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How much does it cost to file for divorce in Tennessee?

Filing a Complaint for Divorce in Tennessee costs $234.50 without minor children in Davidson County (Nashville) and $356.50 in Shelby County (Memphis) — and children add exactly $75 in both counties, taking the totals to $309.50 and $431.50. Tennessee sets a statewide fee base in statute and each county clerk stacks local charges on top of it, so the same complaint costs over $120 more in Memphis than in Nashville.

Tennessee divorce fees at a glance

Both county schedules took effect January 1, 2026, and both are built on the statewide categories in Tenn. Code §8-21-401, which sets the state-level filing component at $175 for a divorce without minor children and $250 for a divorce involving minor children from January 1, 2026. Everything above those figures is county money — clerk fees, litigation taxes and local fund charges that Davidson and Shelby set at different levels. That structure is why there is no single Tennessee divorce fee and why quoting a statewide average misleads: your cost is the schedule of the Circuit or Chancery Court clerk in the county where you file, full stop. The national comparison is on the divorce filing costs hub and the wider fee picture on the Tennessee court costs guide.

Why children add $75 — and what else they add

The $75 step between the with-children and without-children totals is visible in both county schedules and mirrors the $75 step in the §8-21-401 state categories ($175 to $250). Cases with minor children also carry requirements that have no clerk price tag but do carry costs. Tennessee requires divorcing parents to attend a parent education seminar under Tenn. Code §36-6-408 before the divorce can be granted; the seminar is delivered by approved providers who set their own registration charges, so this page does not price it — ask the clerk for the approved provider list in your county. A Permanent Parenting Plan and a child support worksheet calculated under the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines must also be filed, and errors in the worksheet are one of the most common reasons agreed divorces with children are continued rather than granted at the first hearing.

Residency, grounds and the 60/90-day clock

Under Tenn. Code §36-4-104, you may file in Tennessee if the grounds for divorce arose in the state, or if either spouse lived in Tennessee for the six months before filing; you file in the county where the spouses lived when they separated, or where the defendant lives. The grounds themselves are listed in §36-4-101: most agreed cases plead irreconcilable differences, which requires a signed Marital Dissolution Agreement settling property and debts (and, with children, an approved parenting plan). Tennessee then imposes a mandatory cooling-off period before any decree can be entered: 60 days from filing where there are no minor children, and 90 days where there are. The clock cannot be waived by agreement, so even a fully settled Nashville divorce filed on Monday cannot be final before that period runs. Fault grounds — including inappropriate marital conduct, abandonment and conviction of a felony — remain available and are what contested cases usually plead, but they do not change the clerk's fee; the fee turns on children, not grounds.

How the case runs

1. Complete the Complaint for Divorce, summons and, for agreed cases, the Marital Dissolution Agreement; add the Permanent Parenting Plan and support worksheet if you have minor children
2. File with the Circuit or Chancery Court clerk in your county and pay the filing fee $234.50 / $309.50 in Davidson County $356.50 / $431.50 in Shelby County
3. Have the complaint served — by the sheriff for the county service fee where you elect it $52 DCSO fee in Davidson County — or file your spouse's signed waiver of service in an agreed case
4. Attend the required parent education seminar if you have minor children, and complete any county mediation requirement
5. Wait out the 60-day (no minor children) or 90-day (minor children) statutory period, attend the final hearing, and order certified copies of the decree for name, benefits and records changes

What divorce really costs beyond the clerk

The filing fee opens the case; it does not finish it. Private process servers charge market rates that no Tennessee schedule publishes, and this page does not estimate them. Mediation — encouraged statewide and ordered in many contested parenting disputes — is priced by the mediator or the court's roster programme. The parent education seminar is provider-priced, as noted above. Attorney fees are likewise market-priced and are normally the largest cost in a contested Tennessee divorce. Two clerk-side figures are predictable, though: sheriff service where you use it (Davidson publishes $52), and certified copies of the final decree at $5 for certification and seal plus $0.50 per page on the Davidson schedule, which you will need for a name change, insurance and remarriage paperwork. Compare neighbouring structures in Georgia divorce costs and North Carolina divorce costs.

Can't afford the fee?

Tennessee lets an indigent filer ask the court to postpone the filing fees rather than pay them up front, using the Uniform Civil Affidavit of Indigency published by the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. Approval is a judicial decision, not a clerk courtesy: the judge reviews the affidavit, and a filer found ineligible can ask for a hearing. File the affidavit with the complaint — a case cannot be opened on a promise to apply later. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk — Circuit Court Filing Fees, effective January 1, 2026 (divorce without minor children $234.50 / with minor children $309.50, no service; DCSO service fee $52; certified copy $5 plus $0.50 per page) · Shelby County Circuit Court — Schedule of Filing Fees, effective January 1, 2026 (Category 6, divorce with no minor children $356.50; Category 5, divorce with minor children $431.50) · Tenn. Code §§8-21-401 (state filing-fee categories), 36-4-101 (grounds; irreconcilable differences), 36-4-104 (residency), 36-6-408 (parent education seminar) · Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts — divorce guidance and Uniform Civil Affidavit of Indigency. Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with your county clerk.