The Parenting Education Seminar is a class that give parents the information necessary to deal with their children and with each other during and after the divorce process. These seminars are meant to help the divorcing family through the traumas of divorce without putting more stress on the parties and their children.

The Parenting Plan Law requires (at a minimum) that the Seminars “educate parents concerning how to protect and enhance the child’s emotional development and informing the parents regarding the legal process. The seminar shall also include a discussion of alternative dispute resolution, marriage counseling, the judicial process, and common perpetrator attitudes and conduct involving domestic violence.” Parenting Education Seminars may also cover other topics related to divorce and its effect on a family. The Parenting Plan Law requires a minimum of four hours of classroom time, but some Courts may require more time. Each individual Court decides the length of the required Parenting Education Seminar. Depending on the total amount of time required, the Seminar may be given in more than one session.

There is no set cost for the Seminar. Most of the classes are $40.00 - $50.00 each. In some judicial districts there will be a number of different seminar providers for a parent to choose from. Each of these providers will have their own fee schedule and some may offer a sliding scale based on the income of the parent.

Normally, both parents do not attend the same Seminar. In areas where there are few Seminars, one parent may be able to attend a Seminar in an adjoining county or judicial district in order to meet the requirement of attending the Seminar. The minor children do not attend the Seminar, however, there may be specific other programs available for your children about how a divorce will change their lives.

In a contested divorce, the Court must consider whether a parent attended the required seminar when determining whether there should be any limitations on parenting time or decision-making. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-6-404(b)(4). The Court cannot prevent a divorce decree from issuing solely on the basis of the parents not attending the Seminar, but a parent who does not attend the Seminar within the time specified by the Court runs the risk of Contempt of Court. A parent who does not complete the required Seminar may be held in Contempt even if the divorce decree has issued. Contempt of Court may involve a jail sentence.