Legal Separation - What Happens?

Legal separation is an alternative for people who cannot continue to live together as husband and wife but who do not want a dissolution of their marriage. The effect of a legal separation as opposed to a divorce is that the parties to a legal separation are still married to each other in all respects but "bed and board." Sometimes a bed and board divorce is called separate maintenance.

There is a separate statutory provision which empowers the divorce court to grant a divorce from bed and board or from the bonds of matrimony. A wife may petition for a bed and board divorce as opposed to an absolute divorce if her husband abuses her person and creates an intolerable living condition. She may also sue for a bed and board divorce if her husband has abandoned her or "turned her out-of-doors" and refuses or neglects to provide for her. Either husband or wife has a cause of action if the other spouse is guilty of inappropriate marital conduct. Such conduct has been construed by the courts to mean a number of things.

The court has the discretion to decide whether an absolute divorce or a divorce from bed and board is proper. If the court grants a bed and board divorce, it has the authority to change the decree to an absolute divorce after two years if the parties have not become reconciled. This, however, is not mandatory, and the court is free to exercise its discretion in that regard.

The court has the same power in regard to the care and custody of minor children of the parties and what property rights exist between the parties as in a suit for absolute divorce.

If the grounds did not occur in this state, the parties must have been residents of Tennessee for at least six months prior to the filing of a legal separation or bed and board divorce. The complaint should be filed in the county in which the parties were residing at the time of the separation or the county in which the defendant resides. If the defendant is out of state, then it should be filed in the county where the applicant resides.

Temporary relief that can be granted includes a protective order prohibiting one party from molesting or harassing the other; an injunction ordering one party to move out of the house; temporary custody of minor children; and child support. The court automatically  prohibit’s any property transfers until property rights have been established.