(a) When the parties to a divorce action mediate the dispute, the mediator shall not divulge information disclosed to the mediator by the parties or by others in the course of mediation. All records, reports, and other documents developed for the mediation are confidential and privileged.
divorce

Ask a divorce law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified divorce lawyers.
Specialties include: Family Law, Custody, Divorce, Child Support, Child Protection, Alimony, and more.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-4-130

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Communications made during a mediation may be disclosed only:

(1) When all parties to the mediation agree, in writing, to waive the confidentiality of the written information;
(2) In a subsequent action between the mediator and a party to the mediation for damages arising out of the mediation;
(3) When statements, memoranda, materials and other tangible evidence are otherwise subject to discovery and were not prepared specifically for use in and actually used in the mediation;
(4) When the parties to the mediation are engaged in litigation with a third party and the court determines that fairness to the third party requires that the fact or substance of an agreement resulting from mediation be disclosed; or
(5) When the disclosure reveals abuse or neglect of a child by one (1) of the parties.
(c) The mediator shall not be compelled to testify in any proceeding, unless all parties to the mediation and the mediator agree in writing.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 4 Contents