Spousal abandonment: How do I get divorced if I cannot locate my Tennessee spouse?

Spousal Abandonment: How do I get divorced if I cannot locate my Tennessee spouse?

Spouse abandonment is one of the grounds for a fault-based divorce in Tennessee. If your spouse has abandoned you for at least one year or more, you can use this as grounds to file for divorce.

Additionally, if you moved to Tennessee and your spouse refused to follow you for two years or more, or you’ve lived separate from your spouse for at least two years, you can also use these as grounds for a divorce.

Contact the Miles Mason Family Law Group to speak to our team of divorce lawyers in Memphis about your divorce claim if you are having problems finding your spouse and need guidance to file for divorce.

Proving Spouse Abandonment 

In order to use abandonment or desertion as sufficient grounds for a divorce, you will need to be able to prove that your spouse did indeed desert you for a year or more and that you did not agree to his or her departure.

Additionally, you may need to present evidence that shows you’ve been trying to contact your spouse regarding the divorce and have been unable to do so, and that he or she has not provided any type of financial support for you and your children during the absence.

You may even be required to publish a notice in a newspaper in an attempt to locate and get in contact with your spouse. If the spouse doesn’t respond, a judgment may be made. 

Divorces Based on Spouse Abandonment 

When you go through a divorce based on abandonment, the judge will likely award you several types of support payments. First, you may be due compensation for the support your spouse has failed to provide. Also, you could be due child support, as you now have de facto custody of your children in your spouse’s absence.

If the case of abandonment is severe, you could even seek to have the judge terminate your spouse’s parental rights, declaring him or her unfit to parent.

In order to prove this, you will likely need to present evidence that shows your spouse failed to provide monetary support for your children and that there was a lack of contact with the children for an extended period of time. You may also be able to seek temporary custody of your children while the divorce is being finalized.

Seeking divorce on the grounds of abandonment can be difficult to prove. Many benefit in speaking with and hiring an attorney to represent their rights during the process and to help gather proper documentation and evidence.

In general, it is always preferable to personally serve a spouse to make sure the awarded property division, alimony, and child support will not be challenged in court later.  For more information, see The Tennessee Divorce Process: How Divorces Work Start to Finish and Tennessee Divorce Laws FAQs | Filing for Divorce in Tennessee & Forms.

Getting Help from Divorce Lawyers in Memphis 

According to a 2007 report by the National Marriage Project, 40 to 50 percent of all first marriages will end in divorce or separation. If your spouse abandoned or deserted you and your family for a year or longer, you could have grounds for a fault-based divorce. Call the Miles Mason Family Law Group at 901-683-1850 to speak to a divorce lawyer in Memphis. We’ll help you by gathering evidence and proving spouse abandonment.