Title 36, Domestic Relations

(a) The bill or petition may be filed in the proper name of the complainant, in the chancery or circuit court or other court having divorce jurisdiction, in the county where the parties reside at the time of their separation, or in which the defendant resides, if a resident of th…

(a) (1) The complaint for divorce shall set forth the grounds for the divorce in substantially the language of § 36-4-101 or § 36-4-102, and pray only for a divorce from the defendant, or for a divorce and such other and further relief to which the complainant may think to be ent…

(a) The bill or petition, except those seeking a divorce from the bonds of matrimony on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, shall be verified by an affidavit, upon oath or affirmation, before a general sessions court judge, notary public or the judge or clerk of the court,…

(a) The complainant, upon giving security for costs, or otherwise complying with the law, shall have the usual process to compel the defendant to appear and answer the bill, or it may be taken for confessed, as in other chancery cases. (b) In actions for annulment of marriage, se…

If the subpoena to answer has been served upon the defendant, or if publication has been completed as required by law, the cause may be set for hearing and tried at the first term of court thereafter.

The defendant may appear according to the rules of the court and answer the bill upon oath or affirmation.

It is no impediment to a divorce that the offended spouse did not leave the marital domicile or separate from the offending spouse on account of the conduct of the offending spouse.

(1) If the cause assigned for the divorce is adultery, it is a good defense and perpetual bar to the same if the defendant alleges and proves that:(1) The complainant has been guilty of like act or crime;(2) The complainant has admitted the defendant into conjugal society and emb…

Issues may be made up at the request of either party upon matters of fact charged in the bill or petition and denied in the answer, and be tried by a jury in presence of the court, and a new trial may be granted of the issues, should the court deem it necessary.

If the defendant admits the facts charged in the bill or petition and relied upon as the ground for a divorce, or the bill is taken for confessed, the court shall, nevertheless, before decreeing a divorce, except a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences, hear proof o…

Either party may take proof by depositions according to the rules or orders of the court, or have the witnesses examined in open court at pleasure.

(a) No judge or chancellor shall require the filing of affidavits of proof from witnesses, plaintiffs, defendants, or petitioners and respondents in support of any complaint for divorce, legal separation, separate maintenance or annulment. (b) Any such judge or chancellor may, ho…

If the divorce is sought by the complainant spouse on the ground of the defendant spouse's refusal to remove with the complainant spouse to this state, and of the defendant spouse's willful absence for two (2) years without reasonable cause, the complainant spouse shall prove end…

The proof that the defendant is a convict, or is sentenced to the penitentiary, if that is the cause relied upon for the divorce, shall be by the record of the conviction and sentence.

If, upon hearing the cause, the court is satisfied that the complainant is entitled to relief, it may be granted either by pronouncing the marriage void from the beginning, or by dissolving it forever and freeing each party from the obligations thereof, or by a separation for a l…

(a) If the cause assigned for a divorce is that specified in § 36-4-101(a)(11), the defendant may make defense by alleging and proving the ill conduct of the complainant as a justifiable cause for the conduct complained of, and on making out the defense to the satisfaction of the…

(a) (1) In all actions for divorce or legal separation, prior to any determination as to whether it is appropriate to order the support and maintenance of one (1) party by the other, the court having jurisdiction thereof shall:(A) Equitably divide, distribute, or assign the marit…

The court may decree costs against either party, and may award execution for the same, or, in case any estate is sequestered, or in the power of the court, or in the hands of a receiver, it may order the costs to be paid out of such property.

Appeals in divorce cases shall be governed by the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. Pending appeal, orders and decrees of the trial court shall have the effect prescribed by the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.

When a marriage is absolutely annulled, or dissolved, the parties shall severally be at liberty to marry again.

The annulment or dissolution of the marriage shall not in any way affect the legitimacy of the children of the same.

(a) During the pendency of any suit for absolute divorce, limited divorce or separate maintenance, the court having jurisdiction of the matter may, upon the written stipulation of both the husband and wife that they desire to attempt a reconciliation, enter an order suspending an…

Parties to any divorce proceeding, who have reconciled and dismissed their cause of action, may thereafter file an agreed sworn petition signed by both parties and notarized, requesting expunction of their divorce records. Upon the filing of such petition, the judge shall issue a…

(a) If, upon a false rumor, apparently well founded, of the death of one (1) of the parties, who has been absent two (2) whole years, the other party marries again, the party remaining single may, upon returning, insist upon a restoration of conjugal rights or upon a dissolution …

(a) In all actions for divorce from the bonds of matrimony or legal separation the parties may stipulate as to grounds and/or defenses. (b) The court may, upon stipulation to or proof of any ground of divorce pursuant to § 36-4-101, grant a divorce to the party who was less at fa…

(a) When the parties to a divorce action mediate the dispute, the mediator shall not divulge information disclosed to the mediator by the parties or by others in the course of mediation. All records, reports, and other documents developed for the mediation are confidential and pr…

(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d), in any proceeding for divorce or separate maintenance, the court shall order the parties to participate in mediation. (b) The court may waive or extend mediation pursuant to subsection (a) for reasons including, but not lim…

(a) In an action for dissolution of marriage involving minor children, upon its own motion or upon the motion of either party, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem for any minor child of the marriage. (b) The reasonable fees or costs of the guardian ad litem shall be borne b…

On and after January 1, 2007, before entering an order or decree for a divorce or a legal separation under this title, the court shall determine that the appropriate spouse has complied with § 56-7-2366, if applicable. If the court determines that the notification process has not…

(a) Every final decree of divorce granted on any fault ground of divorce and every marital dissolution agreement shall contain a notice that the decree does not necessarily affect the ability of a creditor to proceed against a party or a party's property, even though the party is…

Whenever a trial court finds that any person knowingly made a false allegation of sexual abuse in furtherance of litigation, in addition to any other penalties provided for by law or rule, the court may hold the accuser in contempt of court and may order the accuser to pay all li…