(a) Parents are the joint natural guardians of their minor children, and are equally and jointly charged with their care, nurture, welfare, education and support and also with the care, management and expenditure of their estates. Each parent has equal powers, rights and duties with respect to the custody of each of their minor children and the control of the services and earnings of each minor child; provided, that so much of the net income of each minor child as may be necessary may be expended by a parent (without the necessity of court authorization) for the child’s care, maintenance and education. Funds of a minor held by a guardian shall not be expended to relieve or minimize the obligation of the parent or parents to support the minor.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 34-1-102

  • Court: means any court having jurisdiction to hear matters concerning guardians or conservators. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age and who has not otherwise been emancipated. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Parents shall continue to be responsible for the support of each child for whom they are responsible after the child reaches eighteen (18) years of age if the child is in high school. The duty of support shall continue until the child graduates from high school or the class of which the child is a member when the child attains eighteen (18) years of age graduates, whichever occurs first.
(c) If either parent dies or is incapable of acting, the guardianship of each minor child shall devolve upon the other parent.
(d) If the parents of a minor child are divorced, the court may award the guardianship of the property of the minor child to the parent who, in the court’s judgment, would best serve the welfare of the minor child and the child’s estate. The parent appointed guardian of the child’s estate may, but does not have to be, the parent with legal custody. The appointment of a parent as legal guardian does not affect the custodial decree of the divorce court except in those situations in which the guardianship of the minor or legal custody is committed to the department of children’s services, in which case the order of the court having jurisdiction of the guardian proceedings or custodial proceedings under title 37 shall control.
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