Opinion ID: 1058648
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Third Party Intervention in Parental Rights Termination Proceedings

Text: The petition to terminate parental rights was filed in Juvenile Court. Although standing to file a petition to terminate parental rights is statutorily restricted to those persons designated in Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-1-113(b) (2001 & Supp.2003), [5] intervention in such proceedings is not addressed by statute or by the Rules of Juvenile Procedure. [6] The legislature has provided, however, that jurisdiction to terminate parental or guardianship rights resides concurrently in the chancery, circuit, and juvenile courts. Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-1-113(a) (2001). Because the Rules of Civil Procedure concerning intervention would apply in both chancery and circuit court proceedings to terminate parental rights, and because their application would not compromise the efficacy of juvenile proceedings, we find that standing to intervene in a termination proceeding in juvenile court should be analyzed under Rule 24 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. See Tenn. R. Civ. P. 1 (2003). [7] Accordingly, we expressly overrule any holding to the contrary. [8]