Child Custody in Tennessee: Parenting Plans, the Best-Interest Factors and Relocation
Tennessee family law · Last reviewed November 2, 2026
Tennessee decides custody through a parenting plan. When divorcing parents have minor children, the court enters a permanent parenting plan: a written plan that allocates parenting responsibilities, sets a residential schedule and includes child support. The Tennessee Parenting Plan law, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-6-401 and the sections after it, has been in effect since January 1, 2001. Parents who agree submit their own plan on the statewide Permanent Parenting Plan Order form; when they don't, the judge sets one.
The residential schedule and the primary residential parent
The residential schedule says when the child is in each parent's physical care, and in whose home the child lives on given days of the year. If the child is scheduled to live with one parent more than 50% of the time, that parent is the primary residential parent (§ 36-6-402). The other is the alternate residential parent. The form lets parents who agree choose an equal schedule instead.
Tennessee law starts from neutral ground. Under § 36-6-101(a)(2)(A), "neither a preference nor a presumption for or against joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole custody is established", and the court has wide discretion to order whatever arrangement is in the child's best interest. But where the parents agree to joint custody, joint custody is presumed to be in the child's best interest unless clear and convincing evidence shows otherwise.
The best-interest factors
The judge decides on the child's best interest. Before weighing the factors, the court applies the limits in § 36-6-406 (below); only if those don't decide the schedule does it turn to the factors in § 36-6-106(a). In summary, they are:
- The strength, nature and stability of the child's relationship with each parent, including who has performed the parenting responsibilities.
- Each parent's past and likely future performance of parenting responsibilities, including willingness to support a close relationship between the child and the other parent.
- A refusal to attend a court-ordered parent education seminar.
- Each parent's willingness to provide food, clothing, medical care, education and other necessities.
- Which parent has been the primary caregiver.
- The love, affection and emotional ties between each parent and the child.
- The child's emotional needs and developmental level.
- Each parent's moral, physical, mental and emotional fitness as it affects parenting.
- The child's relationships with siblings, other relatives and step-relatives, and involvement in school, community and activities.
- The importance of continuity and the time the child has lived in a stable environment.
- Evidence of physical or emotional abuse of the child, the other parent or anyone else.
- The character and behavior of anyone who lives in or often visits a parent's home, and how they treat the child.
- The reasonable preference of a child 12 or older. The court may hear a younger child's preference on request, and older children's preferences normally weigh more.
- Each parent's work schedule, which the court may accommodate.
- Whether a parent has had custody or parenting time reduced or restricted before, and why.
- Whether a parent has failed to pay court-ordered child support.
- New from July 1, 2026: the extent to which the proposed or ordered schedule gives each parent meaningful opportunities to take part in the child's life.
- Any other factor the court finds relevant.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- Public Chapter 683 (2026), effective July 1, 2026, makes the child's best interest always paramount and added factor 17, which reads in part: "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". It does not create a 50/50 presumption.
- Public Chapter 758 (2026), effective April 16, 2026: a custody order, "whether temporary or permanent", must include written findings on whether the § 36-6-406 limitations apply.
- Public Chapter 321 (2025): factor 16 now covers any failure to pay court-ordered child support, not only failures of three years or more.
Limits for abuse and abandonment
Under § 36-6-406, a parent's residential time must be limited, if that is in the child's best interest, when the court finds from a prior order or other reliable evidence that the parent willfully abandoned the child for an extended time or substantially refused to perform parenting responsibilities, or committed physical or sexual abuse or a pattern of emotional abuse against the other parent, the child or someone living with the child. The section lists further grounds for limitations, such as neglect or substantial nonperformance of parenting responsibilities, which since 2025 includes failing to pay court-ordered child support.
The parent education seminar
In every case where a permanent parenting plan is or will be entered, each parent must attend a parent education seminar as soon as possible after the complaint is filed (§ 36-6-408). It lasts at least four hours in total, children don't attend, and it covers protecting the child's emotional development and the legal process. Parents don't have to attend the same class. The fees must be reasonable and may be waived for people who can't pay, and the court can excuse attendance for good cause. Skipping it won't stop the divorce:
No court shall deny the granting of a divorce from the bonds of matrimony for failure of a party or both parties to attend the educational session.
But a refusal to attend is one of the best-interest factors.
Moving away with a child
After a permanent parenting plan is in place, a parent who spends time with the child and wants to move out of Tennessee, or more than 50 miles from the other parent within the state, must send the other parent notice by registered or certified mail at least 60 days before the move, unless the court excuses it for exigent circumstances (§ 36-6-108). The notice gives the new location and the reasons, and says the move will be allowed unless the other parent objects within 30 days of the date it was sent. If the parents don't agree on a new schedule, the relocating parent petitions the court, and the court decides whether the move is in the child's best interest.
While the divorce is pending, the statewide injunction already bars moving the children out of Tennessee or more than 50 miles from the marital home without the other spouse's agreement or a court order.
Frequently asked questions
Does Tennessee favor 50/50 custody?
No. The law sets no preference or presumption for or against joint or sole custody, and the 2026 amendment adding the meaningful-parenting-time factor says expressly that it creates no presumption about parenting time.
At what age can a child choose which parent to live with in Tennessee?
No child chooses. At 12 or older, the child's reasonable preference is one factor the judge weighs; the court may also hear a younger child's preference.
What is a primary residential parent?
The parent the child is scheduled to live with more than 50% of the time under the parenting plan.
Is a parenting class required in a Tennessee divorce?
Yes, when a permanent parenting plan will be entered. Each parent attends a seminar of at least four hours, unless the court waives it for good cause.
Can I move out of state with my child after the divorce?
Only after giving the other parent at least 60 days' notice by registered or certified mail. If the other parent objects within 30 days, the court decides based on the child's best interest.
Do judges have to explain temporary custody orders?
Since April 16, 2026, a custody order, temporary or permanent, must include written findings on whether the § 36-6-406 limitations apply.