For those who can't tolerate living together as husband and wife, but who don't want to get a divorce, there is another option: legal separation.  The difference is that under a legal separation, the parties remain legally married in all respects but "bed and board," meaning they are no longer expected to sleep with each other or to support each other financially.   Sometimes this is called a "bed and board divorce" or "separate maintenance".

        Under Tennessee law either party can ask the Court for a legal separation without asking for an absolute divorce, or either party can ask that the Court consider legal separation as an alternative to an absolute divorce if the Court refuses to grant a divorce.

        While Tennessee allows the judge to decide whether an absolute divorce or a divorce from bed and board is proper, judges today virtually never refuse to grant an absolute divorce so long as one party wants it, even if the one who wants the divorce is the guilty party and the other spouse never did anything at all wrong.  If the court does grant a bed and board divorce, the court can change the decree to an absolute divorce after two years if the parties have not gotten back together.

        A court hearing a petition for a legal separation has the same power regarding the care and custody parties' minor children and to divide property and marital assets as a court has in hearing a petition for an absolute divorce.

        While the statute is unclear, it would appear that the jurisdictional rules are the same for a legal separation as for an absolute divorce.  This means Tennessee courts can only hear the case if the grounds happened in Tennessee or if at last one of  the parties have been residents of Tennessee for at least six months before filing for legal separation.  The petition should be filed in the county in which the parties lived when they last lived together or in the county where the defendant lives.  If the defendant lives outside of Tennessee, then the petition should be filed in the county where the petitioner lives.

        As with any divorce, even before the case is final, the Court can also do any or all of the following: grant protective orders prohibiting one or the other or both from harrassing the other; ordering one party to move out of the house; award temporary custody of minor children; and order temporary child support.  Courts can also prohibit any property transfers until property rights have  been established.

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