Navigating the law for divorce in Tennessee

Navigating the law for divorce in Tennessee

Grounds for Divorce in Tennessee

No one ever plans on divorce when getting married. But as life presents itself, divorce does happen.

The first thing a spouse must do to get a divorce, other than hire an attorney, is laying the grounds to dissolve the marriage. In Tennessee, there are two types of divorce, contested and uncontested. An uncontested divorce is one where both parties agree they shouldn’t be married anymore. It is also referred to as irreconcilable differences. A contested divorce, on the other hand, involves a disagreement (and often anger) on one or both sides. Tennessee law allows for 15 grounds in a contested divorce.

Those are:

1. Either party is naturally impotent and sterile

2. Bigamy

3. Adultery

4. Desertion or absence without cause for a year

5. Being convicted of any crime that makes the spouse infamous

6. Being convicted of a felony with jail time

7. Trying to kill one another by poison or any other way

8. Refusal to move to Tennessee with your spouse and being absent from that spouse for at least two years

9. The woman was pregnant at the time of the marriage by another person without the knowledge of the husband

10. Habitual drunkenness or abuse of narcotic drugs

11. Abuse

12. Indignities that make staying married intolerable

13. Abandonment and refusal to provide support/willful neglect

14. Irreconcilable differences; and

15. A separation of two or more years with no minor children.

Once the grounds are laid and the petition is filed, a brief waiting period is required before it may be granted. If the couple has no children under 18, the period is 60 days. With children under 18 years old, the petition must be on file for at least 90 days. Then the judge may grant the divorce to one or both parties, or just declare the couple divorced.

If you’re trying to understand the laws regarding divorce in Tennessee and need legal counsel, contact the Law Office of Michael Craig for any questions or to discuss first steps.