigent litigants as authorized e-filers; Davidson County Chancery Court limits e-filing to attorneys and court staff. Shelby County offers it free to self-represented filers. Hamilton County states plainly that traditional paper filing continues. In none of them is it forced on you.
Each step with the forms it names and the money it costs. The full detail of every step is in the section below. Print this part.
| # | Step | Forms it names | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Confirm residency and pick your court | None named | — |
| 2 | File your Complaint for Divorce | None named | — |
| 3 | Sign the Divorce Agreement — and the Parenting Plan, if you have children notarized | None named | — |
| 4 | Attend the Parenting Education Seminar, if you have children | None named | — |
| 5 | Wait out the statutory period 60 or 90 days from filing | None named | — |
| 6 | File the Motion to Set for Hearing on the uncontested docket | None named | — |
| 7 | Appear at the final hearing | None named | — |
Every figure here is this page’s own, from the costs section below. A fee waiver application is free to file and is listed with the forms above.
| Parenting Education Seminar, per parent (if minor children) | Varies — no set statewide fee, some sliding-scale |
| Notary or remote online notarization, per document | $0–$25 |
| Certified copy of the Final Decree, per document | ~$5–$10 |
| Typical all-in filing costs, doing it yourselves, uncontested | ~$250–$450 |
The short version8 points · tap one to jump to it
- The two routes, and what the rule requires — Everything in a Tennessee divorce runs off one distinction: whether there is a minor child of the marriage.
- Every form Tennessee publishes for a divorce — Tennessee’s Supreme Court-approved packets are free from the Administrative Office of the Courts.
- Getting the forms, filing them, and Tennessee's biggest trap — Pro se litigants are expressly authorized e-filers; the e-filing portal instructs self-represented users to 'create an account and select the option indicating you are filing Pro Se.' Conventional (paper) filings are accepted and scanned by the clerk.
- Your waiting period, calculated — Everything downstream in a Tennessee divorce counts from the day you file.
- The order it actually happens in
- The rejection-proofing checklist — The 60/90-day waiting period runs from when you filed and counts toward when a judge can hear your case.
- The Permanent Parenting Plan — what T.C.A. § 36-6-404 requires — Mandatory in every Tennessee divorce involving a minor child.
- What this costs — Add roughly $40–$52 if you use the sheriff for service of process — most agreed cases skip this since the responding spouse signs on voluntarily.
In this subject 8
One thing to know about checking Tennessee law yourself. Tennessee publishes no free, official, state-hosted copy of its own statutes. Its agencies link out to LexisNexis, the official publisher under contract, and that link redirects into a session-parameterized address that cannot be reliably cited. In November 2023 the Tennessee Court of Appeals held the publisher is not the functional equivalent of a governmental entity and the Code is exempt from public-records disclosure. You can read Tennessee divorce law free. It cannot be checked automatically — which is why every Tennessee figure on this site carries the date we read it. Why two states do this →
1 · The two routes, and what the rule requires
The short version8 points · tap one to jump to it
- The two routes, and what the rule requires — Everything in a Tennessee divorce runs off one distinction: whether there is a minor child of the marriage.
- Every form Tennessee publishes for a divorce — Tennessee’s Supreme Court-approved packets are free from the Administrative Office of the Courts.
- Getting the forms, filing them, and Tennessee's biggest trap — Pro se litigants are expressly authorized e-filers; the e-filing portal instructs self-represented users to 'create an account and select the option indicating you are filing Pro Se.' Conventional (paper) filings are accepted and scanned by the clerk.
- Your waiting period, calculated — Everything downstream in a Tennessee divorce counts from the day you file.
- The order it actually happens in
- The rejection-proofing checklist — The 60/90-day waiting period runs from when you filed and counts toward when a judge can hear your case.
- The Permanent Parenting Plan — what T.C.A. § 36-6-404 requires — Mandatory in every Tennessee divorce involving a minor child.
- What this costs — Add roughly $40–$52 if you use the sheriff for service of process — most agreed cases skip this since the responding spouse signs on voluntarily.
In this subject 8
One thing to know about checking Tennessee law yourself. Tennessee publishes no free, official, state-hosted copy of its own statutes. Its agencies link out to LexisNexis, the official publisher under contract, and that link redirects into a session-parameterized address that cannot be reliably cited. In November 2023 the Tennessee Court of Appeals held the publisher is not the functional equivalent of a governmental entity and the Code is exempt from public-records disclosure. You can read Tennessee divorce law free. It cannot be checked automatically — which is why every Tennessee figure on this site carries the date we read it. Why two states do this →
Everything in a Tennessee divorce runs off one distinction: whether there is a minor child of the marriage. It sets the waiting period — 60 days or 90 — and it decides whether a Permanent Parenting Plan is legally mandatory. A second distinction decides something different: whether Tennessee’s free, Supreme Court-approved forms apply to a case at all. Those forms are limited by their own terms, and a filing that does not meet those limits has to be drafted rather than filled in.
Residency comes first. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-104 requires one spouse to have lived in Tennessee for 6 months before filing. There is no way around it.
The waiting period runs from the day of filing, per Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-101(b): 60 days where there is no minor child of the marriage, 90 days where there is. Tennessee’s automatic statutory injunction and the Circuit-versus-Chancery question in Section 3 apply on both routes, whichever forms a case uses.
Agreed divorce on the Supreme Court-approved forms
Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-101(b); forms approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court and published by the Administrative Office of the Courts
Tennessee publishes two complete, pre-approved packets — one for cases with no minor children, one for cases with them. They are free, they are accepted statewide, and they are filled in rather than drafted.
Available only where all of these are true:
- Neither spouse owns any real property — a house, land, a mobile home permanently attached to the ground, a condo, or a co-op — alone or together.
- The spouses have already agreed on everything: dividing belongings and debts, and, where there are children, custody, parenting time, and child support.
Where there is a minor child, a Permanent Parenting Plan and a Child Support Worksheet are legally required and are filed separately from the packet — see Section 7. The waiting period on this route is 90 days with a minor child, 60 without. Which court hears the case still has to be confirmed with the county clerk: some Tennessee counties route divorces through Circuit Court and some through Chancery Court — see Section 3.
Everything else — no statewide packet
Tenn. Code Ann. Title 36
Tennessee’s Supreme Court-approved forms are explicitly limited to fully agreed cases with no real property. There is no separate statewide “regular” packet the way some states publish one. A case outside those limits is drafted, not filled in.
This is the position wherever either of these is true:
- One or both spouses own real property.
- The spouses have not agreed on everything.
A circuit or chancery court clerk may have locally-drafted forms or a self-help packet — several counties, including Davidson, publish their own. Real property or unresolved terms are also the two facts that most often make a case worth taking to a family law attorney. Everything else in this guide still applies either way: the 60- or 90-day waiting period, the automatic statutory injunction, the mandatory Parenting Plan where there are children, and the Circuit-versus-Chancery question in Section 3.
2 · Every form Tennessee publishes for a divorce
The complete list, not a shortlist — because which forms a case needs depends on facts only you and, if you need one, your lawyer can weigh. Each row says which route it belongs to and carries the revision date clerks check. Tennessee’s Supreme Court-approved packets are free from the Administrative Office of the Courts. Tennessee does not publish a statewide form set for cases outside the agreed, no-real-property limits — for those, a circuit or chancery court clerk is the place to ask about a local packet.
The Cusp is not a law firm and cannot tell you which forms are right for your case. Everything here is general information about how Tennessee handles divorce, and every form below is published free by Tennessee itself — you do not have to buy anything from anyone to get them. If your situation is not straightforward, a consultation with a Tennessee family lawyer costs far less than fixing a filing that went wrong.
| Form | What it is | Route | Rev. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packet | How to Get an Agreed Divorce in Tennessee — No Kids (Forms 1–8A) | Agreed, no minor children | 01/18 | Download |
| Packet | How to Get an Agreed Divorce in Tennessee — With Children (Forms 1–9) | Agreed, with minor children | 01/18 | Download |
| PPP | Permanent Parenting Plan Form — required, filed separately | Agreed, with minor children | 01/21 | Download |
| CSW | Tennessee Child Support Worksheet — required, filed separately | Agreed, with minor children | — | Download |
Every one of these is free. Download fresh each time rather than reusing an old copy — clerks can reject outdated revisions. Full catalog: tncourts.gov.
3 · Getting the forms, filing them, and Tennessee’s biggest trap
Nobody explains this part, so here it is — including the one thing about Tennessee’s court system that trips up almost everyone who wasn’t born here.
Tennessee: it depends which court you are in Depends on your court
- Who may e-file
- It varies within the same county, which is unusual even among the county-by-county states. Davidson County Circuit Court’s e-filing rules list authorized e-filers as including “Pro se and indigent litigants.” Davidson County Chancery Court limits e-filing to attorneys and court staff. Shelby County offers it to self-represented filers free. Hamilton County states plainly that “litigants may continue to engage in Traditional Filing.”
- Portal
- No single statewide portal. eFileTN (Tyler/Odyssey) in some courts; eFlex in Davidson and Shelby; Tybera/TNCIS elsewhere. Appellate courts have their own system.
- Paper
- Accepted everywhere. In none of the courts we read is e-filing forced on a self-represented filer.
- What it costs
- 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.
- Worth knowing
- Tennessee approves e-filing court by court under Sup. Ct. R. 46, so the operative authority is your own court’s local rules rather than anything statewide. We could not read Sup. Ct. R. 46 itself — the judiciary’s site serves an automated-traffic challenge — but for this question the local rules are what govern, and four of them are quoted above. If your court is not one of the four, its clerk is the place to ask.
Step one — download them free
Tennessee’s court-approved divorce packets live here, at no cost:
tncourts.gov — Court-Approved Divorce Forms
The Tennessee Supreme Court’s pre-approved forms are built for one scenario only: both spouses agree on everything, and neither owns real property. If that’s not your situation, these forms aren’t yours to use — see Section 1. There’s no separate statewide “regular” packet the way some states offer; contested or property-owning cases are handled with locally-drafted forms that vary by county, or with an attorney.
Step two — figure out which court: Circuit or Chancery
This is the single most Tennessee-specific point of confusion in the whole process. Tennessee’s 95 counties are split into 32 judicial districts, each with both a Circuit Court and a Chancery Court — and per Tennessee’s own courts administration, “a number of matters, such as divorces, adoptions, and workers’ compensation, can be heard in either chancery or circuit court.” Divorce is not assigned to one court statewide the way it is in most states.
Which court handles divorce depends on your specific county and judicial district — in some districts Circuit and Chancery have equal, overlapping (“concurrent”) jurisdiction; a few districts even route certain divorces through General Sessions Court as well. Filing in the “wrong” one rarely kills your case outright, since jurisdiction usually overlaps, but it can mean delays, a case transfer, or a clerk who won’t accept your filing at their counter. Before you file, call your county’s circuit court clerk and chancery court clerk (or clerk & master) and ask which one handles divorce cases in your county — don’t assume, and don’t guess from what a neighboring county does.
Step three — fill them in and get them notarized
The Complaint for Divorce, the Divorce Agreement (Marital Dissolution Agreement), and — if you have children — the Permanent Parenting Plan all require notarized signatures, signed in the notary’s presence, not in advance. Tennessee has permitted remote online notarization since 2018 under Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-16-310; national services (Proof, BlueNotary, Notarize, OneNotary) and many Tennessee banks and UPS Stores also notarize in person, typically for $10–$25 per document.
Per the instructions that accompany Tennessee’s approved forms, if more than roughly 180 days pass between the last signature on your Divorce Agreement and the day you file the motion to set your final hearing, the agreement is treated as stale and typically has to be re-signed and re-notarized. Don’t sign it early and let it sit — confirm this window with your clerk, since some counties apply it slightly differently.
Step four — file, and know what happens automatically
You file with the clerk of the court you confirmed in Step two. The moment your Complaint is filed, Tennessee’s statutory injunction (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-106(d)) takes effect automatically on both spouses — no signature or separate court order needed. It bars either of you from transferring, hiding, or borrowing against marital property; canceling insurance; harassing or disparaging the other, especially in front of the children; or relocating a child more than 50 miles or out of state without the other parent’s permission or a court order. Violating it is contempt of court.
4 · Your waiting period, calculated
Everything downstream in a Tennessee divorce counts from the day you file. Put in your dates and we’ll turn Tennessee’s rules into actual dates on your calendar — then add them to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook in one click.
5 · The order it actually happens in
6 · The rejection-proofing checklist
These are the specific things that stall or bounce a Tennessee filing — every one of them costs weeks you don’t get back.
Signing and notarizing
The 60/90-day waiting period runs from when you filed and counts toward when a judge can hear your case. The 180-day Divorce Agreement staleness window runs from your signature date and counts toward when your paperwork goes out of date. They’re unrelated clocks measuring different things — track both separately.
Forms people forget
Timing
A court cannot finalize a divorce with minor children without an approved Permanent Parenting Plan on file — it’s not optional paperwork, it’s a legal precondition under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-6-404. Skipping the Parenting Education Seminar won’t block your decree by itself, but a parent who never completes it — even after the divorce is final — can still be held in contempt of court, which can mean a jail sentence.
7 · The Permanent Parenting Plan — what T.C.A. § 36-6-404 requires
Mandatory in every Tennessee divorce involving a minor child. This isn’t a form you can leave mostly blank — the statute specifies what it has to accomplish.
Parents who agree on everything still file a Permanent Parenting Plan — it just reflects what you’ve already worked out rather than what a judge imposed. You’ll also need the Child Support Worksheet, which uses the state’s income shares guidelines and must be consistent with what the Plan says about parenting time, since parenting time changes the support calculation.
8 · What this costs
| County (Circuit / Chancery) | No minor children | With minor children |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson (Nashville) | $234.50 | $309.50 |
| Shelby (Memphis) | $356.50 | $431.50 |
| Knox (Knoxville, Chancery) | $289.50 | $364.50 |
Fees above are the clerks’ published schedules effective January 1, 2026, and include state and county litigation taxes. Add roughly $40–$52 if you use the sheriff for service of process — most agreed cases skip this since the responding spouse signs on voluntarily. Every county sets its own fee: confirm your county’s current fee with your circuit or chancery court clerk before filing.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Parenting Education Seminar, per parent (if minor children) | Varies — no set statewide fee, some sliding-scale |
| Notary or remote online notarization, per document | $0–$25 |
| Certified copy of the Final Decree, per document | ~$5–$10 |
| Typical all-in filing costs, doing it yourselves, uncontested | ~$250–$450 |
File the Uniform Civil Affidavit of Indigency (bundled as the “Request to Postpone Filing Fees” form in Tennessee’s approved packets) with your clerk. If the court finds you indigent, filing costs can be waived or deferred. Ask the clerk — they cannot give legal advice, but they can walk you through this form.
Among Cusp members who’ve shared numbers, an uncontested Tennessee divorce handled by an attorney has commonly run $900–$2,500 flat-fee, and a contested case with disputes over property or custody has commonly run $4,000–$15,000+ depending on how much is contested. This is illustrative demo data from member reports, not a market survey or a quote — get actual quotes from Tennessee family law attorneys for your situation.
Does cheating change the money in Tennessee?
It can. Marital conduct is a factor the court is allowed to weigh. The rule: “the relative fault of the parties, in cases where the court, in its discretion, deems it appropriate to do so” (§ 36-5-121(i)(11)). How all fifty states answer this.
Reconciled, and it did not work? In Tennessee that has a legal name and it can bar the ground outright: condonation, state by state. If the decision itself is what you are sitting with rather than the law, start here.
What this is. A guide to Tennessee’s own process, built from the Tennessee Code Annotated (Title 36, chapter 4 — including §§ 36-4-101, 36-4-103, 36-4-104, and 36-4-106 — and Title 36, chapter 6, § 36-6-404), the Tennessee Supreme Court-approved divorce forms and instructions published by the Administrative Office of the Courts at tncourts.gov, and published county circuit/chancery clerk fee schedules and filing instructions. Where the state’s own legislative portal did not offer a browsable, citable copy of the code text, statute language was cross-checked against Justia and FindLaw’s verbatim reproductions of the Tennessee Code. The forms themselves are free from tncourts.gov and this guide links you to them rather than reselling them.
What this is not. The Cusp is not a law firm and does not practice law. Nothing here is legal advice, and nothing here tells you which choice is right for your particular situation — only what Tennessee requires of each path. If you own real property, don’t fully agree, have a business, hidden assets, domestic violence in the relationship, or a spouse with a lawyer, Tennessee’s pre-approved forms don’t cover you and you should talk to your circuit or chancery court clerk’s self-help resources, or an attorney. Many offer free consultations, and one hour of advice is cheaper than a filing sent to the wrong court or a decree that can’t finalize because a Parenting Plan was never filed.
Numbers that vary by county. Filing fees, which court (Circuit, Chancery, or both) hears divorces, Parenting Education Seminar providers and their deadlines, and local motion-hearing practices are all set at the county or judicial-district level in Tennessee, not statewide. Where this guide could not verify an exact figure or local practice with confidence, it says so and points you to your clerk rather than guessing.
Four things can happen to the house in a Tennessee divorce
Tennessee is one of the twenty. The moment a petition is filed, an automatic order takes effect on both of you, barring either from selling or encumbering property. Nobody is served with it separately and nobody explains it. Breaking it is contempt.
One of you buys the other out, you sell later, you sell now, or the court decides. For a great many people the right answer is not to sell at all – and three of the four routes earn us nothing.
The four routes, compared · Keeping it: the buyout and the carrying cost · Selling: capital gains, basis and timing · Finding an agent who has done a divorce sale · What two households cost
Need a vetted attorney, mediator, or financial analyst in Tennessee?
Browse The Cusp’s professional directory — rated only by verified clients, never ranked by who paid the most.
Browse the directory →The Cusp · All 50 state kits · Find a professional · About
Ask for an introduction to an agent → — who we would introduce you to, what the referral fee is and who pays it, and why the answer is sometimes that you should not sell at all.
Everything we have written about Tennessee specifically. Every figure on these pages is quoted from Tennessee’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
- Modifying child support after divorce
- Modifying custody and parenting time
- What it costs to file
- Child custody
- Child support
- Guardians ad litem and child representation
- Travel, custody and relocation
- Alimony
- Property, support and legal fees
- Protective orders
- Changing your name back
- Legal help you can afford
- Verified professionals
The most expensive mistakes in a divorce are made in the year after it, by people who thought the case was over. After the divorce is the checklist for that year — the health-coverage clock, the retirement order a decree cannot replace, and the beneficiary form that outranks your will.
Filing is one household becoming two, and the second one starts empty. The two-household list is what to send the people who keep asking how they can help — the second of everything, and the half of it that costs nothing. Some people call it a divorce registry.
All 4 Tennessee divorce forms, listed by the number the clerk will ask for — 4 with an official form number, 4 linked straight to the state’s own file, each with its revision date where the state publishes one. Open the Tennessee form list →
Common questions about filing for divorce in Tennessee
Short answers to what people ask most before they start. Each one points at the part of this page that covers it in full.
How do I file for divorce in Tennessee?
This page sets out the order it happens in for Tennessee: which form opens the case, what has to be served on the other person and when, and what the court needs before it will finish. It is written to be followed in sequence rather than read through.
What forms do I need to file for divorce in Tennessee?
The form list on this page gives the official Tennessee form numbers, each one’s revision date, and a link to the copy on the court’s own site rather than a copy hosted here. Using a superseded revision is one of the most common reasons a filing comes back, which is why the dates are shown.
How much does it cost to file for divorce in Tennessee?
$234.50 – $431.50 to open the case, and that is only the filing fee — it does not cover service, copies, any required class, or a lawyer. The full breakdown for Tennessee, with every figure traced to the court’s own published schedule and dated, is at what it costs to file in Tennessee.
What gets a Tennessee divorce filing rejected?
This page has a section on exactly that — the specific mistakes that get a filing returned in Tennessee rather than a general list. Most of them are procedural and cost weeks rather than money: the wrong form revision, a missing signature or notarization, service done in a way the state does not accept, or filing before a residency requirement is met.
How long does a divorce take in Tennessee?
There is a timeline on this page built from Tennessee’s own statutory day-counts, not from averages. The honest short answer is that the waiting period is a floor and not a prediction: an uncontested case can finish close to it, and a contested one is governed by the court’s calendar rather than the statute.
Where does the information on this page come from?
Tennessee’s own courts and statutes. Every form links to the court’s site, every fee is quoted from the published schedule with the date it was last checked, and where something could not be confirmed from an official source this site says so instead of estimating. It is free, with no account and no paywall.
Does cheating change the money in Tennessee?
It can. Marital conduct is a factor Tennessee allows the court to weigh, which is not the same as a rule that decides the outcome — it sits alongside need, earning capacity and the length of the marriage, and how much weight it gets is the judge’s. Eighteen states are in this position. The fifty-state table sets out the section this comes from, and the card higher up this page quotes your state’s own words.
Choosing an agent for a divorce sale is a different problem from choosing one for an ordinary sale: who the agent is allowed to talk to, who has to sign, what happens when one of you will not, and the three separate conflicts of interest that come up when one spouse found the agent first. How to choose a real estate agent for a divorce sale sets out what to ask, and how to check a credential yourself — no divorce credential is official with the National Association of Realtors.
The Cusp receives a referral fee from agents it vets and trains to handle divorce clients.
Key deadlines at a glance
These are the same deadlines the calculator above works out, shown as days counted from the day you file or the day your spouse is served. Use the calculator for your exact dates.
No minor children
| Step | When | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Complaint filed | The day you file | The waiting period starts here, and the statutory injunction (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-106(d)) takes effect on both spouses automatically. |
| Divorce Agreement signed | The day your spouse is served (or signs a waiver) | Both spouses’ signatures — notarized. |
| Earliest day your case can be heard — 60 days | 60 days after filing | Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-101(b). 60 days since you have no minor children together. This is a floor, not a target — the hearing itself usually happens after this date, once you file the Motion to Set for Hearing. |
| Divorce Agreement may be considered stale | 180 days after service | Based on the instructions accompanying Tennessee’s approved forms — confirm this window with your clerk, since practice can vary by county. |
No minor children
| Step | When | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Complaint filed | The day you file | The waiting period starts here, and the statutory injunction (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-106(d)) takes effect on both spouses automatically. |
| Divorce Agreement signed | The day your spouse is served (or signs a waiver) | Both spouses’ signatures — notarized. |
| Earliest day your case can be heard — 90 days | 90 days after filing | Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-101(b). 90 days because you have a minor child together. This is a floor, not a target — the hearing itself usually happens after this date, once you file the Motion to Set for Hearing. |
| Divorce Agreement may be considered stale | 180 days after service | Based on the instructions accompanying Tennessee’s approved forms — confirm this window with your clerk, since practice can vary by county. |
Your county
Divorce rules are set by the state, but each county or court has its own forms, deadlines, classes and filing habits. Choose yours.
Or go straight to your county or court:
Davidson County (Nashville) Circuit Court (call to confirm)Hamilton County (Chattanooga) Circuit CourtKnox County Fourth Circuit CourtShelby County (Memphis) Circuit Court, Divorce Referee (call to confirm)Williamson County Circuit Court (call to confirm)Davidson County (Nashville) Circuit Court Call or check the court website to confirm
The clerk FAQ says the court’s approved self-filing divorce forms are for parties with no children or property who agree to the divorce. E-filing is available through the county e-file portal. Rules for cases with children, seminars and mediation were not confirmed here.
Who to contact: Circuit Court Clerk, 1 Public Square Suite 302, Nashville, TN 37201
Where this comes from
Last checked 2026-11-10. Tell us if this is out of date
Hamilton County (Chattanooga) Circuit Court
Both parents attend a four-hour divorce-impact seminar; the page says Zoom attendance is allowed until further notice, but a generic online parenting course does not count. The parenting plan is filed with the original complaint or petition. Parties must attempt mediation of parenting plan disputes under Local Rule 10.06, with certified Rule 31 mediators appointed if the parties cannot agree, and costs are based on ability to pay.
Who to contact: Circuit Court Clerk, 500 Courthouse, 625 Georgia Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37402; 423-209-6700
Where this comes from
Last checked 2026-11-10. Tell us if this is out of date
Knox County Fourth Circuit Court
Divorcing parents attend a Parent Education Seminar, each on a different night, and the fee can be waived or reduced for indigency. If parents cannot agree on a parenting plan, some form of alternative dispute resolution is required (mediation, arbitration or settlement conference), and this court uses the Community Mediation Center for mediations. The clerk can provide the list of approved providers.
Who to contact: Fourth Circuit Court Clerk, City County Building, 400 Main Street, Knoxville, TN 37902; 865-215-2404
Where this comes from
Last checked 2026-11-10. Tell us if this is out of date
Shelby County (Memphis) Circuit Court, Divorce Referee Call or check the court website to confirm
This divorce referee page says uncontested divorces are heard Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. in Division III, with documents due before 2:00 p.m. the Friday before (email strongly preferred). Divorces with children require a hearing and an approved Parenting Education Seminar. The page does not describe e-filing, and it covers one division’s procedure only.
Where this comes from
Last checked 2026-11-10. Tell us if this is out of date
Williamson County Circuit Court Call or check the court website to confirm
The county forms page lists divorce forms for cases with no children and insurance coverage forms. No other local procedures were confirmed.
Where this comes from
Last checked 2026-11-10. Tell us if this is out of date
Not listed? Your county clerk of court can tell you the local rules. These are general information from court and clerk pages, last checked 2026-11-10, not legal advice.
Serving the papers in Tennessee? Sheriff, or any private person 18 or older who is not a party; not you. Deadline: 90 days from issue. (As we read the rules on 29 October 2026.) See who can serve a divorce summons and whether you can do it yourself, and find Tennessee in our state-by-state serving table.
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How we can help
Understand the house first. Then talk to someone who gets it.
The house is usually the largest decision in a divorce, and the one people are least ready for. Here is what we do, in the order that makes sense.
1. Start with the facts, free
22 states have automatic orders that freeze both spouses the moment a divorce is filed, barring either one from selling or borrowing against the property. Is yours one of them?
Plain-English guides on what can happen to the house, what an automatic order stops you doing, and how the tax rules decide what a sale is worth. No account and nothing to buy.
- The four things that can happen to the house
- Selling the house: who signs, and the tax rules
- Keeping the house: the buyout and the carrying cost
2. Know when not to call an agent
Often the right answer is to wait, or to talk to your lawyer or an accountant first. We say so plainly. An agent is the wrong first call if nothing is filed, or if an order restricts what either of you can do with the property.
3. Talk to someone who gets it
When you do need an agent, we introduce you to a local agent who has completed our divorce real estate training and passed its 20-question exam. Before any introduction we check the license with the state regulator (any unresolved disciplinary action is a no), the agent’s closed sales, and a review rating of 4.7 or better. The introduction is free, and you are free to say no.
Ask for an introductionHow we are paid
You pay us nothing. Agents are not charged for the training, the exam or the free resources. If an introduction leads to a closed sale, the agent’s brokerage pays a referral fee out of its own commission, not out of your proceeds. A place on the panel cannot be bought.
General information, not legal or tax advice. The Cusp is not a law firm.
Selling a home in a divorce: what to ask a local listing agent
Selling the house is often the largest single decision in a divorce. These questions help you judge whether an agent has done it before. They do not replace your lawyer, who should approve the plan before anything is listed.
- Have you sold homes where both spouses had to sign, or where a court had to approve the sale? How many, and how recently?
- Does filing already restrain a sale in my state? Check the 50-state table and ask my lawyer before we sign anything.
- Who decides on price changes and which offers to accept when we disagree, and how will that be written down?
- Who pays the mortgage, taxes and insurance until closing, and what does the listing agreement say about it?
- Where will the sale proceeds be held until the decree says who gets what?
- How will you handle showings, access and lockboxes if we are not speaking?
- Will you give both spouses and both lawyers the same information at the same time?
- What happens to the listing agreement if we settle, reconcile or the case is delayed? What are the cancellation terms?
- Can I have your fee terms in writing and the names of past clients who sold during a divorce?