Contested vs. Uncontested: Choosing the Right Path
Two clients came to see me. Similar situations on paper. Both married fifteen years. Both with two kids. Both ready to be done.
One of them was finished in sixty days with a settlement that both parties drafted together. The other one is still going, eight months in, with no end in sight.
The difference was not the complexity of their finances or the difficulty of their custody issues. The difference was whether both people in the marriage were ready to finish, or whether one of them wanted to fight.
Every client who walks into my office is in one of two situations, whether they know it or not. Either this divorce is going to be something two people can figure out with the help of their attorneys, or it is going to require a judge to decide things for them.
The difference between those two paths is significant. In time, in money, in emotional cost, and in the quality of the outcome.
What Uncontested Actually Means
An uncontested divorce in Tennessee does not mean there are no disagreements. It means the parties have been able to reach agreement on all issues: property division, debt allocation, custody, parenting time, child support, and alimony if applicable.
When everything is agreed, the parties file a marital dissolution agreement and, if there are children, a parenting plan. The court reviews and approves the agreement. The mandatory waiting period applies. Then the divorce is final.
Uncontested divorces are faster, significantly cheaper, and produce outcomes the parties actually designed rather than outcomes a judge imposed.
What Contested Actually Means
A contested divorce means at least one issue is going to court for a judge to decide. That might be everything, or it might be one specific issue — most often custody.
Contested divorces involve discovery, sometimes depositions, hearings, and trial. The timeline stretches from months to years in complex cases. Attorney’s fees multiply quickly. And the outcome is uncertain in a way that settlement is not.
(I have won cases I expected to lose and lost cases I expected to win. Any attorney who tells you the outcome is certain is not being honest.)
Where Most Cases Actually Land
The majority of cases that start contested end up settled before trial. Mediation is frequently the catalyst. But by the time most cases settle, the parties have already spent significantly more than they would have if they had resolved things earlier.
The question worth asking at the beginning is not whether you can win in court. It is whether what you would gain by going to court is worth what it will cost you to get there.
That is a strategic calculation, and it is exactly the kind of conversation to have with your attorney early.
Lawyer Bill’s Advice
The goal of a divorce is not to win. It is to finish.
An agreement you negotiated is almost always better than an order a judge wrote.
Not because judges are bad. Because you know your life better than they do.
Contested litigation is a tool. Use it when you need it. Do not use it because you are angry.
If you have questions, reach out at midsouthdivorce.com/ask-lawyer-bill/.
About the Author: William W. Jones IV is a Memphis family law attorney, Rule 31 Listed Family Mediator, and Super Lawyers selectee every consecutive year from 2014 through 2026. Licensed in Tennessee (BPR 022869) and Mississippi (BPR 100707), he practices at The Jones Law Firm, 5100 Poplar Ave, Suite 708, Memphis, TN 38137. Call (901) 761-5353 or visit midsouthdivorce.com.
More on this: Choosing a Divorce Lawyer, from The Mid-South Divorce Guide, a complimentary guide to divorce in Tennessee and Mississippi.
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