Tennessee Divorce and Family Law

New Family Law Blog in Colorado

There is a new family law information source on the web in Colorado. Peter Mullison has created a blog called My Colorado Divorce Lawyer. Mr. Mullison has over a decade of legal experience and is sure to have some insightful information on family law. His blog already has a great deal of information that is specific to Colorado law and some general information that is relevant to all states. I would like to welcome Mr. Mullison to family law blogging and I look forward to his upcoming posts.

Helping Children Deal With Divorce

Children can have a terrible time dealing with their parent's divorce. Helping them deal with the emotional consequences can be difficult. There are some wonderful sources for parents to help their children during and after the divorce. The Oklahoma Family Law Blog has 3 excellent posts on resources for helping children of divorce.

Helping Your Kids Cope With Divorce, Making Divorce Easier on Your Child, and What About the Kids?

While you are there check out some of the amazing information that Dan Nunley has posted.

Common Law Marriage

Tennessee does not provide for common law marriages if the marriage took place in the state. However, Tennessee will recognize a common law marriage from another state if it was valid in the home state.

A common law marriage is one that for some reason does not satisfy the home state’s licensure or solemnization requirements. Generally, there must be a voluntary agreement between the parties to be married and they must take some action in furtherance of the agreement such as holding themselves out to be married. In addition, the couple must be eligible to be married.

Who May Marry in Tennessee

Tennessee has a few limitations on who may marry. First, a couple must have a valid marriage license and enter into a ceremony. The ceremony must be performed by an officiant that is authorized by statute. Generally, this includes regular preachers, ministers, pastors, priests, and rabbis who are ordained. The ordination requirement is fairly new and was created to prevent mail order ministers from performing ceremonies.

Couples cannot be too closely related by blood. This includes:
• Lineal ancestors (parent, grandparent) or descendants (child, grandchild)
• Ancestor or descendant of parent (siblings, niece/nephew, etc.)
• Descendant of former spouse (stepchild or child of ex-spouse)
• A child of a grandparent (aunt or uncle)
• Former spouse of a parent or descendant (son-in-law, step-sister, stepparent, etc.)

Bigamy is forbidden. The first marriage must be dissolved before a second marriage can be contracted.

Marriage must be between a man and a woman. No same sex marriages

Parties must be at least 18 years of age unless they have court authorization or parental consent.

Both parties must be competent to get married.

New bill would require drug testing of poor people

A new bill has been introduced in Tennessee by Senator Burchett that would require drug testing for new welfare recipients. The bill proposes that the Department of Human Services test all new applicants for drug use, before they can be placed on public assistance. The bill does not appear to make any allowances for the children of these "drug users". I suppose they will just have to go hungry.