how to file for divorce in knoxville
Divorces can be complex, emotional proceedings. They involve kids, finances, property, and even pets. Sometimes divorces are straightforward and amicable. Sometimes, they can be heated and personal. No matter what the circumstances, preparation is important. The last thing you want is to draw any divorce out longer than needed. Here's how to file your Tennessee divorce in Knoxville.
Overview of Divorce in Knoxville
The oft-cited statistic that we hear is "more than half of all marriages end in divorce." Have you ever wondered if that's true? Well, unfortunately in Knox County, it is.
In 2020, the Tennessee Department of Health recorded 3,255 marriages in Knox County. the same year, DHS recorded 1,642 divorces. That means that divorces are occurring at about 50.45% of the rate of marriages. In other words, over half of Knox County marriages end in divorce.
Divorce rates per 1,000 people
Based on the numbers, everyone in Knox County has likely either experienced a divorce or knows someone who has!
What are the Grounds for Divorce in Tennessee?
To file divorce papers in Knoxville, the married couple must have grounds for divorce. In other words, the state says the court needs a reason to dissolve a marriage. Tennessee law gives us 15 grounds for divorce:
Irreconcilable Differences
Impotence
Adultery
Conviction of a Felony and Imprisonment
Alcoholism and/or Drug Addiction
Wife is Pregnant by Another at the Time of Marriage Without the Husband's Knowledge
Willful Desertion for One Year
Bigamy (marrying someone while already legally married to another)
Endangering the Life of the Spouse
Conviction of an Infamous Crime (an infamous crime generally means a felony or a crime where you can lose your right to vote)
Refusing to Move to Tennessee with a Spouse and Willfully Absenting One's Self from a New Residence for Two Years
Cruel and Inhuman Treatment or Unsafe and Improper Marital Conduct
Indignities that Make the Spouse's Life Intolerable
Abandonment, Neglect, or Banning the Spouse from the Home
Both Parties have Lived Separate and Apart for Two or More Years and Have Not Cohabited as Man and Wife
Of these 15 grounds, "irreconcilable differences" is by far the ground most often used, and is considered to be "no-fault". A divorce for "irreconcilable differences" has a procedure of its own, and will many times be used in agreed divorces.
What are the residency requirements for divorce in Tennessee?
To file for divorce in Tennessee, you must be a resident of the state at the time the grounds for divorce occurred. If the grounds took place outside of Tennessee, you must have lived in Tennessee for at least six months prior to filing the complaint for divorce.
What are the Basic Steps in the Divorce Process?
File the Divorce Complaint
Like any other lawsuit, filing the Complaint (or Petition) for Divorce begins the divorce process. We call the spouse who files the Complaint the Plaintiff, and the other spouse the Defendant. A Complaint for Divorce has to be filed either in:
The county in which the separation occurs;
The county in which the Defendant lives; or
If Defendant lives out of state, in the county where Plaintiff lives.
Finally, the Complaint can be filed in either Circuit or Chancery court. In Knox County, the Courts' information can be found here. As of 2022, the filing fees in Knox County Chancery Court are $309.50 if you have minor children, and $234.50 if you do not.
Service of Process
Once the you have filed the Complaint with the Court, the Clerk will issue an official notice of a lawsuit, called a Summons. For the divorce to actually proceed, you have to serve both the Complaint and the Summons on your spouse. Usually, the easiest way is to have the spouse served by the Knox County Sheriff's Department, which costs $42.00 in 2022.
It is also possible to serve your spouse in person or by having your attorney mail the Complaint and Summons to them or their lawyer. If serving by mail, the spouse will have to execute a waiver of service. This is the most cost-effective way to proceed, but know that they can refuse to sign the waiver, and you will need to serve them another way.
Answer and Counter-Complaint
Once you have served your spouse, the they will file an Answer to the Complaint, and the suit will proceed. If they fail to answer the Complaint, judgment by default is possible, but not guaranteed.
At this point, the Defendant also has the chance to file a Counter-Complaint making allegations against you. If he or she does, you'll have to file an Answer.
Discovery
Now that the initial Complaint and Answer has been filed, the next step in the Knox County divorce process is the "discovery" process.
Discovery is a legal procedure that allows the parties to gather information iand evidence for their case. In most cases, discovery will include both written questions (interrogatories) and in-person interviews (depositions). Sometimes, discovery can be very informal and inexpensive if both parties exchange documents and information by agreement or voluntarily. On the other hand, it can get very expensive if one or both parties is reluctant to cooperate.
Custody of Children in Knox County
Divorces can have the most profound emotional effects on young children. During the process, new relationships will have to be developed and parenting styles will change. Although your relationship with your spouse will change, it is important (especially for young children) to reassure them that they aren't the cause of the divorce.
The wellbeing of children is something the State and Knox County takes very seriously, and divorces involving children have additional requirements that must be met. Below is an overview of child custody in Tennessee.
Comparative Fitness Determination
In custody disputes between parents, the Court uses the doctrine of comparitive fitness to determine which parent will have primary custody. The Court's decision is based primarily on the best interests of the child. This also means that while you are paying your attorney to represent you, your attorney has a duty as an officer of the court to act in the best interests of your children as well.
There are many different factors that the Court will examine. Many of these focus on the relationship that the child has with each parent, but the Court will also consider whether a parent has performed the majority of parenting duties, the employment status of the parent, and whether the parent has skipped any court-mandated education. Overall, there are 16 factors listed by the statute.
The Court will utilize these factors to adopt a custody schedule that permits each parent to participate in the children's lives as much as possible, so long as that participation is in the best interests of the child.
In some cases, the Court will investigate each parent by appointing a psychologist to interview the child, or a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to complete their own investigation and report back to the Court with his or her findings and recommendations. Either way, parents should refrain from trying to influence their children or to participate in the divorce as messengers, spies, or tokens in negotiation.
Parenting Plans
In Knox County (and Tennessee in general), any final decree of divorce involving a minor child must incorporate a parenting plan. The parenting plan is a document that sets forth rules for making decisions, establishes the authority and responsibilities of each parent, and specifies a residential schedule between the two parents.
Because the parenting plan becomes part of the divorce decree, it is subject to review and approval by the Court. The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has developed a standard parenting plan that must be used by the Court, which you can download here.
Parent Education
In every divorce where a parenting plan is required, the law requires the both parents attend a parent educational seminar teaching them how to protect and enhance their child's emotional development. It also educates the parents about the legal process, alternative dispute resolution, marriage counseling and the judicial process.
Rules for Child Support in Knox County
In Tennessee, parents have a joint duty to support their minor children according to their means and ability. In most cases, that means until a child turns 18. However, if the child is still in highschool when she turns 18, the duty of support extends until she graduates.
In order to determine child support, the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) has created guidelines which use the "income shares" model. This model includes both parents' income from all sources when making the calculation. The DHS Guidelines also consider (among other things) how many parenting days each parent has with the child per year, the adjusted gross income (AGI) of each parent, and expenses such as childcare and healthcare.
Note that child support can also be determined by agreement, if the parents are open to that solution.
Rules for Spousal Support in Knox County
Spousal support - also called "alimony" - is provided for in Tennessee. As background, the state considers that one spouse may have foregone a career, even temporarily, for the benefit of the marriage. This includes being a homemaker and stay-at-home parent, which the state considers to be "equal in dignity" to making economic contributions to the marriage.
There is no specific formula for calculating alimony; however, the Court considers things like education, earning capacity, duration of the marriage, age, and fault in precipitating the divorce.
There are four types of alimony availabile in Tennessee:
Lump Sum, which may be awarded instead of OR in addition to another alimony award;
Periodic, which is meant to be awarded where rehabilitation is not feasible;
Transitional, which is meant to assist the economically disadvantaged spouse in adjusting to the divorce; and
Rehabilitative, which is intended to help the economically disadvantaged spouse achieve an earning capacity that allows the spouse to have their pre-divorce standard of living.
There is a legal preference for rehabilitative alimony. Alimony can also be modified under certain circumstances. For example if the spouse receiving alimony cohabitates with someone else, alimony can be suspended.
Property Division in Knox County
The first step in dividing property in a divorce is for the Court to classify assets as either marital or separate.
Marital Property
Marital property is any real and personal property acquired by either or both spouses during the marriage. Importantly, this includes all property acquired up to the date of the divorce hearing. Marital property does not count as income for child or spousal support purposes, unless that property will generate additional income after the division of property (think rental house).
Separate Property
Separate property includes any real and personal property owned by a spouse before marriage, and any income generated by it. It also includes appreciation in value of the property.
Gifts and inhertance are also considered separate property, as well as any retirement benefits accrued prior to the marriage.
Division of the Property
Once the Court has classified all of the assets, each spouse is awarded their separate property. Then, the Court will divide the marital property between the spouses. This division of marital property will be equitable, but it is not necessarily equal, and unlike spouseal support, fault is not a factor.
The Court will consider a list of factors including duration of the marriage, the contribution of each party to the acquisition and appreciation of property, and the tax consequences of the division, among others. These factors are listed in Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-4-121.
An interesting and potentially complicated situation arises when a married couple ownes a business together. To determine the value of an ownership interest, valuation methods that experts use when examining the sale value of the business are used, whether or not sale of the business is feasible. Then, each spouse will recieve their share of the business, in stock or ownership interest.
As you can see, this may dilute your ownership interest, and could potentially cause problems with investors and stakeholders of the business. There are a couple of ways to prevent this, however. First, if you plan to marry a business partner, it's a good idea to discuss executing a prenuptial agreement before the wedding bells ring. Having a plan in place before things are official can help reassure investors and prevent unnecessary arguments later on.
If you're already married, negotiating a buyout of your spouse is another option to consider. If you are able to agree on a buyout, you would retain ownership of the company in exchange for some other amount of money or asset. Either way, if you own (or plan to own) a business with your spouse, it's worth thinking about these issues even if your marriage is perfect.
Keep in mind that the division of property step occurs before the court determines alimony.
Waiting Period
In Tennesse, before a divorce can be granted, the law requires a mandatory waiting period starting when the Petition is filed. If the parties have no children, there is a waiting period of 60 days. If there are minor children the waiting period is 90 days.
Do I Need an Attorney to File For Divorce in Knox County?
Do you need a lawyer to get a divorce in Tennessee? If you have an uncontested divorce or believe that you and your spouse will be able to cooperate during the process, it may not be necessary for you to hire a divorce lawyer. In fact, there are divorce forms available that you can download and complete with your spouse to get a "do-it-yourself divorce."
On the other hand, if you have a contested divorce, you should consider hiring a family law or divorce attorney. Divorce cases are very emotional, and can be extremely taxing on your family, you may want to have a professional to help take care of the legal work. In addition to giving advice, your attorney will act as the main point of contact between you and your spouse. This can reduce conflict and help remove (some of) the emotions from the official interactions. Just remember, if a divorce is complicated or is contested, it can get very expensive. This includes court costs, attorney's fees, and emotional costs. Even so, it is usually worth hiring an attorney when you get divorced, especially if there are children involved.
If you have questions about getting a divorce, call today or book a consultation.