---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child Custody and Support - As enacted, requires the court to consider any failure to pay child support, rather than failure for a period of three years or more, when making a child custody determination; clarifies that the court may preclude or limit any provisions of a parenting plan if the court finds that a parent has failed to pay child support. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37."
description: "Child Custody and Support - As enacted, requires the court to consider any failure to pay child support, rather than failure for a period of three years or more, when making a child custody determination; clarifies that the court may preclude or limit any provisions of a parenting plan if the court finds that a parent has failed to pay child support. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "SB 540"
citation: "Tennessee SB 540 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Child Custody and Support"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Stevens"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 21
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-01-30"
last_action: "2025-05-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/18874731-5285-4c09-b3ab-97ffc9b17015"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB0540&ga=114"
source_hash: "11f00e55c127f6b42596e242aa4288480570a3d07dd111dd6b7ac2c3c8ce8e2b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 540 (114) — Child Custody and Support - As enacted, requires the court to consider any failure to pay child support, rather than failure for a period of three years or more, when making a child custody determination; clarifies that the court may preclude or limit any provisions of a parenting plan if the court finds that a parent has failed to pay child support. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Amendment HA0378** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Amend/HA0378.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0017** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Amend/SA0017.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB0540.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/25/2025 Passed (2) — **7–2** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/15/2025 Passed (1) — **75–17** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/6/2025 Passed (1) — **26–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Stevens — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-01-30** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2025-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2025-02-12** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-19** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/25/2025
- **2025-02-25** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 7, Nays 2 PNV 0
- **2025-03-04** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/6/2025
- **2025-03-06** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2025-03-06** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2025-03-06** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 26, Nays 3, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2025-03-06** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0017)
- **2025-03-10** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2025-04-15** Passed H., Ayes 75, Nays 17, PNV 2 `passage`
- **2025-04-15** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0378) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2025-04-15** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2025-04-17** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2025-04-21** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-21** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-02** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-13** Effective date(s) 05/02/2025
- **2025-05-13** Pub. Ch. 321

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/18874731-5285-4c09-b3ab-97ffc9b17015`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).