State requirements / Tennessee
Tennessee parenting class requirement
4 hours in any permanent parenting plan case
Tennessee requires each parent to attend a parent educational seminar of at least four hours in the aggregate, as soon as possible after the complaint is filed, in any action where a permanent parenting plan is or will be entered. The statute prescribes the content, including domestic violence.
The requirement at a glance
| Who must attend | Each parent, in any action where a permanent parenting plan is or will be entered. That includes a petition to modify, because a modification decree also has to carry a permanent parenting plan. Minor children do not attend. |
| Hours required | 4 minimum |
| Deadline | As soon as possible after the complaint is filed. The statute sets no day count, so the working deadline is whatever your court sets. |
| Authority | T.C.A. 36-6-408 |
| Fees and waivers | No statutory fee cap. |
| Our price | $25 for one parent, $50 for both parents on the same case. Scholarship seats are funded by donors, so no parent is turned away for money. |
| Our registry status | On our active build and filing list. We will announce the day this state accepts us, and not a day before. |
What the law actually says
“each parent shall attend a parent educational seminar as soon as possible after the filing of the complaint”
T.C.A. 36-6-408(a)Quoted from the official text. Read it yourself at the source below.The part nobody explains
Filing your certificate
The provider gives you a certificate of completion and sends a copy to the court, with the docket number on it, for your case file. There is no statewide form.
If the deadline passes
No court may deny a divorce because a party failed to attend. What a court can do is issue a show-cause order and hold a parent in contempt, including after the decree, so this is not a requirement that quietly expires.
Who approves providers in Tennessee
Providers are certified by each individual judicial district, and some districts have set up a group or commission to do it. There is no statewide certification. Neither the statute nor the state court administrator's guidance addresses online delivery, so confirm with your district.
What you get from us
- The full course, start to finish, on a phone or a laptop, with your progress saved. Lifetime access, no thirty-day expiry and no extension fees.
- Your certificate the moment you finish, by email, free. A mailed paper copy is optional.
- Free instant verification for your court. A clerk or judge confirms the certificate at our verification page with no account and no phone call.
- Our acceptance guarantee: if your specific court declines this certificate, you get a full refund, no processing fee and no deadline to claim it.
Check us on the law
Every fact on this page traces to an official source. Read them yourself.