Tennessee sets the rules that decide how fast a divorce can move, what a court is allowed to divide, and what has to be settled before a judge will sign anything. Knowing those rules in the first few weeks changes the decisions you make, and the decisions made early are the ones that are hardest to undo later.

This page covers what the law requires, what it leaves to the judge, and the points where Clarksville cases most often turn. If you would rather talk it through, call 931.645.4044.

Before you can file

Either you or your spouse must have lived in Tennessee for the six months before the complaint is filed. If what you are relying on happened here while you were a resident, that satisfies the requirement too.

In Montgomery County a divorce is filed in either Circuit Court or Chancery Court. Both hear divorces, and both sit in Clarksville. Which one suits a particular case is a judgment call worth making deliberately rather than by default.

Grounds: fault and no fault

Tennessee recognizes fifteen grounds for divorce. Fourteen of them require proof that your spouse did something. The fifteenth, irreconcilable differences, requires nothing except that the marriage has broken down.

The fault grounds include adultery, willful desertion or absence without reasonable cause for one year, habitual drunkenness or drug abuse where the habit began after the marriage, cruel and inhuman treatment that makes living together unsafe, conviction of a felony carrying a penitentiary sentence, and indignities that force a spouse to leave.

Most Clarksville divorces proceed on irreconcilable differences even where there is real fault, because fault has to be proved, and proving it lengthens the case, raises the cost and hardens both sides. That said, fault is not irrelevant. It can bear on alimony, and in some cases it is the honest description of what happened. It is worth a conversation rather than an assumption.

The waiting period

A divorce on irreconcilable differences cannot be heard until the complaint has been on file for a set period:

• 60 days where there is no unmarried child under 18
• 90 days where there is at least one unmarried child under 18

The clock runs from the date the original complaint was filed, not from the date it was later amended. These are minimums, not timelines. An uncontested divorce with everything agreed can finish close to them. A contested one will not.

What has to be agreed before a judge signs

For a no-fault divorce Tennessee requires a written agreement covering the custody and support of any children and the division of property and debt. Without it, there is nothing for the court to approve.

There is a practical benefit to getting there. Where the parties file a properly executed marital dissolution agreement, and a parenting plan if there are minor children, the requirement to attend mediation falls away. Where agreement is not possible, mediation usually comes first and trial after it.

Dividing property: Tennessee is not a 50/50 state

Tennessee divides marital property equitably. Equitable means fair in the circumstances, which is sometimes an even split and often is not. The court weighs the length of the marriage, what each spouse contributed including as a homemaker, each person’s earning capacity, and what each is left with afterwards.

The first question is always which property is marital and which is separate. Separate property generally means what you owned before the marriage and what came to you by gift or inheritance. It can lose that protection if it is mixed into marital assets, and that happens more easily than people expect.

The assets that get overlooked

• Retirement accounts and pensions, including military retired pay, which has its own federal rules
• A business interest, and the goodwill attached to it
• Equity built in a house during the marriage even where only one name is on the deed
• Debt, which is divided on the same equitable basis as assets
• Deferred compensation, stock and bonuses earned during the marriage but paid afterwards

Children

Where there are minor children, a permanent parenting plan has to be part of the divorce. It sets the residential schedule, who decides on education, health care, extracurricular activities and religious upbringing, and how disputes are handled before anyone returns to court.

Child support is calculated under Tennessee’s Income Shares guidelines rather than negotiated freely, and it is based on both parents’ incomes and the number of days the children spend with each of them.

Fort Campbell and military divorce

A large share of Clarksville divorces involve a service member or a military spouse, and they carry complications a civilian case does not.

• The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act can postpone proceedings while a service member is deployed or otherwise unable to take part
• Military retired pay is divided under its own federal framework, and the wording of the order matters to whether it can actually be enforced
• A permanent change of station raises relocation questions that are better dealt with in the parenting plan than after the orders arrive
• Housing and subsistence allowances are treated as income for support purposes

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a divorce take in Tennessee?

The statutory minimum is 60 days on file where there are no minor children and 90 days where there are. An uncontested divorce with everything agreed can finish close to those figures. A contested divorce takes as long as the disputed issues take, and that is usually measured in months.

Do I have to prove my spouse did something wrong?

No. Irreconcilable differences is a no-fault ground and requires no proof of misconduct. Fault grounds exist and are sometimes the right choice, but they are not required.

Is Tennessee a 50/50 state?

No. Tennessee divides marital property equitably, which means fairly in the circumstances. That is sometimes an equal split and often is not.

Do we have to go to court?

Not necessarily. Where the parties reach a written agreement and file a properly executed marital dissolution agreement and, if there are children, a parenting plan, the matter can usually be resolved without a contested hearing. Where agreement is not possible, mediation generally comes before trial.

Can I file if my spouse has already left Tennessee?

Usually yes. The residency requirement is satisfied if either spouse lived in Tennessee for the six months before filing, or if the conduct relied on happened here while you were a resident.

What should I bring to a first meeting?

Anything you already have: recent pay stubs and tax returns for both of you, a list of accounts and debts, the deed or mortgage statement, retirement statements, and any court papers that have already been served. If you do not have those yet, come anyway. Bringing nothing is better than waiting.

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