Source: https://www.childadoptionlaws.com/child_adoption_laws/adoption_laws_tennessee.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 08:21:33+00:00

Document:
We hope to help you learn more about the child adoption laws in the State of Tennessee. Please note that while we have tried to be as current as possible, laws are occasionally rewritten and/or amended; accordingly, the Tennessee adoption law provided below may have errors, omissions, or may not be the most current version. Please remember that this information should not be used as the basis for making any legal decision. Please use appropriate resources and an attorney's advice when making legal decisions.
Pregnant women and Birth Mothers in Tennessee who need financial, medical, nutritional, health or other types of help such as support groups please click this link.
36-1-101. Purpose of part - Construction.
prior adoptions of adults ratified.
36-1-104. Withholding of material information concerning the status of the parents or guardian of a child subject to surrender, termination of parental rights or adoption - Misdemeanor.
36-1-105. Violation of criminal provisions of part by state employee - Dismissal.
36-1-107. Persons to whom this part is applicable.
36-1-108. Entities authorized to place children for adoption - Advisory and agency capacity authorized - Injunction to stop illegal payments.
36-1-109. Illegal payments in connection with placement of child - Penalty.
36-1-110. Parent under eighteen years of age - Surrender.
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.
36-1-112. Revocation of surrender and parental consent - Form.
36-1-115. Persons eligible to file adoption petition - Residence requirements - Preference for foster parents.
36-1-116. Pre-petition home study - Information from surrender court - Contents of petition - Effect of filing - Order of preference.
36-1-117. Parties to proceedings - Termination of rights of putative father - Consent of parent or guardian - Service of process.
36-1-118. Dismissal of adoption proceedings and guardianship orders - Revocation of surrender by court - Notice - Disposition of child.
36-1-119. Final order of adoption - When entered.
36-1-120. Final order of adoption - Contents - Report of foreign birth.
36-1-121. Effect of adoption on relationship.
36-1-122. Binding effect of adoption.
36-1-123. Biological parents illegally obtaining custody of a child - Custodial interference.
36-1-124. Contested terminations of parental rights and adoptions - Appeals - Expedited schedule.
36-1-125. Confidentiality of records - Penalties for unauthorized disclosure - Protected orders.
36-1-126. Record kept under seal - Confidential records - Access to certain records - Preservation of records.
36-1-127. Availability of records to adopted persons and certain other persons for adoptions finalized or attempted prior to March 16, 1951.
36-1-128. Contact veto registry - Persons eligible to have names entered.
36-1-129. Procedures for filing contact veto or giving consent.
36-1-130. Access to records - Search of registry - Restrictions on contact.
36-1-131. Search of sealed adoption record, sealed record or post-adoption records - Opportunity to veto contact.
36-1-132. Violation of contact veto a misdemeanor - Injunction and damages - Attorney's Fees - Using information to injure persons whose names were obtained.
36-1-133. Release of nonidentifying information concerning biological or legal family.
36-1-134. Transmission of information between affected parties - Access to records of deceased or disabled persons - Updating of information to allow contact.
36-1-135. Updated medical information in records - Searches for persons affected.
36-1-136. Notification made as part of search, contact or identifying requests.
36-1-137. Inability of department to verify adoptive status of relationships - Waiting period to request further searches - Limitations on searches.
36-1-138. Court orders for the release of information from adoption and sealed records.
36-1-139. Penalty for providing false information related to information requests.
36-1-140. Immunity for actions in good faith by department personnel and immunity of certain other persons.
36-1-141. Fees for searches, registration of contact vetoes, and copies - Promulgation of rules - Forms.
36-1-142. Voluntary delivery of infant to facility, revocation of voluntary delivery, and termination of parental rights.
36-1-206. Construction - Compliance with federal laws.
36-1-302. "Advance notice period" defined.
36-1-303. Persons entitled to file a request for advance notice.
36-1-305. Promulgation of necessary rules and regulations.
(6) The adopted child is protected in the child's adoptive relationship from any interference by any person who may have some legal claim after the child has become properly adjusted to the child's adoptive home.
(4) Provide adoption promotion and support services and activities designed to encourage early permanency and adoptions, when adoptions promote the best interests of children, including such activities as pre-adoptive and post-adoptive services and activities designed to expedite the adoption process.
(c) The purpose of this part shall also be to favor the rights of adopted persons or other persons for whom any closed records are maintained and their families to obtain information concerning the lives of those persons and to permit them to obtain information about themselves from the adoption records, sealed records, sealed adoption records, or post-adoption records to which they are entitled, but also to recognize the rights of parents and adopted persons not to be contacted by the persons who obtain such information, except in compliance with this part.
(d) In all cases, when the best interests of the child and those of the adults are in conflict, such conflict shall always be resolved to favor the rights and the best interests of the child, which interests are hereby recognized as constitutionally protected and, to that end, this part shall be liberally construed.
(C) Nothing in this subdivision (48) shall be construed to expressly authorize the surrogate birth process in Tennessee unless otherwise approved by the courts or the general assembly.
Acts 1951, ch. 202, §§ 2, 40 (Williams, §§ 9572.16, 9572.52); 1961, ch. 227, § 1; 1972, ch. 612, § 7; 1972, ch. 624, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1975, ch. 219, § 1; 1976, ch. 394, § 1; modified; Acts 1978, ch. 704, § 1; 1983, ch. 435, § 7; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 36-102; Acts 1990, ch. 988, § 1; 1993, ch. 124, §§ 5, 6; § 36-1-102; Acts 1995, ch. 532, § 1; 1996, ch. 1054, §§ 3-15, 104; 1996, ch. 1079, § 69; 1998, ch. 1097, §§ 2, 3; 2000, ch. 981, § 51; 2001, ch. 388, § 4; 2002, ch. 630, § 1; 2003, ch. 231, §§ 1-4; 2009, ch. 235, § 1; 2009, ch. 411, §§ 1-3; 2010, ch. 760, §§ 1, 2; 2010, ch. 887, § 2; 2010, ch. 888, § 1; 2010, ch. 924, § 1.
Compiler's Notes. Acts 2009, ch. 235, § 1 directed the code commission to revise appropriate references from �child support referees� and �juvenile referees� to �child support magistrates� and �juvenile magistrates� in the code as supplements are published and volumes are replaced.
Acts 2009, ch. 411, § 12 provided that the act, which amended §§ 36-1-102, 36-1-108, 37-1-102, 37-2-402 and added new § 37-1-183, shall apply to conduct covered by the provisions of the act that occurs on or after July 1, 2009. The eighteen (18) month time period set out in § 37-1-102(b)(12)(J) shall not commence until July 1, 2009.
36-1-103. Prior adoptions and terminations of parental rights involving minors and prior adoptions of adults ratified.
(a) All proceedings for the adoption of children in the courts of this state, including any proceedings that terminated parental or guardianship rights, are hereby validated and confirmed and the orders and judgments entered therein prior to January 1, 1996, are declared to be binding upon all parties to the proceedings and such parties' privies and all other persons, until such orders or judgments shall be vacated as provided by law; provided, that this section does not apply to adoption proceedings or terminations of parental rights proceedings actually pending on January 1, 1996, in which the validity of a prior adoption or termination of parental rights proceeding is at issue.
(b) Adoptions and terminations of parental rights pending on January 1, 1996, and surrenders and consents executed prior to January 1, 1996, shall be governed by prior existing law.
(c) All adoptions of persons who are adults as of January 1, 1996, that were completed before January 1, 1996, in the courts of this state, pursuant to the then-existing provisions of this part, are hereby in all things ratified and confirmed.
(d) Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, surrenders taken and adoptions filed on or after January 1, 1996, and before October 1, 1996, which complied with the prior adoption law that was in effect on December 31, 1995, are in all things ratified and confirmed and shall be valid and lawful; provided, that this section does not apply to adoption proceedings or terminations of parental rights proceedings actually pending on January 1, 1996, in which the validity of a prior adoption or termination of parental rights proceeding is at issue. It is the intent of the general assembly to prevent any declaration of invalidity of any surrenders or adoptions taken or filed on or after January 1, 1996, and before October 1, 1996, for failure to properly comply with the provisions of Chapter 532 of the Public Acts of 1995, which took effect on January 1, 1996, and which amended prior adoption law and procedures. This section is remedial legislation and shall have retrospective effect in order to promote the public welfare and to preserve the permanency of adoptive placements for children.
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-103, concerning persons to whom part is applicable, was transferred to § 36-1-107, effective January 1, 1996.
Any person who, upon request by any party to an adoption or the party's agent or attorney, a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, the department, or the court, knowingly and willfully withholds any information related to the child who is the subject of a surrender, a termination of parental rights, or an adoption proceeding, or who knowingly and willfully withholds any material information concerning the identity, status, or whereabouts of the child's parent(s) or guardian(s), or who knowingly and willfully gives false information concerning the child or the identity, status, or whereabouts of the child's parents or guardian commits a Class A misdemeanor. Nothing herein shall be construed to require any person or agency to disclose any information, the confidentiality or privilege of which is protected by any state or federal law or regulation.
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-104, concerning venue, was transferred to § 36-1-114.
Any employee of the state of Tennessee who is convicted of the violation of any of the criminal provisions of this part shall be instantly dismissed from the state service and shall never again be eligible for employment in state service.
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-105, concerning petition for adoption, was transferred to § 36-1-115.
(a) Any minor child who was previously adopted under the laws of any jurisdiction may be subsequently readopted in accordance with the provisions of this part.
(b) With respect to a child sought to be adopted a second time or subsequent time by new adoptive parents, all provisions in this part relating to the biological parents or legal parents or guardians shall apply to the prior adoptive parents, except that in no case of readoption shall a biological or legal parent or guardian whose rights were previously terminated before the child was initially adopted and whose rights were not subsequently restored be made a party to the new adoption proceeding, nor shall such person's surrender, parental consent, or waiver of interest be necessary. The prior adoptive parents whose rights have not been previously terminated and any other persons who otherwise would be entitled to notice pursuant to this part subsequent to the previous adoption of the child shall be the only necessary parties to the new termination or adoption proceedings and only their surrenders or parental consent, or the termination of their rights, shall be necessary.
(c) (1) With respect to a child sought to be readopted under the laws of this state who has been previously adopted pursuant to the laws of a foreign country, the circuit and chancery courts are specifically authorized to enter new orders of adoption as they may be required for purposes of compliance with any requirements of the government of the United States for children who were adopted in foreign countries. In such instances, if an adoption was conducted in accordance with the laws of the foreign jurisdiction, no further termination of parental rights of the child's parents or guardians need be made, no home study need be conducted, no court report need be made and no time period for which an adoption petition must be on file before a final adoption order is entered shall be required. Further, no consultation of the putative father registry maintained by the department shall be required, and the affidavits otherwise required by § 36-1-120(b)(1) and (2) need not be filed, if the attorney, social worker, or child-placing agency, as the case may be, that provided professional services in the underlying foreign adoption, does not maintain an office in the United States.
(2) (A) When a Tennessee resident adopts a child in a foreign country in accordance with the laws of the foreign country and such adoption is recognized as full and final by the United States government, such resident may file, with a petition, a copy of the decree, order or certificate of adoption that evidences finalization of the adoption in the foreign country, together with a certified translation of the decree, order or certificate of adoption, if it is not in English, and proof of full and final adoption from the United States government, with the clerk of the chancery or circuit court of any county in this state having jurisdiction over the person or persons filing such documents.
(B) The court shall assign a docket number and file and enter the documents referenced in subdivision (c)(2)(A) with an order recognizing such foreign adoption without the necessity of a hearing. Such order, along with the final decree, order or certificate from the foreign country, shall have the same force and effect as if a final order of readoption were granted in accordance with the provisions of this part.
(C) When the order referenced in subdivision (c)(2)(B) is filed and entered, the adoptive parents may request a report of foreign birth pursuant to § 68-3-310 by submitting an application for report of foreign birth.
(D) Individuals obtaining a report of foreign birth under the provisions of subdivision (c)(2)(C) are exempt from the disclosure of fees requirements of § 36-1-116(b)(16).
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-106 (Acts 1951, ch. 202, § 15 (Williams, § 9572.29); 1959, ch. 223, § 2; impl. am. Acts 1975, ch. 219, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 36-106; Acts 1986, ch. 767, § 6), concerning disclosure of adoption records, was repealed by Acts 1995, ch. 532, § 1.
(a) Any person, irrespective of place of birth, citizenship, or place of residence, may be adopted or readopted in accordance with the provisions of this part.
(b) A single person may file a petition for the adoption of a child.
(c) An adult may be adopted.
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-107 (Acts 1951, ch. 202, § 14 (Williams, § 9572.28); T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 36-107), concerning name of child used in adoption proceedings, was repealed by Acts 1995, ch. 532, § 1.
(a)(1) No person, corporation, agency, or other entity, except the department or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, as defined in § 36-1-102, shall engage in the placement of children for adoption; provided, that this section shall not be construed to prohibit any person from advising parents of a child or prospective adoptive parents of the availability of adoption, or from acting as an agent or attorney for the parents of a child or prospective adoptive parents in making necessary arrangements for adoption so long as no remuneration, fees, contributions, or things of value are given to or received from any person or entity for such service other than usual and customary legal and medical fees in connection with the birth of the child or other pregnancy-related expenses, or for counseling for the parents and/or the child, and for the legal proceedings related to the adoption.
(B) Maintain a physical office within this state or incur expenses involved in the transportation of a licensing consultant to the closest physical office of the agency, social worker or lawyer.
(3) Any advertisement in this state for the placement of children for adoption in another state by an agency or individual not licensed or authorized to do such business in this state shall clearly state that the agency or individual is not licensed or authorized to do such business in this state.
(2) (A) In the business of arranging services or assistance directed primarily, and not as an incidental part of its primary business, toward bringing to or placing with prospective adoptive parents a child or children for the purpose of foster care leading to adoption or as an adoptive placement for a child or children, including, but not limited to, advertising for such services, accepting clients for a fee, or providing any placing services for a fee.
(B) Nothing in subdivision (b)(2)(A) shall include the provision of reasonable and necessary legal services related to the adoption proceedings, or medical or counseling services for the child or the parent in connection with the child's birth or in connection with the parent's decision to relinquish the child for adoption or for counseling services for the prospective adoptive parents.
(c) (1) Any court of competent jurisdiction, upon the filing of a sworn complaint by the department or by a licensed child-placing agency, or by any person aggrieved, may temporarily enjoin or restrain any person, corporation, agency, or other entity from engaging or attempting to engage in placing children for adoption in violation or in threatened violation of this part or title 71, chapter 3, part 5, and upon final hearing, if the court determines that there has been a violation, or threatened violation, thereof, the injunction shall be made permanent.
(2) If the court finds that any person, corporation, agency, or other entity has engaged in the illegal placement of children for adoption, that person, corporation, agency, or other entity shall be liable for all the costs of the legal proceedings and for all attorney fees for private persons or private agencies who brought the action, or for the cost of attorney and staff time for the department, involved in the proceeding.
(d) (1) In order to allow the prospective adoptive parents to have information available to them to permit informed choices regarding the employment of persons or entities involved in the placement of children, or in counseling, or in the provision of legal services, the department shall collect the information concerning fees or other costs charged by licensed child-placing agencies, licensed clinical social workers, attorneys, and counseling services that are disclosed in accordance with §§ 36-1-111(k)(4)(A), 36-1-116(b)(16) and 36-1-120(b).
(2) This information shall be used by the department to develop an informational database in order for the department to provide, upon request of prospective adoptive parents or other interested persons, information concerning fees charged for home studies, placement services, counseling and legal fees. Such information shall be made available by the department in written form to any person so requesting. No employee of the department shall make any recommendation regarding or comment upon any information concerning such attorney, licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker.
(3) The department is specifically authorized to promulgate rules pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, to regulate fees charged by licensed child-placing agencies and licensed clinical social workers or their practices, if it determines that the practices of those licensed child-placing agencies or licensed clinical social workers demonstrate that the fees charged are excessive or that any of the agency's practices are deceptive or misleading; provided, that such rules regarding fees shall take into account the use of any sliding fee by an agency or licensed clinical social worker that or who uses a sliding fee procedure to permit prospective adoptive parents of varying income levels to utilize the services of such agencies or persons.
(4) The department shall promulgate rules pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, to require that all licensed child-placing agencies and licensed clinical social workers provide written disclosures to all prospective adoptive parents of any fees or other charges for each service performed by the agency or person, and file an annual report with the department that states the fees and charges for those services, and to require them to inform the department in writing thirty (30) days in advance of any proposed changes to the fees or charges for those services.
(5) The department is specifically authorized to disclose to prospective adoptive parents or other interested persons any fees charged by any licensed child-placing agency, licensed clinical social worker, attorney or counseling service or counselor for all legal and counseling services provided by that licensed child-placing agency, licensed clinical social worker, attorney or counseling service or counselor.
Acts 1951, ch. 202, § 36 (Williams, § 9572.50); impl. am. Acts 1975, ch. 219, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 36-135; Acts 1986, ch. 767, § 9; T.C.A., § 36-1-134; Acts 1995, ch. 532, § 1; 1996, ch. 1054, §§ 18, 127; 2000, ch. 981, § 54; 2009, ch. 411, § 4; 2009, ch. 519, §§ 1, 2.
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-108, concerning parties to proceedings, consent of parent or guardian, and service of process, was transferred to § 36-1-117.
(B) (i) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the payment by any interested person of reasonable charges or fees for hospital or medical services for the birth of the child, or for medical care and other reasonable birth-related expenses for the mother and/or child incident thereto, for reasonable counseling fees for the parents or prospective adoptive parents and/or child, for reasonable legal services or the reasonable costs of legal proceedings related to the adoption of any child or for reasonable, actual expenses for housing, food, maternity clothing, child's clothing, utilities or transportation for a reasonable period not to exceed ninety (90) days prior to or forty-five (45) days after the birth or surrender or parental consent to the adoption of the child, unless a court with jurisdiction for the surrender or adoption of a child, based upon detailed affidavits of a birth mother and the prospective adoptive parents and such other evidence as the court may require, specifically approves in a written order, based upon a motion filed by the prospective adoptive parents for that purpose, any expenses specifically allowed in this subdivision (a)(1)(B) for a period prior to or after the periods noted above.
(iii) The payment for such expenses may only be for expenses or costs actually incurred during the periods permitted in subdivisions (a)(1)(B)(i) and (ii). This shall not be construed to prohibit the actual payment or receipt of payment for such expenses or costs after those periods that were actually incurred during those periods.
(4) Assist in the commission of any acts prohibited in subdivision (a)(1), (a)(2), or (a)(3).
(b) A violation of this section is a Class C felony.
(c) Any adoption completed before March 27, 1978, shall not be affected by this section.
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-109, concerning parents under eighteen, was transferred to § 36-1-110.
Compiler's Notes. Former § 36-1-110, concerning abandonment, was transferred to § 36-1-113.
(a) (1) Prior to receiving a surrender by a parent of a child or prior to the execution of a parental consent by a parent in a petition for adoption, the prospective adoptive parents may request that a licensed child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or, if indigent under federal poverty guidelines, the department, to conduct a home study or preliminary home study for use in the surrender, or parental consent proceeding, or in the adoption.
(2) A court report based upon the home study or preliminary home study must be available to the court or, when using a Tennessee surrender form, to the persons under subsection (h), (i), or (j), and, before the surrender to prospective adoptive parents is executed, the court report must be reviewed by the court or persons under those subsections in any surrender proceeding in which the surrender is not made to the department or a licensed child-placing agency. When a parental consent is executed, the court report based upon the home study or preliminary home study must be filed with the adoption petition, and must be reviewed by the court before the entry of an order of guardianship giving the prospective adoptive parents guardianship of the child.
(3) All court reports submitted under this subsection (a) shall be confidential and shall not be open to inspection by any person except by order of the court entered on the minute book. The court shall, however, disclose to prospective adoptive parents any adverse court reports or information contained therein, but shall protect the identities of any person reporting child abuse or neglect in accordance with law.
(b) All surrenders must be made in chambers before a judge of the chancery, circuit, or juvenile court except as provided herein, and the court shall advise the person or persons surrendering the child of the right of revocation of the surrender and time for the revocation and the procedure for such revocation.
(c) A surrender or parental consent may be made or given to any prospective adoptive parent who has attained eighteen (18) years of age, the department, or a licensed child-placing agency in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(d) (1) No surrender or any parental consent shall be valid that does not meet the requirements of subdivision (a)(2).
(2) No surrender or parental consent shall be valid that is made prior to the birth of a child, except a surrender executed in accordance with subsection (h).
(3) No surrender or parental consent shall be valid that is made within three (3) calendar days subsequent to the date of the child's birth, such period to begin on the day following the child's birth; provided, that the court may, for good cause shown, which is entered in an order in the minute book of the court, waive this waiting period.
(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).
(5) Unless the surrender or parental consent is made to the physical custodian or unless the exceptions of subdivision (d)(6) otherwise apply, no surrender or parental consent shall be sufficient to make a child available for adoption in any situation where any other person or persons, the department, a licensed child-placing agency, or other child-caring agency in this state or any state, territory, or foreign country is exercising the right to physical custody of the child under a current court order at the time the surrender is sought to be executed or when a parental consent is executed, or when those persons or entities have any currently valid statutory authorization for custody of the child.
(D) Has a sworn, written statement from the person, the department, the licensed child-placing agency, or child-caring agency that has physical custody pursuant to subdivision (d)(5), which waives the rights pursuant to that subdivision (d)(5).
(e) The surrender form shall incorporate a provision stating to the surrendering parent or guardian the beginning and ending period for revocation of the surrender and the procedures for revoking the surrender, and shall include a place in which the date of the expiration of the revocation period shall be inserted.
(f) The commissioner, or the commissioner's authorized representatives, or a licensed child-placing agency, through its authorized representatives, may accept the surrender of a child and they shall be vested with guardianship or partial guardianship of the child in accordance with the provisions of this section and § 36-1-102; provided, that the department or any licensed child-placing agency may refuse to accept the surrender of any child.
(g) In any surrender proceeding, the court or other person authorized herein to conduct a surrender proceeding, and when a parental consent is executed in the adoption petition, the court shall require that the person or persons surrendering the child for adoption or the person or persons giving consent and the person or persons accepting the child through the surrender or receiving parental consent to satisfactorily prove their identities before the surrender is executed or the parental consent is accepted. No surrender or parental consent may be executed in any form in which the identities of the person or persons executing the surrender or parental consent or the person or persons or agencies receiving the surrender or the identity of the child whose name is known are left blank or in any form in which those persons, the child, or agencies are given pseudonyms on the form or in the petition at the time of the execution of the surrender or parental consent.
(h) In cases where the person executing the surrender resides in another state or territory of the United States, the surrender may be made in accordance with the laws of such state or territory or may be made before the judge or chancellor of any court of record or before the clerk of any court of record of such state or territory and such surrender shall be valid for use in adoptions in this state.
(i) In cases where the surrendering person using the Tennessee form of surrender or the form provided by applicable law resides or is temporarily in a foreign country, the surrender may be made before any officer of the United States armed forces authorized to administer oaths, or before any officer of the United States foreign service authorized to administer oaths. A citizen of a foreign country may, in accordance with the law of the foreign country, execute a surrender of a child that states that all parental rights of that person are being terminated or relinquished by the execution of the document or that the child is being given to an agency or other person for the purposes of adoption.
(j) In cases where the person executing the surrender is incarcerated in a state or federal penitentiary, the surrender may be executed before the warden of the penitentiary; provided, that the signature of the person executing the surrender and the signature of the warden before whom the surrender is executed are acknowledged before a notary public.
(k) (1) (A) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this part, in obtaining any medical or social background information, contact veto information or other information required as part of the surrender or parental consent process pursuant to this part, the court, or, at its direction, its court officers or its clerks, or other persons authorized to accept a surrender or parental consent pursuant to this part, may accept notarized statements attached to each of the forms promulgated by the department that verify that the informant of the required information has previously reviewed the form or, if unable to read, has had the contents of the form explained to the person, and that the person has accurately supplied the information on the form and the person's responses have not been subject to duress by any person.
(B) (i) The court, or other persons authorized by this part to accept surrenders, shall personally, however, verify under oath by the surrendering or consenting person who has provided the information in a surrender or parental consent process pursuant to this part, that the parent or guardian agrees with the information provided in the forms required pursuant to this part, and the notarized statement shall have a section for the court, or other persons authorized by this part to accept surrenders, to ratify that this verification has occurred by providing a space for the signature of the judge or chancellor accepting the surrender or parental consent or other person authorized by this part to accept a surrender, and the date on which this was done.
(ii) The notarized statements must be attached to the surrender or parental consent and maintained with the surrender or parental consent form by the court or the court clerk, or person authorized by this part to accept surrenders, and transmitted to the department as otherwise required by this part.
(C) (i) In all other respects, the court, or other persons authorized by this part to accept surrenders, must witness the actual act of surrender, or must confirm the parental consent, by verifying directly with the parent or guardian the parent's or guardian's understanding and willingness to terminate parental rights and, by witnessing the parent's or guardian's signature on the surrender form, or by questioning the parent on the matters required by this part before the entry of an order of confirmation of the parental consent.
(ii) The court may not accept any surrenders executed prior to its approval of the surrender that relinquish the parent's or guardian's rights, nor may it enter any orders confirming a parental consent, based upon any written statement of the parent agreeing to relinquish the parent's rights to the child, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by this part.
(iii) The execution of the surrender or parental consent shall occur in private in the chambers of the court or in another private area, and in the presence of the surrendering or consenting person's legal counsel if legal counsel has been requested by the surrendering or consenting person. In the discretion of the court or other person conducting the surrender or parental consent proceeding, the court's officer or other employee may be present.
(D) For surrenders taken pursuant to subsection (h), (i) or (j), the information required by this part to be supplied by the prospective adoptive parents, the department, or a licensed child-placing agency and the acceptance of a surrender by the prospective adoptive parents or the department or the licensed child-placing agency may be made by affidavit contained with the Tennessee surrender forms.
(I) A statement of the surrendering parent or guardian concerning whether that parent or guardian or some other person or persons or entity has legal and/or physical custody of the child at the time of the surrender or whether such person intends to give custody to the prospective adoptive parents, the department or a licensed child-placing agency.
(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.
(B) The form that the surrendering or consenting parent signs shall notify the parent that the parent may withdraw or vary the veto or consent at any time and the form, or an attachment to the form, shall inform the parent of the procedures for doing so.
(C) Upon receipt of the completed form, the department shall enter the surrendering or consenting person's request on the contact veto registry and shall maintain a copy of the form and all modifications to the form as part of the post-adoption record.
(4) (A) The court or persons authorized to receive the surrender shall obtain from the prospective adoptive parents or from a licensed child-placing agency receiving the surrender at the time of the execution of the surrender, or the court shall obtain, at the time an order of guardianship is entered that is based upon the execution of a parental consent, a statement of the fees paid to any person or persons, licensed child-placing agency, licensed clinical social worker, attorney, or other entity for the placement of the child or for legal costs or any other costs related in any way to the adoption or placement for adoption of the child as of the time the surrender is executed or at the time the parental consent is executed.
(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.
(5) The department shall, by rule, establish the form of the certification required by this section, including the counseling criteria that must be met the surrendering parent as part of the certification.
(5) A sworn statement that if the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., applies because of the child's Native American heritage, there has been compliance with that act.
(n) (1) A licensed child-placing agency receiving the surrender shall complete the provisions of subdivisions (m)(3)-(5).
(2) The department, when receiving the surrender, shall complete the provisions of subdivisions (m)(3) and (5).
(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).
(p) (1) (A) The person or persons executing the surrender and the person or persons, the local representative of the department or the local representative of the licensed child-placing agency to whom the child is surrendered shall receive certified copies of the original surrender from the clerk of the court immediately upon the conclusion of the surrender proceeding.
(B) Costs of all certified copies provided under this subdivision (p)(1) shall be taxed only to the person or persons receiving the surrender, the department, or the licensed child-placing agency.
(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.
(B) (i) The original of the surrender executed before the persons authorized under subsections (h) and (i), or, in out-of-state correctional facilities under subsection (j), shall be maintained in a separate file designated for that purpose, which shall be confidential and shall not be inspected by anyone else without the written approval of a court with domestic relations jurisdiction where the file is maintained.
(ii) For surrenders executed under subsection (j) in federal and state correctional facilities in Tennessee, the original shall be filed in a secure file in the office of the warden, which shall not be open to inspection by any other person, and after ten (10) days from the date of the surrender, the original shall be sent to the adoptions unit in the state office of the department in Nashville and a copy shall be maintained by the warden.
(iii) The department's county office or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker that or who is performing any service related to an adoption or that has intervened in an adoption proceeding.
(B) Costs of providing certified copies under this subdivision (p)(3) may be taxed or charged to the person, the department, or the licensed child-placing agency that requests the certified copies, except where the department, the licensed child-placing agency, or licensed clinical social worker is responding to an order of reference from a court or where the department, licensed child-placing agency, or licensed clinical social worker is conducting any investigation related to the adoption or to the child's welfare.
(q) (1) The party to whom the child is surrendered pursuant to subsection (h), (i) or (j) shall file a certified copy of the surrender of a child with the chancery, circuit, or juvenile court in Tennessee where the child or the prospective adoptive parents reside, or with the court in which an adoption petition is filed in Tennessee, within fifteen (15) days of the date the surrender is actually received, or within fifteen (15) days of the date the child or the person or persons to whom the child has been surrendered becomes a resident of the state of Tennessee, whichever is earlier.
(2) The surrender filed pursuant to subdivision (q)(1) shall be recorded by the court and shall be processed by the clerk as required by subdivision (p)(2)(A).
(3) In cases under subdivision (q)(1), where the child is in the legal custody of the department or a licensed child-placing agency, the surrender also may be filed in the chancery, circuit, or juvenile court or other court that had placed custody of the child with the department or the licensed child-placing agency.
(4) In cases under subdivision (q)(1), and in accordance with subsection (r), the court shall enter such other orders for the guardianship and supervision of the child as may be necessary or required pursuant to this section or § 36-1-118.
(r) (1) (A) (i)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).
(ii) If, after determining the surrender to be in the child's best interest, the department accepts a surrender of a child, who was previously placed for adoption by the department, from the child's adoptive parent or parents, the unrevoked surrender of such child shall terminate the responsibilities of the surrendering adoptive parent or parents for future child support or other future financial responsibilities; provided, that this shall not be construed to eliminate the responsibility of such parent or parents for past child support arrearages or other financial obligations incurred for the care of such child prior to the execution of the surrender; and provided further, that the court may, with the consent of the parent or parents, restore such rights and responsibilities pursuant to § 36-1-118(d).
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (r)(1)(A), a child who is surrendered, for whom a parental consent has been executed, or for whom a waiver of interest has been executed, shall be entitled to inherit from a parent who has surrendered the child or executed a parental consent or waiver of interest until the final order of adoption is entered.
(2) (A) Unless prior court orders or statutory authorization establishes guardianship or custody in the person or entity to whom the surrender or parental consent is executed, the surrender or parental consent alone does not vest the person, persons or entities who or that receive it with the legal authority to have custody or guardianship or to make decisions for the child without the entry of an order of guardianship or partial guardianship as provided in subdivision (r)(6)(A) or as provided in § 36-1-116(f). The court accepting the surrender or the parental consent shall not enter any orders relative to the guardianship or custody of a child for whom guardianship or custody is already established under prior court orders or statutory authorization, except upon motion under subdivision (r)(4)(D) by the person, persons or entities to whom the surrender or parental consent is executed.
(B) In order to preserve confidentiality, the court clerk or the court shall have a separate adoption order of guardianship minute book, which shall be kept locked and available for public view only upon written approval of the court.
(3) (A) Except as provided in subdivisions (r)(2) and (4), a validly executed surrender shall confer jurisdiction of all matters pertaining to the child upon the court where the surrender is executed or filed until the filing of the adoption petition, at which time jurisdiction of all matters pertaining to the child shall transfer to the court where the adoption petition is filed; provided, that the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to adjudicate allegations concerning any delinquent, unruly, or truant acts of a child pursuant to title 37 shall not be suspended.
(B) A waiver of interest does not confer jurisdiction over the child in any court nor does it permit the entry of any order of custody or guardianship based solely upon such waiver, but shall only permit a court to find that that person's parental rights, if any, are terminated.
(4) (A) When, at the time the surrender or parental consent is executed, a prior court order is in effect that asserts that court's jurisdiction over the child who is the subject of the surrender or parental consent, the prior court order shall remain effective until, and only as permitted by this section, an alternate disposition for the child is made by the court where the surrender is executed or filed or until, and only as permitted by this section, an alternate disposition is made for the child on the basis of a termination of parental rights proceeding, or, as permitted by § 36-1-116, until an alternate disposition for the child is made by the court where the adoption petition is filed.
(B) If the prior court order under subdivision (r)(4)(A) gives the right to legal and physical custody of the child to a person, the department, a licensed child-placing agency, or other child-caring agency, a surrender or parental consent by the parent or guardian to any other person, persons or entities shall be invalid as provided under subdivision (d)(5), and any purported surrender or parental consent to such other person or persons or entities shall not be recognized to grant standing to file a motion pursuant to subdivision (r)(6) and § 36-1-116(f)(3) to such other person or persons or entities who or that received the surrender or parental consent, and no order of guardianship or partial guardianship based upon that surrender or parental consent and motion shall be effective to deprive the existing legal or physical custodians under the court's prior order of legal or physical custody of that child. Any orders to the contrary shall be void and of no effect whatsoever.
(C) If the court that has entered the prior custody order under subdivision (r)(4)(A) has subject matter jurisdiction to terminate parental or guardian rights at the time a surrender of the child who is the subject of that order is validly executed in another court pursuant to subdivision (r)(4)(D) or at the time a petition to terminate parental rights is filed pursuant to subdivision (r)(4)(E), it shall continue to have jurisdiction to complete any pending petitions to terminate parental or guardian rights that are filed prior to the execution of the surrender or prior to the filing of the petition to terminate parental rights in the other court pursuant to subdivision (r)(4)(E). The court shall not have jurisdiction to complete any pending petitions to terminate parental rights subsequent to the filing of a petition for adoption. The court may enter orders of guardianship pursuant to the termination of parental rights proceedings unless prior thereto an order of guardianship is entered by another court pursuant to subdivisions (r)(4)(D) and (r)(4)(E). Any orders of guardianship entered pursuant to subdivisions (r)(4)(D) and (E) or pursuant to § 36-1-116 shall have priority over the orders of guardianship entered pursuant to this subdivision (r)(4)(C); provided, that orders terminating parental rights entered pursuant to this subdivision (r)(4)(C) shall be effective to terminate parental rights.
(D) If the person, persons or entities in subdivision (r)(4)(B) to whom the surrender is made have legal and physical custody of the child or the right to legal and physical custody of the child pursuant to a prior court order at the time the surrender is executed to them, any court with jurisdiction to receive a surrender may receive a surrender that is executed to them and shall have jurisdiction, upon their motion, to enter an order giving guardianship or partial guardianship to those person, persons or entities, and, notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (r)(4)(A), such order may make an alternate disposition for the child.
(E) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (r)(4)(A), a person, the department, or a licensed child-placing agency that had custody of the child pursuant to a court's prior order, may file in any court with jurisdiction to terminate parental or guardian rights, and in which venue exists, any necessary petitions to terminate the remaining parental or guardian rights of any person or persons to the child, and if they have any subsequent orders of guardianship or partial guardianship based upon an executed surrender or a termination of parental rights from the other court of competent jurisdiction, they may place the child for adoption in accordance with those subsequent orders.
(5) If multiple surrenders or parental consents are received with respect to the same child in different courts, subject to the restrictions of subdivisions (r)(2) and (4), the court that first receives a surrender or parental consent or in which the surrender is first filed pursuant to subsection (q), and that enters an order of guardianship or partial guardianship, shall have jurisdiction of the child and shall issue any necessary orders of reference required by this section. Any other court that receives a surrender or parental consent or in which a surrender or parental consent is filed pursuant to subsection (q) subsequent to the surrender shall, upon notification by the first court, send the original of the surrender or filed pleading to the first court and shall retain a certified copy of the original in a closed file, which shall not be accessed by any person without the written order of the court.
(6) (A) Subject to the restrictions of subdivisions (r)(2) and (4), a validly executed surrender under this section or a parental consent shall give to the person to whom the child is surrendered or to whom a parental consent is given standing to file a written motion for an express order of guardianship or partial guardianship, as defined in § 36-1-102, from the court where the child was surrendered or where, under subsection (q), the surrender was filed, or in the court that, pursuant to subdivision (r)(4)(A), has granted legal custody of the child to such person, or in the court in which the adoption petition is filed. A validly executed surrender shall entitle the department or the licensed child-placing agency that received the surrender to have the court enter an order of guardianship pursuant to subdivision (r)(6)(C).
(B) The motion, which may be filed by any person or by that person's attorney, shall contain an affidavit that the party seeking the order of guardianship or partial guardianship has physical custody of the child, or if filed at the time of the execution of the surrender or the filing of the adoption petition containing a parental consent, it shall contain the affidavits otherwise required by subdivision (d)(6).
(C) If the person, the department, or the licensed child-placing agency to whom the child is surrendered or to whom parental consent is given has physical custody or has otherwise complied with the requirements of subdivision (d)(6), and if there has been full compliance with the other provisions of this section, the court may, contemporaneously with the surrender or the filing of an adoption petition, immediately upon written motion by the person or the person's attorney, and the court shall, if the surrender is to a licensed child-placing agency or the department, enter an order giving the person, the licensed child-placing agency, or the department, guardianship or partial guardianship of the child.
(D) A copy of the surrender, the motion and any resulting order shall be sent by the clerk to the adoptions unit in the state office of the department in Nashville, which shall record the surrender, the motion, and the order and their dates of filing and entry for purposes of tracking the child's placement status and the status of the adoption process involving the child.
(7) If an order of guardianship is entered, the appointed guardians shall have authority to act as guardian ad litem or next friend of the child in any suit by the child against third parties while the child is in the care and custody of the petitioners. The court may appoint a special guardian for the child for such purpose upon motion by the department for a child in its guardianship.
(8) If the court grants guardianship or custody of the child upon the filing of the surrender or upon the filing of a parental consent and the child is possessed of any real or personal property to be administered, the court shall appoint a guardian of the property of the child if no guardian of the property exists, and such guardian may be the same person or persons who are guardians of the person of the child except if the child is in the guardianship of the department in which case another person or entity shall be appointed.
(s) The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, compiled in chapter 6, part 2 of this title, shall govern jurisdiction for the disposition of the child and the proceedings under this section.
(t) (1) Upon receipt of the surrender or upon filing a parental consent for an adoption by a person other than a related person, and if no home study had been completed or updated within six (6) months prior to the surrender or the filing of a parental consent, and no court report based upon the home study has been filed with the court, the court shall, by an order of reference issued within five (5) days, direct that a home study be conducted and filed as provided in this part.
(2) The order of reference shall be directed to a licensed child-placing agency or a licensed clinical social worker unless the prospective adoptive parents are indigent under current federal poverty guidelines, in which case the order shall be directed to the department.
(3) The court report based upon the home study shall be filed with the court within sixty (60) days of the date of the order of reference.
(4) The court shall order a licensed child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or the department, if the parents are indigent under federal poverty guidelines, to provide supervision for the child who is in the home of prospective adoptive parents pursuant to a surrender or a parental consent under this section, and to make any necessary court reports that the court should have concerning the welfare of the child pending entry of the final order in the case; provided, that this subdivision (t)(4) shall not apply when the surrender is made to related persons.
(5) If the adoption petition is filed before the home study is completed or before the court report based upon the home study is filed, and the adoption petition is filed in a court other than the one where the surrender was executed, the court where the surrender was executed shall, upon request of the court where the adoption petition is filed or upon motion of the prospective adoptive parents, send any court report it receives to the adoption court.

References: § 1
 § 7
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1
 § 7
 § 36
 § 1
 § 36
 § 1
 § 69
 § 51
 § 4
 § 1
 § 1
 § 2
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1
 § 12
 § 37
 § 37
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 68
 § 36
 § 36
 § 15
 § 9572
 § 2
 § 1
 § 36
 § 6
 § 1
 § 36
 § 14
 § 9572
 § 36
 § 1
 § 36
 § 36
 § 9572
 § 1
 § 36
 § 9
 § 36
 § 1
 § 54
 § 4
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 1901
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36
 § 36