Dissolution of marriage in Florida is legally referred to as Divorce from the Bonds of Matrimony or Absolute Divorce.
Residency Requirement:
A Plaintiff (filing party) may file for divorce in Tennessee if the acts complained of were committed while he/she was a bona fide resident of the state. If the acts complained of were committed outside of the state and the Plaintiff resided out of state at the time, he/she may file for divorce if either the Plaintiff or the Defendant (non-filing party) has resided in Tennessee for six months prior to filing the Complaint.
Military Personnel:
Any person in the armed services of the U.S., or his/her spouse, who has been living in the state for at one year shall be presumed to be a resident of the state, and the presumption of residence shall be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence of a residence elsewhere.
Filing:
A Bill or Petition for Divorce may be filed 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 the state; but if the Defendant is a nonresident of the state or a convict, then in the county where the applicant resides.
A Complaint or Petition for divorce must have been on file for at least 60 days before being heard if the parties have no unmarried children under 18 years of age, and must have been on file at least 90 days before being heard if the parties have an unmarried child under 18 years of age. The 60 or 90 day period commences on the date the Complaint or Petition is filed.
Irreconcilable Differences:
In all divorce actions alleging irreconcilable differences, if the Defendant is a nonresident, personal service may be accomplished upon the secretary of the state. Alternatively, in place of service of process, the Defendant may enter into a written notarized marital dissolution agreement with the Plaintiff that makes specific reference to a pending divorce by a court and docket number, states that the Defendant is aware that one will be filed in this state and that he/she waives further service and waives filing an answer to the Complaint.
Spouse’s Name:
There is no statutory provision for the restoration of a spouse’s name after divorce. However, case law provides that a wife may resume the use of her former or maiden name by making the request in the divorce complaint. The restoration of the spouse’s name is typically part of the divorce decree.
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Legal Grounds for Divorce
The following are statutory grounds for divorce from the bonds of matrimony in Tennessee:
1. Either party, at the time of the contract, was and still is naturally impotent and incapable of procreation;
2. Bigamy;
3. Adultery;
4. Willful or malicious desertion or absence of either party, without reasonable cause for one year;
5. Being convicted of any crime that, by the laws of the state, renders the party infamous;
6. Being convicted of a crime that, by the laws of the state, is declared to be a felony, and sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary;
7. Either party has made an attempt on the life of the other, by poison or any other means showing malice;
8. Refusal, on the part of one party, to move with his/her spouse to Tennessee, without reasonable cause, and being willfully absent from the spouse residing in Tennessee for two years;
9. The wife was pregnant at the time of marriage, by another person, without the knowledge of the husband;
10. Habitual drunkenness or abuse of narcotic drugs of either party, when the spouse has contracted either such habit after marriage;
11. Either party is guilty of such cruel and inhuman treatment or conduct towards the other party as renders cohabitation unsafe and improper, which may also be referred in pleadings as inappropriate marital conduct;
12. Either party has offered such indignities to the other party as to render his/her position intolerable, and therefore forced the party to withdraw;
13. Either party has abandoned his/her spouse or turned the spouse out of doors for no just cause, and has refused or neglected to provide for the spouse while having the ability to do so;
14. Irreconcilable differences between the parties; and
15. For a continuous period of two or more years that commenced prior to or after April 18, 1985, both parties have lived in separate residences, have not cohabitated as man and wife during this period, and there are no minor children of the parties.
No divorce shall be granted on the ground of irreconcilable differences unless the court affirmatively finds in its decree that the parties have made adequate and sufficient provision by written agreement for the custody and maintenance of any children of that marriage and for the equitable settlement of any property rights between the parties.
Irreconcilable differences may be asserted as a sole ground for divorce or as an alternate ground for divorce with any other cause for divorce.
Even if a Defendant admits to a fault-based ground in a Bill or Petition, before decreeing a divorce, the court shall hear proof of the facts alleged and either dismiss the Bill or Petition, or grant the divorce, as the justice of the case may require.
Annulment
Prohibited Marriages:
Marriage between lineal ancestors or descendants, the lineal ancestors or descendants of either parent, or the child of a grandparent, or the lineal descendants of husband or wife, as the case may be, or the husband or wife of a parent or lineal descendant;
A second marriage contracted before dissolution of a first marriage, but the first marriage shall be regarded as dissolved if either party has been absent five years and is not known to the other to be living;
Either party to the marriage is under 16 years of age; or
Either party to the marriage is at least 16 years of age but under 18 years of age, and did not obtain the consent of a parent, guardian, next of kin or party having custody of the underage party;
The legal union in matrimony of only one man and one woman shall be the only recognized marriage in Tennessee. If another state or foreign jurisdiction issues a license for persons to marry, which is prohibited in Tennessee, it shall be void and unenforceable in this state.
Tennessee case law shows that the state also permits annulment for other grounds, such as incurable insanity, impotence and pregnancy by another man at the time of marriage without the husband’s knowledge, as well as entering into marriage due to force, fraud or duress.
Property Division
Tennessee is an equitable distribution state. In all actions for divorce or legal separation, upon request of either party, the court having jurisdiction may equitably divide, distribute, or assign the marital property between the parties without regard to marital fault in proportions as the court deems fair. The court shall do so prior to any determination as to whether it is appropriate to order the support and maintenance of one party by the other.
The court has the power to enforce its decree by divesting and reinvesting title to such property and, where deemed necessary, to order a sale of such property and to order the proceeds divided between the parties.
Marital property is legally defined as all real and personal property, both tangible and intangible, acquired by either or both spouses during the course of the marriage up to the date of the final divorce hearing and owned by either or both spouses as of the date of filing of a Complaint for Divorce, except in the case of fraudulent conveyance in anticipation of filing, and including any property to which a right was acquired up to the date of the final divorce hearing, and valued as of a date as near as reasonably possible to the final divorce hearing date.
Marital property includes income from, and any increase in value during the marriage of property determined to be separate property if each party substantially contributed to its preservation and appreciation, and the value of vested and unvested pension, vest and unvested stock option rights, retirement or other fringe benefits relating to employment that accrued during the period of marriage.
Marital property also includes recovery in personal injury, workers’ compensation, social security disability actions, and other similar actions for the following: wages lost during the marriage, reimbursement for medical bills incurred and paid with marital property, and property damage to marital property.
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