Tennessee is known as The Volunteer State. But when facing a divorce in Tennessee, you have to take a step towards familiarizing yourself with Tennessee divorce laws.
You can file for divorce in Tennessee if the cause for divorce happened while you were a bona fide resident of the state. You can also obtain a divorce if the cause for a divorce complaint happened outside Tennessee, and you lived in another state at that time, but you or your spouse has lived in Tennessee for six months before filing.1
Tennessee is both a fault and no-fault divorce state. The recognized grounds for a no-fault divorce in TN are “irreconcilable differences” and having lived separately for two years or more and you don’t have any minor children in common. Fault-based grounds include impotence, adultery, desertion, convicted of an infamous crime, an attempt to kill or poison you, bigamy, habitual drunkenness, refusal of a party to move with the spouse to TN without reasonable cause, cruel and inhuman treatment, convicted of a felony; or horrible treatment from a spouse.2
Tennessee is an equitable distribution property state, and only property acquired during the marriage is subject to division. Tennessee divorce laws attempt to divide marital property in a manner believed to be fair and equitable. The judge will also consider factors such as non-monetary contributions, contributions to a partner’s education as well as economic misconduct.3
1TN ST § 36-4-104
2TN ST § 36-4-101(a)
3TN ST § 36-4-121
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