There are two ways to be divorced in Tennessee: agree to be divorced because of irreconcilable differences, or allege grounds for divorce against your spouse in your Complaint for Divorce. The thirteen grounds for a contested divorce in Tennessee are:
- Adultery; 
- Habitual drunkenness or abuse of narcotic drugs; 
- Living apart for two years with no minor children; 
- Inappropriate marital conduct; 
- Willful or malicious desertion for one full year without a reasonable cause; 
- Conviction of a felony; 
- Pregnancy of the wife by another before the marriage without the husband’s knowledge; 
- Refusal to move to Tennessee with your spouse and living apart for two years; 
- Malicious attempt upon the life of another; 
- Lack of reconciliation for two years after the entry of a decree of separate maintenance; 
- Impotency and sterility; 
- Bigamy; and 
- Abandonment or refusal or neglecting to provide for spouse although able to do so. 
