IN THE FOURTH CIRCUIT COURT FOR KNOX COUNTY, TENNESSEE LOCAL RULE 28 NEW DIVORCE FILINGS WITH CHILDREN Whereas the General Assembly of Tennessee created, effective 1 January 2001, a program of alternative dispute resolution and parenting plans for domestic relations cases involving minors, this court shall receive divorce filings with children in the following manner: (28A) In addition to following all applicable statutes, in particular Tenn. Code Ann. §36-6-224, the plaintiff or counter-plaintiff shall also file one of the following four “papers,” in all divorces involving minors: a. an Agreed Permanent Parenting Plan (signed by both parents, no temporary plan needed); or b. an Agreed Temporary Parenting Plan (signed by both parents); or c. a Proposed Temporary Parenting Plan (signed by one parent), possibly accompanied by: (1) a Tenn. Code Ann. §36-6-406 Affidavit for Supervised Co-Parenting at The Parent Place, along with a notice to the defendant to appear at the next available motion day of the judge to whom the case is assigned, for a hearing as to whether a different form of co-parenting should take place; or (2) a Tenn. Code Ann. §36-6-406 Affidavit for No Co-Parenting, along with a notice to the defendant to appear at the next available motion day of the judge to whom the case is assigned, for a hearing to determine whether any coparenting should take place, and if so, in what form; or d. an affidavit of counsel that the parties are operating under a satisfactory, unwritten, temporary parenting plan, and accordingly no filing of a temporary parenting plan is necessary. (28B) However, if a plaintiff or counter-plaintiff wishes a Proposed Temporary Parenting Plan to be approved immediately without a hearing, and wishes that plan to govern the case until further hearing or subsequent order, he/she shall additionally file, either with the complaint (counter-complaint) for divorce, or later, a separate document entitled “Local Rule 28B Verified Statement.” The text of the statement is available at this court’s website, www.knoxcounty.org. The Clerk shall then present the “Local Rule 28B Verified Statement” with its supporting documents, and the plaintiff/counter-plaintiff’s Proposed Temporary Parenting Plan, to the Judge. If the plan appears facially reasonable, the Judge will enter the same as the pendente lite order of the court, pursuant to TRCP 65.07, without a hearing. If the adversary disagrees with the plan, he/she may contact the Community Mediation Center for the earliest possible commencement of alternative dispute resolution, and may also contact the Clerk to set the case for hearing on the next motion day of the judge to whom the case is American LegalNet, Inc. www.USCourtForms.com assigned. If the adversary disagrees with the plan only as to its support provisions, or if the affiant had no knowledge of the adversary’s income (and therefore obtained a support order based upon minimum wage, or upon the statutorily presumed earnings), either party may set the case before the Referee for a prompt hearing, which hearing shall occur not later than fourteen days from the filing of the request for a hearing. The Clerk shall spread the foregoing upon the minutes of the court. ENTER, this ___ day of ____________ 200___: __________________________ Judge Bill Swann American LegalNet, Inc. www.USCourtForms.com