How Do Courts Determine Child Custody in Tennessee?

November 7, 2024

Child Custody

If you are no longer with your child’s parent, you may have concerns about how your child will be raised and which parent they will spend the most time with. If you would like to create a solid plan, you can pursue a child custody order. Nashville child custody attorneys explain what you need to know about how courts determine child custody in Tennessee.

Types of Child Custody in Tennessee

Tennessee recognizes two types of custody: physical and legal custody. Physical custody refers to the parent the child lives with. Legal custody is the right to make important decisions regarding your child, including where they will go to school, what type of religious upbringing they will have, and what kind of medical treatment they will receive.

Tennessee family laws allow for joint or sole custody. Physical and legal custody can be joint or sole. Sole custody gives custodial rights to one parent who is wholly responsible for caring for the child and/or making decisions for them. Sole custody may be awarded in cases in which one of the parents has been deemed unfit or there are serious concerns about a child’s physical or emotional health. The other parent may be granted visitation rights in such situations.

Joint custody splits the legal rights and responsibilities between both parents. However, even in joint custody situations, one parent may still have more time with the child than the other parent. Many custody arrangements in Tennessee provide for a primary residential parent and an alternate residential parent. In such cases, the child spends most of their time with one parent and some time with the other parent. The primary residential parent is the one with whom the child spends more than 50% of the year.

Ways to Reach a Child Custody Determination

Tennessee law encourages parents to work together to reach amicable child custody decisions. The Tennessee Parenting Plan law states that children of divorcing parents should have an ongoing relationship with both parents unless that is inconsistent with the child’s best interests. Therefore, parents may be able to reach an agreement on their own, through negotiation, or through mediation. They can ask the court to formalize their agreement in an official court order.

If parents are unable to reach a decision, the court can make a determination. Working with a divorce attorney in Nashville, one of the parents files a petition requesting child custody.

Factors Courts Consider When Deciding Child Custody

When the court must decide child custody, it considers what is in the child’s best interests, which is the parenting arrangement that best maintains a child’s emotional growth, health, stability, and physical care. The court considers all relevant factors, including:

  • The strength, nature, and stability of the child’s relationship with each parent
  • The love, affection, and emotional ties between each parent and child
  • Whether one parent has historically performed most parenting responsibilities or been the primary caregiver
  • Each parent’s past and potential for future performance of parenting responsibilities
  • The ability of the parents to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship with the other parent
  • Refusal to attend a court-ordered parent education seminar
  • The ability of each parent to provide for the child’s basic needs
  • The child’s emotional and developmental needs
  • The moral, physical, mental, and emotional fitness of each parent
  • The child’s interactions and relationships with siblings, other relatives, and mentors
  • The child’s involvement with their environment, school, or other significant activities
  • Whether the child has a stable and satisfactory living environment
  • Evidence of domestic abuse affecting the child
  • The character and behavior of anyone else who resides in or frequents the home of the parent and their interactions with the child
  • The child’s reasonable preference
  • Each parent’s employment schedule
  • Whether any parent has failed to pay court-ordered child support for three or more years

Contact Burdine Law Firm, PLLC for a Confidential Consultation

If you need help obtaining a child custody order, an experienced Nashville family law attorney from Burdine Law Firm, PLLC can help. Contact us today to learn more.