Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-36/chapter-1/part-1/36-1-111
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 18:45:25+00:00

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Justia US Law US Codes and Statutes Tennessee Code 2010 Tennessee Code Title 36 - Domestic Relations Chapter 1 - Adoption Part 1 - General Provisions 36-1-111 - Pre-surrender request for home study or preliminary home study Surrender of child Consent for adoption by parent Effect of Surrender Form of surrender Waiver of interest Interpreter for non-English speaking parents.
36-1-111. Pre-surrender request for home study or preliminary home study Surrender of child Consent for adoption by parent Effect of Surrender Form of surrender Waiver of interest Interpreter for non-English speaking parents.
(4) No surrender or parental consent shall be valid if the surrendering or consenting party states a desire to receive legal or social counseling under subdivisions (k)(2)(E) and (k)(2)(F) until certification of satisfaction or withdrawal of such request is received by the court as provided in subsection (l ).
(3) (A) The court shall require the person or persons surrendering the child for adoption or consenting to the child's adoption to complete the portion of the surrender or a parental consent form that indicates whether the person desires, or wishes to veto, further contact with other persons eligible under this part to have contact with the surrendering parent at a later time in accordance with §§ 36-1-127 36-1-131.
(3) The provisions of this subsection (l ) shall also apply to the use of parental consents pursuant to § 36-1-117(g) prior to entry of the order of confirmation.
(o) No surrender shall be accepted by the Tennessee court or on a Tennessee form by those persons authorized to accept a surrender under subsection (h), (i) or (j), nor shall a parental consent be confirmed by the court, nor shall an order of guardianship be entered by the court under subsection (r) based upon a surrender or a parental consent until there has been compliance with the provisions of subsections (l ), (m) and (n).
(2) (A) The original of the surrender executed before the court shall be entered on a special docket for surrenders and shall be styled: In Re: (Child's Name), and shall be permanently filed by the court in a separate file designated for that purpose maintained by the judge, or the judge's court officer, who accepted the surrender and shall be confidential and shall not be inspected by anyone without the written approval of the court where the file is maintained or by a court of competent jurisdiction with domestic relations jurisdiction if the file is maintained elsewhere. There will be no court costs or litigation tax assessed for the surrender. Within five (5) days, a certified copy of the surrender shall be sent by the clerk or the court to the adoptions unit in the state office of the department in Nashville.
(r) (1) (A) A surrender, a confirmed parental consent, or a waiver of interest executed in accordance with this part shall have the effect of terminating all rights as the parent or guardian to the child who is surrendered, for whom parental consent to adopt is given, or for whom a waiver of interest is executed. It shall terminate the responsibilities of the surrendering parent or guardian, the consenting parent, or the person executing a waiver of interest under this section for future child support or other future financial responsibilities pursuant to subsection (w) if the child is ultimately adopted; provided, that this shall not be construed to eliminate the responsibility of such parent or guardian for past child support arrearages or other financial obligations incurred for the care of such child prior to the execution of the surrender, parental consent or waiver of interest; and provided further, that the court may, with the consent of the parent or guardian, restore such rights and responsibilities pursuant to § 36-1-118(d).
(6) Unless they are indigent under federal poverty guidelines, the prospective adoptive parents shall be assessed by the court the costs of the study and the supervision of the placement by the agency, and the costs shall be paid by them to the licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker that performed the home study or supervision.
(u) (1) Failure to fully comply with the provisions of this section or failure to file the surrender executed pursuant to subsection (h), (i) or (j) within the fifteen-day period required by subsection (q), or failure to obtain an order of guardianship in accordance with this section within thirty (30) days of the date the surrender is executed or filed, or within thirty (30) days of the date parental consent is filed, shall be grounds for removal of the child from the physical care and control of the person, the department, or licensed child-placing agency receiving the surrender; provided, that this shall not apply when the persons, the department or the licensed child-placing agency have legal custody or partial guardianship under an order of a court entered prior to the execution of the surrender or parental consent or pursuant to any statutory authority giving custody to the department or licensed child-placing agency.
(2) A sworn complaint concerning the grounds alleged in subdivision (u)(1) and concerning the best interests of a child for whom a surrender is sought or on whom a surrender or parental consent was executed or guardianship order entered, or which complaint otherwise seeks to present proof concerning the best interests of the child, may be filed by any person, the department, a licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker.
(3) The complaint may be filed in the court where the surrender was executed or filed or where the adoption petition containing a parental consent was filed. If the surrender was not executed or filed in Tennessee or if the surrender was not executed before a court or if the surrender was not filed at all, then the complaint may be filed in the circuit, chancery, or juvenile court in the county where the child resides.
(v) (1) (A) Upon its own motion or upon the complaint filed pursuant to subsection (u) and subject to the restrictions concerning custody of the child who is not in the custody of the prospective adoptive parents as stated in subdivisions (r)(2) and (4) and § 36-1-116(f)(1), the court receiving the surrender or entering the order of guardianship or partial guardianship and the adoption court to which jurisdiction may be transferred may make any suitable provisions for the care of the child and, notwithstanding the restrictions of subdivisions (r)(2) and (4) and § 36-1-116(f)(1), the court shall have jurisdiction to enter any necessary orders, including any emergency ex parte orders for the child's emergency protection, care, and supervision based upon probable cause that the child's health and safety is immediately endangered; provided, that such emergency orders shall only remain effective for thirty (30) days when the restrictions of subdivisions (r)(2) and (4) and § 36-1-116(f)(1) apply.
(B) If another court has jurisdiction under a prior order because of such restrictions, upon completion of all proceedings to protect the child, the court shall then return all jurisdiction over the child to the court having jurisdiction under the prior order; provided, that the juvenile court shall maintain jurisdiction pursuant to title 37 to adjudicate allegations of delinquency, unruliness, or truancy involving the child.
(C) If the child has no legal custodian with authority to provide temporary care for the child, then, subject to the restrictions of subdivisions (r)(2) and (4) and § 36-1-116(f)(1), the court shall give temporary legal custody pursuant to § 37-1-140 to the department or a licensed child-placing agency until full compliance has been effected and until a guardianship or partial guardianship order can be entered, or until some other disposition is made for the child by the court. The court may permit the department or a licensed child-placing agency, in its discretion, to place the child with any suitable person, including the prospective adoptive parents, under the department's or the licensed child-placing agency's supervision.
(D) If an emergency ex parte order removes the child from the custody of the prospective adoptive parents or the department or licensed child-placing agency, a preliminary hearing shall be held within five (5) days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, to determine if probable cause exists for the continuance of such order.
(2) The prospective adoptive parents or entities from which the child was removed shall be necessary parties at the preliminary hearing and the final hearing, and the court may order the department or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker to provide any necessary information or court reports concerning the welfare of the child as it may require.
(3) A final hearing shall be held within thirty (30) days of the date of the preliminary hearing, except for good cause entered upon the record.
(4) Upon the final hearing, and based upon clear and convincing evidence that the action is in the best interests of the child, the court shall have jurisdiction to enter an order removing the child from the prospective adoptive parents or other custodian or guardian of the child, and may award temporary legal custody giving any person, the department or licensed child-placing agency, or a child-caring agency, the care and custody of the child as provided under § 37-1-140 or may enter a guardianship or partial guardianship order with the rights provided under this part, all subject to the rights of any remaining parent or guardian.
(w) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a waiver of interest and notice, when signed under oath by the alleged biological father, shall serve to waive the alleged biological father's interest in the child and the alleged biological father's rights to notice of any proceedings with respect to the child's adoption, custody or guardianship. The alleged biological father who executes the waiver shall not be required to be made a party to any adoption proceedings, custody or guardianship proceedings with respect to the child and shall not be entitled to receive notice thereof, and the court in any adoption proceeding, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, shall have jurisdiction to enter a final order of adoption of the child based upon the waiver, and in other proceedings to determine the child's legal custody or guardianship shall have jurisdiction to enter an order for those purposes. The waiver may not be revoked.
(2) (A) The execution of the waiver, in conjunction with a final order of adoption of the child, shall irrevocably terminate all rights the alleged biological father has or may have to the child and any rights the child has or may have relative to the alleged biological father. Upon entry of a final order of adoption of the child, the waiver, except as provided in subdivision (2)(B), shall also terminate the responsibility of the alleged biological father for any future child support or other financial obligations to the child, or to the child's mother that are related to the child's support, arising after the date of the execution of the waiver.
(B) If, after execution of the waiver, a final order of adoption is not entered, and a parentage action is initiated against the alleged biological father or the alleged biological father executes a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, the alleged biological father shall become liable for child support or other financial obligations to the child, or to the child's mother that are related to the child's support, arising after the execution of the waiver and beginning with the date of the entry of an order establishing the biological father's parentage to the child or upon the date of the biological father's execution of a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity; provided, if paternity is later established, the alleged biological father who executed the waiver shall be liable for all or a portion of the actual medical and hospital expenses of the child's birth and all or a portion of the mother's pre-natal and post-natal care up to thirty (30) days following the child's birth if the parentage action is initiated or the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is executed within two (2) years of the date of the execution of the waiver.
(3) The waiver shall not be valid for use by a legal father as defined under § 36-1-102 or for any man listed as the father of a child on the child's birth certificate.
(4) The waiver of interest and notice may be executed at any time after the biological mother executes a sworn statement identifying such person as the biological father of the biological mother's child to be born, or at any time after the birth of the child.
(x) (1) If a child is surrendered to a person other than a licensed child-placing agency or the department, and, after the expiration of the ten-day period for revocation, the person or persons to whom the child was surrendered decide that they no longer wish to adopt the child, and if no order of guardianship has been entered by a court that gives those persons who had received the surrender the guardianship of the child, they may surrender the child to a licensed child-placing agency or the department without notice to the parent or guardians who originally had executed the surrender to them.
(2) In this event, the licensed child-placing agency or the department shall have the same rights as set forth above just as if the child had been originally surrendered to them; provided, that if the court has entered a guardianship order as set forth above, the surrender cannot be utilized in this manner, and a motion must be made to the court to modify the existing guardianship order.
(y) An interpreter shall be provided to a surrendering parent or guardian who is not fluent in English, before a final hearing on an adoption is conducted. The prospective adoptive parent or parents shall be responsible for payment of the cost of such interpreter.

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