Glossary
Permanent Parenting Plan
The written, court-approved document that sets out where a child lives, who makes decisions, and how support is paid after a Tennessee divorce or custody case.
Every Tennessee case involving minor children ends with a permanent parenting plan. It is not a private arrangement between the parents: it is a court order, and once entered, both parents are bound by it.
A plan sets out the residential schedule day by day, including holidays and school breaks; which parent has decision-making authority over education, non-emergency health care, religious upbringing, and extracurricular activities; how the parents will exchange information and resolve disputes; and the child support calculation with its underlying figures.
Courts expect a realistic plan rather than an aspirational one. A schedule that assumes a parent can collect a child at 3pm on weekdays, when that parent works until 6pm, creates conflict every week it is applied. The plan that holds up is the one built around how the family actually lives.
Changing a plan later requires going back to court and showing a material change in circumstances, so the terms agreed at the outset tend to govern for a long time.
General information about Tennessee law, not legal advice. How this applies depends on the facts of your matter.
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