If the defendant admits the facts charged in the bill or petition and relied upon as the ground for a divorce, or the bill is taken for confessed, the court shall, nevertheless, before decreeing a divorce, except a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences, hear proof of the facts alleged as aforementioned, and either dismiss the bill or petition or grant a divorce, as the justice of the case may require.
Code 1858, § 2459 (deriv. Acts 1835-1836, ch. 26, § 6); Shan., § 4212; mod. Code 1932, § 8437; Acts 1977, ch. 107, § 4; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 36-813.
Cross-References. Irreconcilable differences, procedure, §36-4-103.
Textbooks. Gibson's Suits in Chancery (7th ed., Inman), § 523.
Law Reviews.
Divorce Decree Taken on Pro Confesso — When It May Be Set Aside for Fraud, 19 Tenn. L. Rev. 843 (1947).