Title 36, Domestic Relations

(a) A man is rebuttably presumed to be the father of a child if:(1) The man and the child's mother are married or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage or within three hundred (300) days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, dec…

(a) The court may enter an order of parentage upon the agreement of the mother and father unless the court on its own motion orders genetic testing. In any such agreement, the mother and father must affirmatively acknowledge their parentage of the child. Any agreement under this …

An action to establish the parentage of a child may be instituted before or after the birth of the child and until three (3) years beyond the child's age of majority. This chapter shall not affect the relationship of parent and child as established in § 31-2-105.

(a) (1) The juvenile court or any trial court with general jurisdiction shall have jurisdiction of an action brought under this chapter; provided, that, in any county having a population not less than eight hundred twenty-five thousand (825,000) nor more than eight hundred thirty…

(a) The trial shall be without a jury. (b) Hearings under this section shall be expedited on the court's civil docket. (c) Upon proper motion, default judgment shall be entered against the defendant upon showing of service of process on the defendant where the defendant has faile…

(a) Tests for parentage in actions arising pursuant to this part or in any actions to determine parentage shall be conducted pursuant to § 24-7-112. (b) The state of Tennessee, its officers, employees, agents or contractors shall not be liable to any person for, nor be ordered to…

The court shall, upon motion of the party, enter a temporary order of child support pending the final determination of paternity upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence of parentage on the basis of genetic tests.

(a) Upon establishing parentage, the court shall make an order declaring the father of the child. This order shall include the following:(1) Full names and residential and mailing addresses of the mother, father and child, if known;(2) Dates of birth and social security numbers o…

(a) In any case that is brought by the department of human services or its contractors, the Title IV-D child support office shall have no authority to represent the state of Tennessee on issues of custody or parental access. The fact that custody and parental access are sought in…

(a) When, under this chapter, the relationship of father and child is established, the child shall be entitled to inherit from the father as if born to the father in wedlock. (b) When an order of parentage has been entered, the clerk of the court shall transmit to the commissione…

(a) In all contested custody cases involving unmarried parties and where a paternity test by an accredited laboratory is known to exist or has been requested of or by the court, the court shall, consistent with due process, expedite the contested custody proceeding by entering su…

An appeal from any final order of parentage as provided for in this chapter may be taken to the court of appeals pursuant to the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure.

(a) No child born out of wedlock shall be deprived of any civil benefit afforded to other citizens by law. (b) Any person, including any employee or official of any governmental agency, who deprives any person of any civil benefit afforded to other citizens by law, by reason of t…

No explicit references shall be made to illegitimacy in any legal proceeding, record, certificates or other papers except the departments of human services and health may keep records of out-of-wedlock births.

(a) The department of children's services shall establish a putative father registry, which shall be maintained by the department's adoptions unit in the department's state office in Nashville. (b) The registrar of the division of vital records of the department of health shall n…

(a) In any case in which the court enters an order of support in a case enforced under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.), the court shall enter an order providing for health care coverage to be provided for the child or children. (b) Section 36-5-501…

In establishing paternity or enforcing any provision of child support, if the party seeking to establish paternity or to enforce an order of support specifically prays for revocation of a license, or if the court determines on its own motion or on motion of the party seeking to e…

Judgments for child support payments for each child subject to the order for child support pursuant to this part shall be enforceable without limitation as to time.

In any case in which a child is receiving assistance under a state program funded under the Social Security Act, Title IV-A (42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.), including, but not limited to, temporary assistance as provided under title 71, chapter 3, part 1, and the payment of support for…

This chapter provides a single means to establish parentage of children born of donated embryo transfer to recipient intended parent. It is intended to promote the interests of children who may be born as a result of donated embryo transfer. It is the intent that no adoption purs…

(1) As used in this part:(1) “Embryo” or “human embryo” means an individual fertilized ovum of the human species from the single-cell stage to eight-week development;(2) “Embryo parentage” means the acceptance of rights and responsibilities for an embryo by a recipient intended p…

(a) (1) A legal embryo custodian may relinquish all rights and responsibilities for an embryo prior to embryo transfer. A written contract shall be entered into as appropriate when establishing embryo parentage prior to embryo transfer for the legal transfer of rights to an embry…

Marriage cannot be contracted with a lineal ancestor or descendant, nor the lineal ancestor or descendant of either parent, nor the lineal descendant of a grandparent, nor the lineal descendants of husband or wife, as the case may be, nor the husband or wife of a parent or lineal…

A second marriage cannot be contracted before the dissolution of the first. But the first shall be regarded as dissolved, for this purpose, if either party has been absent five (5) years, and is not known to the other to be living.

(a) Before being joined in marriage, the parties shall present to the minister or officer a license under the hand of a county clerk in this state, directed to such minister or officer, authorizing the solemnization of a marriage between the parties. Such license shall be valid f…

(a) A county clerk or deputy clerk shall not issue a marriage license until the applicants make an application in writing, stating the names, ages, current addresses, and social security numbers of both of the proposed contracting parties. An applicant under eighteen (18) years o…

(a) It is unlawful for any county clerk or deputy clerk in this state to issue a marriage license to any person where:(1) Either of the contracting parties is under seventeen (17) years of age; or(2) One (1) of the contracting parties is at least seventeen (17) years of age but l…

(a) When either applicant is under eighteen (18) years of age, the parents, guardian, next of kin or party having custody of the applicant shall join in the application, under oath, stating that the applicant is seventeen (17) years of age or over and that the applicant has such …

(a) Marriage, at any age, that is entered into without valid, freely-given consent from both parties is contrary to the public policy of this state and shall be void and unenforceable in this state. (b) A person who is forced, whether by violence, threats, or coercion, to marry a…

No license shall be issued when it appears that the applicants or either of them is at the time drunk, insane, or an imbecile.

Any interested person shall have the right to contest the issuance of the marriage license, which contest shall be filed, heard and determined by the judge of the probate court, or judge of the juvenile court, or any judge or chancellor; provided, that such contest shall not be f…

Any county clerk or deputy clerk who issues a marriage license without compliance with the last sentence in § 36-3-103(c)(1), §§ 36-3-104 — 36-3-106, § 36-3-109, § 36-3-110, or § 36-3-113, and not in good faith, commits a Class C misdemeanor.

Fraudulently signing or knowingly using any false document purporting to be one provided for in § 36-3-104 or § 36-3-106 is a Class C misdemeanor.

(a) Tennessee's marriage licensing laws reinforce, carry forward, and make explicit the long-standing public policy of this state to recognize the family as essential to social and economic order and the common good and as the fundamental building block of our society. To that en…

(a) (1) All regular ministers, preachers, pastors, priests, rabbis and other spiritual leaders of every religious belief, more than eighteen (18) years of age, having the care of souls, and all members of the county legislative bodies, county mayors, judges, chancellors, former c…

(a) No formula need be observed in such solemnization, except that the parties shall respectively declare, in the presence of the minister or officer, that they accept each other as husband and/or wife. (b) For the purposes of satisfying the requirement in subsection (a) that eac…

(a) One authorized by § 36-3-301 who solemnizes the rite of matrimony shall endorse on the license the fact and time of the marriage, and sign the license, and return it to the county clerk within three (3) days from the date of marriage. Every person who fails to make such retur…

The clerk shall, on each license, place the following form of certificate, to be signed by the person solemnizing the marriage: “I solemnize the rite of matrimony between the above (or within) named parties on the day of , .” “I solemnize the rite of matrimony between the above (…

Any such minister or officer who knowingly joins together in matrimony two (2) persons not capable thereof commits a Class C misdemeanor and shall also forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars ($500), to be recovered by action of debt, for the use of the person suing.

Failure to comply with the requirements of §§ 36-3-104 — 36-3-106, 36-3-109 — 36-3-111 shall not affect the validity of any marriage consummated by ceremony. No marriage shall be valid, whether consummated by ceremony or otherwise, if the marriage is prohibited in this state.

Any marriage that may have been or may be celebrated between persons, by license regularly issued, is valid, and the issue thereof is declared legitimate, although the baptismal name of either party may be omitted in the license, or a nickname be used instead thereof; provided, t…

All marriages contracted and entered into during the War Between the States (1861-1865) and duly solemnized, are declared valid, and the issue of these marriages are declared legitimate.

In all actions for damages for the breach of promise or contract of marriage that may hereafter be tried in the courts of this state, unless there is written evidence of such contract, signed by the party against whom the action is brought, the alleged contract must be proved by …

In any suit for damages for breach of promise or contract of marriage that may hereafter be tried in the courts of this state, the unsupported testimony of the plaintiff shall not be sufficient to prove such contract, and proof of the association of the parties shall not be suffi…

In all suits for damages for breach of promise or contract of marriage that may hereafter be tried in the courts of this state, the judge hearing the case shall instruct the jury to take into consideration the age and experience of the parties and whether the plaintiff has been p…

In all suits for damages for breach of promise or contract of marriage that may be tried in the courts of this state, where the defendant is more than sixty (60) years of age at the time the case is tried, proof of damages shall be limited to the actual financial loss of the plai…