---
type: "Bill"
title: "Divorce, Annulment and Alimony - As enacted, clarifies that the court must allocate responsibility for payment of marital debt in actions for divorce or legal separation; defines \"marital debt\" and \"separate debt\"; adds factors for the court to consider in determining the allocation of responsibility for payment of marital debt; clarifies alimony in solido may be awarded for attorney fees and expenses incurred in connection with the proceedings. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 4 and Title 36, Chapter 5."
description: "Divorce, Annulment and Alimony - As enacted, clarifies that the court must allocate responsibility for payment of marital debt in actions for divorce or legal separation; defines \"marital debt\" and \"separate debt\"; adds factors for the court to consider in determining the allocation of responsibility for payment of marital debt; clarifies alimony in solido may be awarded for attorney fees and expenses incurred in connection with the proceedings. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 4 and Title 36, Chapter 5."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 2385"
citation: "Tennessee SB 2385 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Annulment and Alimony", "Divorce"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gardenhire", "Garrett"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 32
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-02-01"
last_action: "2022-04-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d1993d3a-2df2-4bab-8ee5-02379c937126"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2385&GA=112"
source_hash: "56614212cfed92758d29fbff602b4ce07e6df380613a12c8982ab27d95effa8b"
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 2385 (112) — Divorce, Annulment and Alimony - As enacted, clarifies that the court must allocate responsibility for payment of marital debt in actions for divorce or legal separation; defines "marital debt" and "separate debt"; adds factors for the court to consider in determining the allocation of responsibility for payment of marital debt; clarifies alimony in solido may be awarded for attorney fees and expenses incurred in connection with the proceedings. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 4 and Title 36, Chapter 5.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB2385.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CHILDREN & FAMILY AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 3/2/2022 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/1/2022 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 3/7/2022 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/17/2022 3/10/2022 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/9/2022 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/17/2022 Passed (1) — **91–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Gardenhire — primary (person)
- Garrett — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-02-01** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-02-01** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-02-02** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-02-02** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2022-02-03** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2022-02-03** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-07** Assigned to s/c Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-16** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/22/2022
- **2022-02-22** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/1/2022
- **2022-02-23** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/1/2022
- **2022-02-23** Placed on s/c cal Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/2/2022
- **2022-03-01** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2022-03-02** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 3/9/2022
- **2022-03-02** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-03** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/7/2022
- **2022-03-07** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2022-03-07** Passed Senate, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2022-03-09** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/10/2022
- **2022-03-09** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-10** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2022-03-10** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/17/2022
- **2022-03-17** Passed H., Ayes 91, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2022-03-17** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2022-03-17** Comp. SB subst.
- **2022-03-18** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2022-03-22** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-03-22** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-03-23** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2022-03-31** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-04-04** Effective date(s) 03/31/2022
- **2022-04-04** Pub. Ch. 762
- **2022-04-04** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 762

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d1993d3a-2df2-4bab-8ee5-02379c937126`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).