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Tenn. Code Ann. § 24-1-201

Married persons

Applied in 13 court decisions — leading case State v. Bush (1997)

Most recently applied in State v. Gutierrez (August 2019)

Acts 1867-1868, ch. 75, § 1; 1868-1869, ch. 7, § 1; 1869-1870, ch. 19, § 2; 1869-1870, ch. 78; 1879, ch. 200, § 1; Shan., § 5596; Code 1932, § 9777; Acts 1949, ch. 55, § 1; C

How often courts cite this section

1988199020002010201930
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) In either a civil or criminal proceeding, no married person has privilege to refuse to take the witness stand solely because that person's spouse is a party to the proceeding.

(2) In a civil proceeding, confidential communications between married persons are privileged and inadmissible if either spouse objects. This communications privilege shall not apply to proceedings between spouses or to proceedings concerning abuse of one (1) of the spouses or abuse of a minor in the custody of or under the dominion and control of either spouse, including, but not limited to, proceedings arising under title 36, chapter 1, part 1; title 37, chapter 1, parts 1, 4 and 6; title 37, chapter 2, part 4; and title 71, chapter 6, part 1. This confidential communications privilege shall not apply to any insured's obligations under a contract of insurance in civil proceedings.

(3) In a criminal proceeding a marital confidential communication shall be privileged if: The communications originated in a confidence that they will not be disclosed;

(4) The element of confidentiality is essential to the full and satisfactory maintenance of the relation between the parties;

(5) The relation must be one which, in the opinion of the community, ought to be sedulously fostered; and

(6) The injury to the relation by disclosure of the communications outweighs the benefit gained for the correct disposal of litigation.

(7) Upon a finding that a marital communication is privileged, it shall be inadmissible if either spouse objects. Such communication privileges shall not apply to proceedings concerning abuse of one (1) of the spouses or abuse of a minor in the custody of or under the dominion and control of either spouse, including, but not limited to proceedings arising under title 37, chapter 1, parts 1 and 4; title 37, chapter 2, part 4; and title 71, chapter 6, part 1.

Current official text: Tennessee Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Tennessee statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.