Facts: After a divorce in Carroll County, Mother and Child relocated to Nashville while father moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Post-divorce, Father filed a petition to modify child support, alimony, and the parenting plan in Carroll County, where neither party resided.  Mother moved to have the case transferred to Nashville, which motion was granted on all issues except alimony. Mother appealed.

The Court of Appeals reversed.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-3003(a)-(b) provides as follows:

(a) [A] case that includes child support or custody provisions may be transferred between counties in this state without the need for any additional filing by the party seeking transfer, and without service of process upon the non-requesting party, by the filing of a request by the requesting party as set forth herein.

(b) Upon receipt of a request, the case must be transferred by the clerk of the issuing court, without order of the court, to a court of competent jurisdiction in the county where the child or children reside if each of the following applies:

(1) Neither the child or children, custodial parent/obligee, nor the non-custodial parent/obligor currently reside in the issuing county; and

(2) The child or children who are subject to the support or custody order currently reside in the county to which the case is to be transferred and have resided there for at least six (6) months.

The Court noted that Father cited no authority for his argument that only the “child-related issues” were subject to transfer.  The Court held:

the case in its entirety must be transferred to Davidson County. Therefore, the decision of the Carroll County trial court must be reversed to the extent that the trial court declined to transfer any portion of the case.

So here’s the rule: if something gets transferred, everything gets transferred.  Parties will not have to litigate pieces of their case before different courts in Tennessee.

Hudson v. Hudson (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Oct. 12, 2010).

Information provided by K.O. Herston, Tennessee Divorce Lawyer.