Memphis Divorce Process
All Memphis divorces occur in the Thirtieth Judicial District, which covers all of Shelby County, Tennessee. That means everyone who lives in Memphis, Bartlett, Germantown, Collierville, Arlington, Lakeland, and Millington all go to court in the same place at the Shelby County Courthouse at 140 Adams Avenue Memphis, TN 38103 in downtown Memphis.
Circuit Court and Chancery Court
Your divorce will be assigned either to Shelby County Circuit Court or Shelby County Chancery Court. There are eight judges in Circuit Court and three chancellors in Chancery Court. For purposes of divorces, there is no difference between Circuit and Chancery Court except that Circuit hears cases on Wednesdays and Chancery hears them on Tuesdays. It is important to know that each judge is different and has different views on both the content of your settlement and the procedures used to get it approved, so you will need an experienced Memphis divorce lawyer to advise you about how to get your case approved.
The Divorce Referee
A unique feature of Memphis divorces is there is an office called the Divorce Referee who oversees the divorce process in Shelby County. The Referee's office approves Complaints before they can be filed, and they review all documents prior to them being submitted to the court for a Final Decree hearing. The referees also act as hearing officers for temporary support disputes during contested divorces.
The Final Decree Hearing
The Final Decree hearing takes place a wide variety of ways depending on the courtroom assigned to your case. Some judges require we appear in person for the judge to review the documents and approve the divorce. Some others do that same process by Zoom instead of in person. A few of them allow divorces to be approved by affidavit instead of there being any kind of hearing at all. Your lawyer will be able to tell which process applies to your case.
Shelby County Court Forms
Shelby County does have a few unique forms and documents they require beyond the minimum requirements from the state. These are created by the court clerk to do some administrative functions that other counties handle differently. This is another reason why you can't necessarily just print forms from the internet and get divorced without talking to a Memphis divorce lawyer.
Resources
Here are some resources you may need to reference: