Step 5: Property, alimony, child support & custody
Property division
In a Tennessee divorce, only marital property is divided between the spouses, while separate property is not and Tennessee is an “equitable distribution” state, i.e. the court will divide the property classified as marital property equitably.
According to Tennessee law, each spouse will retain his/her separate property and while dividing the marital property, the court will consider the following factors:
- Length of the marriage.
- Age, mental and physical health, employability, vocational skills, earning capability, financial needs, liabilities and estate of each spouse.
- Contribution, both tangible and intangible, of one spouse to the training, education or increased earning capability of the other spouse.
- Ability of each spouse for future income and capital asset acquisition.
- Contribution of each spouse to the acquisition, appreciation, preservation, dissipation or depreciation of both marital, as well as the separate property.
- Separate property value of each spouse.
- Estate of each spouse when they were married.
- Economic situation of each spouse when the property division will be effective.
- Tax implications to each spouse, costs related to the probable sale of the asset and other reasonable probable expenses related to the asset.
- Social security benefits of each spouse.
- Any other relevant factors.
When the court divides the property between spouses, it considers the separate property of each spouse. If the separate property of one spouse is significantly more. Then the other spouse is likely to get more of the marital property.
As per the Tennessee law, it is possible for the separate property or any appreciation of the property to become marital property if the spouse who does not own the property can prove that both the spouses had contributed substantially to the appreciation and preservation of that property.
Also, there are two ways by which separate property can become marital property in Tennessee, i.e. commingling and transmutation.
Commingling
When separate property is mingled inseparably with marital property or with separate property belonging to the other spouse, commingling occurs.
If any separate property is considered as marital property, then the presumption arises that a gift of separate property has occurred to the marital estate.
Transmutation
When any separate property is treated in a way to offer evidence that it is marital, this is known as transmutation.
Alimony
In Tennessee, there are 4 kinds of alimony – rehabilitative alimony, alimony in futuro, transitional alimony and alimony solido.
- Rehabilitative Alimony: This is given to the spouse to help him/her rehabilitate himself/herself so that he/she can obtain job skills or return to school.
- Alimony in Futuro: This is given in long-term marriages and can last until the death of the spouse or until the spouse remarries.
- Transitional Alimony: This is given to the spouse who is economically disadvantaged to enable him/her to adjust after the divorce.
- Alimony Solido: This is a type of property division.
You can discuss with your attorney about which kind of alimony is applicable to your divorce.
The court will consider the following factors when deciding the alimony to be paid:
- Length of the marriage.
- Age of each spouse and their mental and physical condition.
- Earning capability, needs, obligations and financial resources of both spouses, including the retirement, pension or profit-sharing plans and other sources.
- Education and training of each spouse, opportunity and ability of each spouse to get such training or education and the necessity of each spouse to get further training and education to increase the earning capacity.
- How undesirable it is for the spouse seeking alimony to look for employment outside the home being the custodian of minor children.
- Separate assets of each spouse – personal and real, intangible and tangible.
- Division of marital property.
- Standard of living maintained by both spouses while they were married.
- Contributions of each spouse, both intangible and tangible, to the marriage and contribution of one spouse to the training, education or enhanced earning power of the other spouse.
- Which of the spouses has more fault.
- Any other relevant factors.
Child Custody
Our in-depth article on Tennessee child custody has everything parents need to know and helpful tips about navigating the custody process.