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How Much Does It Cost to File Divorce in TN? Depending on whether you have children or if the sheriff serves the divorce papers to your spouse, the filing fees for a divorce in Tennessee can cost anywhere from $184 to $301.

As a legal document, you can't have a public record erased. However, it's important to note that as only the final order is classified as a public record, all other information pertaining to the divorce file is kept private and retained only by the court and the legal teams involved.

Although technically unsealed divorce records are public, in Tennessee divorces granted after 1970 enjoy some level of protection. To obtain those records from the Tennessee Vital Records Office an individual must submit a request in person or by mail for a fee.

The State of Tennessee is not a 50 50 (fifty-fifty) state for division of marital property in divorce. Tennessee is an equitable distribution state for property division in divorce but courts are required to consider a list of factors in determining which spouse receives what assets.

Almost all Tennessee divorce pleadings are available to the public. Some may even be searchable online. According to Tennessee divorce law, a certified copy of records from the Tennessee Vital Records Office may be obtained only by a person named on a certificate or by certain family members.

As in other states, Tennessee judges treat a petitioner and a defendant equally fairly. Therefore, officially, it makes no difference which spouse initiates a divorce. Yet, filing for divorce first in TN can bring several benefits that we will discuss below.

Divorce records, like marriage records, are public. You can search for divorce records from the comfort of your own home, or you can visit the state's Department of Health and Vital Records. Although records are sometimes free, you might need to pay to use certain private or state services.

Tennessee divorce law is very clear – equitable distribution of marital property does not mean equal distribution. Equal division describes awarding 50% to each spouse, also described as a 50/50 split. But it is not unusual for divisions (settlements and trial results) to be close to a 50/50 split.

Tennessee allows couples to file for divorce based upon fault or no-fault grounds. No-fault divorces are generally faster than fault-based divorces and are often less stressful for the spouses involved, but there are some requirements you must meet before you can obtain a no-fault divorce in Tennessee.

For divorce records from 1971 to the present, contact the Tennessee Department of Health, Office of Vital Records.