Tennessee Child Custody Laws (2026): Parenting Plans, Best Interests, and Your Rights

Tennessee courts decide child custody based on the best interests of the child under TCA 36-6-106, weighing 17 enumerated factors effective July 1, 2025. The state requires all divorcing or separating parents to file a permanent parenting plan that designates a primary residential parent and an alternate residential parent. Tennessee has no statutory presumption of joint or equal custody.

How does Tennessee decide child custody?

Tennessee courts apply the best interests of the child standard to every custody determination under TCA 36-6-106(a). The court seeks to allow each child the maximum participation from both parents consistent with the child's best interests, the parents' work schedules, the child's school schedule, and all other relevant factors. Circuit and chancery courts in the county where the child resides handle these cases. The 2025 legislative amendments, effective July 1, 2025, updated the statutory factor list to 17 factors, adding a new factor for a history of restricted parenting time and a factor for a parent who has failed to pay court-ordered support for three or more years. These changes reflect Tennessee's continuing effort to hold both parents accountable in the custody determination.

Types of custody in Tennessee

Tennessee law recognizes two components of custody: legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody is the authority to make major decisions about the child's education, healthcare, and religious upbringing. Physical custody refers to where the child lives on a day-to-day basis and the parenting-time schedule.

Tennessee has a distinctive procedural requirement: every case involving the custody of a minor child must produce a permanent parenting plan. The plan designates a primary residential parent, which is the parent with whom the child spends the majority of residential time, and an alternate residential parent, who has parenting time according to a specific schedule. This framework replaces what many states call primary physical custody and visitation. Both parents retain joint legal authority to make decisions unless the plan specifically restricts one parent's rights.

Does Tennessee presume joint or 50/50 custody?

Tennessee does NOT presume joint or equal parenting time. The state legislature considered SB 1058, which would have created a rebuttable presumption in favor of equal custody, but that bill did not pass. As a result, there is no automatic 50/50 starting point under Tennessee law.

Courts instead begin with the best-interests analysis under TCA 36-6-106(a) and build a parenting plan tailored to the specific child and family. The outcome can range from roughly equal residential time to a schedule where one parent is the clear primary residential parent with the other having parenting time every other weekend and some weeknights. The absence of a presumption means the facts of each case fully drive the result.

This distinguishes Tennessee from states like Kentucky, Arkansas, and Florida, where equal or substantial parenting time is presumed.

The best interests factors Tennessee courts weigh

TCA 36-6-106(a) enumerates 17 factors as of July 1, 2025. Courts must consider all of them, though no single factor is automatically dispositive:

1. The strength, nature, and stability of the child's relationship with each parent.
2. Each parent's past and future performance of parenting responsibilities.
3. The willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and support a continuing relationship between the child and the other parent.
4. Refusal to attend a court-ordered parent-education seminar.
5. A history of abuse or domestic violence by either parent.
6. The emotional needs and developmental level of the child.
7. The moral fitness of each parent as it relates to the child.
8. The physical and mental health of each parent.
9. The child's school and community ties, including home, school, and community adjustment.
10. The employment schedule of each parent.
11. The needs of the child to maintain relationships with siblings and other significant persons in the child's life.
12. The reasonable preference of the child, with weight based on the child's age and maturity.
13. Evidence of child abuse, sexual abuse, or the potential for ongoing abuse.
14. The character and behavior of any other person living in or frequently visiting either parent's home.
15. Alcohol or drug abuse by either parent.
16. A parent's history of having restricted or denied parenting time to the other parent without good cause (added 7/1/2025).
17. A parent who has willfully failed to pay court-ordered support for three or more consecutive years (added 7/1/2025).

The court has discretion to consider any other relevant factor as well.

Relocation: moving with your child

Tennessee has a detailed relocation statute at TCA 36-6-108. A parent who is the primary residential parent and wants to move more than 50 miles from the other parent, or out of state, must provide written notice by certified mail at least 60 days before the intended move. The notice must include the proposed new address, the date of the move, and the reasons for the relocation.

The alternate residential parent has 30 days from receipt of the notice to file a petition opposing the move. If no objection is filed within that window, the relocation is permitted by operation of law. If an objection is timely filed, the court holds a hearing and applies a 9-factor best-interests test specific to relocation, which includes each party's reason for or against the move, the quality of relationships with each parent, the child's ties to the community, and whether there are realistic means of preserving the relationship with the non-relocating parent after the move.

An alternate residential parent wanting to relocate is subject to a more flexible standard, since the primary residential parent's home is the child's base. Any relocation dispute can ultimately reopen the entire parenting plan for review.

Changing a custody order (modification)

An existing Tennessee custody order can be modified only if the requesting parent proves a substantial and material change in circumstances since the last order was entered, and demonstrates that the modification serves the best interests of the child. Courts apply a two-step test: first, the threshold showing of changed circumstances; second, the full best-interests analysis under TCA 36-6-106(a).

Minor disagreements, normal developmental changes in the child, or modest changes in a parent's routine do not meet the material-change threshold. Examples that often qualify include a primary residential parent's significant new relationship or remarriage, a serious health crisis, a move that disrupts the existing parenting-time schedule, documented abuse or neglect, or a substantial change in the child's needs. Once the threshold is cleared, the court evaluates all 17 factors to craft a new parenting plan.

Child support is calculated based on the residential schedule set in the parenting plan. A modification that shifts residential time can result in a recalculation of support. For more on how Tennessee computes child support, see Tennessee Child Support Laws.

If you are facing a custody case in Tennessee

Tennessee requires a permanent parenting plan in every case, so drafting a specific, workable proposal is the first practical step. Your plan should address the regular residential schedule, holiday and school-break rotations, a process for making legal decisions, and a dispute-resolution mechanism. Judges evaluate plans partly on their specificity and feasibility.

Document your existing parenting involvement before filing or responding. Tennessee courts weigh each parent's actual performance of parenting responsibilities as a statutory factor, so records of school involvement, medical appointments, daily caregiving, and regular communication with the child carry direct legal weight.

Be aware of the 2025 amendments. The new factors in TCA 36-6-106(a) mean that courts can now formally penalize a parent who has historically blocked the other's parenting time, and a parent who has gone three or more years without paying support faces an explicit negative factor. If either situation applies to your case, it may significantly affect the outcome.

Consider mediation as a first step. Many Tennessee courts encourage or require mediation before a contested custody trial. Parents who reach an agreed parenting plan have more control over the outcome and generally face less adversarial damage to co-parenting going forward.

For any contested custody dispute, consulting a licensed family-law attorney in Tennessee is essential. The 17-factor analysis, the permanent-parenting-plan requirement, and the specific rules for relocation and modification create a complex legal environment where professional guidance makes a substantial difference.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Child custody law varies by state and turns on the specific facts of each family. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed family-law attorney in Tennessee.

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Sources

• TCA 36-6-106 (Best Interests Factors, 17 factors as of 7/1/2025): https://www.tn.gov/
• TCA 36-6-108 (Relocation): https://www.tn.gov/

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Related pages:

• Child Custody Laws by State (hub)
• Tennessee Child Support Laws
• Tennessee Alimony Laws
• Tennessee Emancipation Laws