Tennessee

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 85 out of 100

Tennessee leaves the property split and alimony amount and length to the judge’s weighing of factors, with no formula or cap. Fault is barred from property division but may be weighed for alimony. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Tennessee ranks 36 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	15 / 20	The court divides marital property equitably in proportions it deems just based on listed factors, without regard to marital fault and with no statutory presumption of equal division. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-121(a)(1)(A), (c)
Alimony	20 / 20	The court may award rehabilitative, transitional, periodic, or lump-sum alimony after weighing listed factors, with a stated legislative preference for rehabilitative alimony but no formula or cap. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-121
Fault	10 / 20	Marital fault is excluded from property division by statute, but the court may consider the relative fault of the parties in setting alimony when it deems that appropriate. Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 36-4-121(a)(1)(A), 36-5-121(i)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	The court has discretion to award reasonable attorney fees in divorce, and a prevailing party in alimony, support, or custody proceedings may recover reasonable fees fixed in the court’s discretion. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-103(c); § 36-5-121 (alimony in solido)
Second opinion	20 / 20	A party may have contested fact issues raised in the pleadings, such as grounds for divorce, tried by a jury, but property division and alimony are decided by the judge, and recusal requires a motion for cause. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-113; Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 10B

Getting in

No waiting period. Both applicants file a sworn written application with a county clerk. The statute sets no waiting period for adults, and the license is good for 30 days. A couple who each complete a four-hour premarital course within the prior year skip $60 of the fee.
Tenn. Code §§ 36-3-103(a), 36-3-104(a), 36-6-413(b), 8-21-701, 67-4-505

Who can marry you. Ministers and other spiritual leaders with the care of souls, many current and former officials, county clerks and notaries may officiate. The statute says people ordained online may not, though earlier marriages are protected. Federal suits decided in 2023 and 2025 produced no ruling against the ban. Quakers may self-unite under their rite. No witnesses are required.
Tenn. Code § 36-3-301; Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse v. Nabors, 35 F.4th 1021 (6th Cir. 2022); American Marriage Ministries v. Collins, No. 3:24-cv-247 (E.D. Tenn. Sept. 17, 2025)

Common-law marriage: Not available here. Tennessee does not recognize a common-law marriage contracted within the state, but its courts do recognize one validly contracted in a state that allows it.
Troxel v. Jones, 45 Tenn. App. 264, 322 S.W.2d 251 (1958); Smith v. North Memphis Savings Bank, 115 Tenn. 12 (1905)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Tennessee is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Marital property is what either spouse acquired during the marriage up to the final divorce hearing and owned at filing, valued near the hearing date. Premarital property, gifts and inheritances stay separate. Income from and growth in separate property become marital only if each spouse substantially contributed, which can include homemaking; purely market-driven growth stays separate.
Tenn. Code § 36-4-121(b)(2), (b)(4); Langschmidt v. Langschmidt, 81 S.W.3d 741 (Tenn. 2002)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

Putting it in joint names usually makes it marital. Separate money becomes marital if inextricably mingled with marital property; if it stays segregated or can be traced, it does not. Treating it in a way that shows an intent to make it marital creates a presumption of a gift to the marriage, which evidence can rebut. The state Supreme Court calls separate funds put in a joint checking account and spent on marital needs the typical case.
Langschmidt v. Langschmidt, 81 S.W.3d 741 (Tenn. 2002); Tenn. Code § 36-4-121(b)(4)(D)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Tennessee courts apply the common-law doctrine of necessaries to hold a spouse liable for necessary medical care provided to the other spouse; a 2015 bill to abolish the doctrine did not pass.
Out Patient Diagnostic Center v. Christian, No. 01A01-9510-CV-00467 (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 30, 1997); S.B. 1231, 109th Gen. Assembly (2015) (not enacted) (not yet checked against the source)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

The surviving spouse may elect a share of the net estate that depends on the length of the marriage: 10 percent under 3 years, 20 percent at 3 to 6 years, 30 percent at 6 to 9 years, and 40 percent at 9 years or more. The net estate is the probate estate less secured debts, expenses and allowances; a conveyance made fraudulently to defeat the share can be added back and set aside.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 31-4-101; Tenn. Code Ann. § 31-1-105

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under own statute (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-501) and case law. A prenuptial agreement binds the court if it was entered into freely, knowledgeably and in good faith, without duress or undue influence; ‘knowledgeably’ means the enforcing spouse proves full and fair disclosure of his or her holdings or that the other spouse already knew them. An alimony waiver is enforced unless enforcement would make the waiving spouse a public charge. Postnuptial agreements are enforceable if supported by adequate consideration, knowingly entered, and free of fraud, coercion or duress.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-501; Randolph v. Randolph, 937 S.W.2d 815 (Tenn. 1996); Cary v. Cary, 937 S.W.2d 777 (Tenn. 1996); Bratton v. Bratton, 136 S.W.3d 595 (Tenn. 2004)

What an agreement needs. An agreement made upon consideration of marriage must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged; no statute requires notarization, witnesses or a waiting period, and Randolph did not require independent counsel. The enforcing spouse must prove full and fair disclosure or the other spouse’s independent knowledge. An alimony waiver yields if enforcement would make the waiving spouse a public charge.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-2-101(a)(3); Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-501; Randolph v. Randolph, 937 S.W.2d 815 (Tenn. 1996); Cary v. Cary, 937 S.W.2d 777 (Tenn. 1996)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. Tennessee uses the income shares model. The duty runs to 18 and continues for a child in an accredited high school until the child or the child’s class graduates, but not past 19 unless the child has a disability. A court’s support power generally ends at majority; college support comes from the parents’ contract.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-02-04-.03(1)(a); Tenn. Code §§ 34-1-102(b), 36-5-101(k), as amended by 2026 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 870; Penland v. Penland, 521 S.W.2d 222 (Tenn. 1975)

Moving away with a child. A parent moving out of state or more than 50 miles from the other parent within the state must mail notice by registered or certified mail at least 60 days ahead. Absent agreement or on a timely objection, the moving parent petitions, and the judge decides by the child’s best interest, with no preference for the parent with more time.
Tenn. Code § 36-6-108

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: six months. The six-month rule applies when the grounds arose outside Tennessee: the filer or the other spouse must have lived there six months before filing. If the acts occurred while the filer was a bona fide Tennessee resident, no minimum period applies. A spouse newly arrived with grounds from elsewhere waits six months. Where the couple married does not matter.
Tenn. Code § 36-4-104(a); Carter v. Carter, 113 Tenn. 509 (1904)

How long it takes. One spouse can get a no-fault divorce over objection only after two years in separate residences, and only with no minor children. A contested irreconcilable-differences case needs a signed settlement. With minor children, a spouse facing an objection must prove fault. Every complaint must stay on file 60 days, or 90 with a child under 18.
Tenn. Code §§ 36-4-101(a)(14), (a)(15), (b); 36-4-103(e)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 790 days from arrival to a final decree (730 days in separate residences, with the 180 days of residence running inside it, + 60 on file; only if no minor children). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Tennessee and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Tennessee lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Tennessee” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.