Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101 (2026)
Purpose of part - Construction
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) The primary purpose of this part is to provide means and procedures for the adoption of children and adults that recognize and effectuate to the greatest extent possible the rights and interests of persons affected by adoption, especially those of the adopted persons, which are specifically protected by the constitutions of the United States and the state of Tennessee and to those ends seek to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that:
- (1) Children are removed from the homes of their parents or guardians only when that becomes the only alternative that is consistent with the best interest of the child;
- (2) Children are placed only with those persons who have been determined to be capable of providing proper care and a loving home for an adopted child;
- (3) The rights of children to be raised in loving homes that are capable of providing proper care for adopted children and that the best interests of children in the adoptive process are protected;
- (4) The adoptive process protects the rights of all persons who are affected by that process and who should be entitled to notice of the proceedings for the adoption of a child;
- (5) The adoption proceedings are held in an expeditious manner to enable the child to achieve permanency, consistent with the child's best interests, at the earliest possible date; and
- (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.
- (b) The secondary purpose of this part is to:
- (1) Protect biological parents and guardians of children from decisions concerning the relinquishment of their parental or guardian's rights to their children or wards that might be made as a result of undue influence or fraud;
- (2) Protect adoptive parents from assuming the care and responsibility for a child about whose physical, mental, emotional, and hereditary background they are unaware;
- (3) Protect the adoptive parents from the later disturbance of their parental relationship with their child by the biological or prior legal parents of the child who may have some legal claim due to the failure to protect their legal rights; and
- (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.
Acts 1951, ch. 202, § 1 (Williams, § 9572.15); T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 36-101; Acts 1995, ch. 532, § 1; 1996, ch. 1054, §§ 1, 2; 1998, ch. 1097, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 395
cases (147 in the last 5 years), 1984–2026 · leading case: In Re Baby, 447 S.W.3d 807 (Tenn. 2014).
In Re Baby, 447 S.W.3d 807 (Tenn. 2014). “Acts 951 (codified as amended at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 36-1-101 to -206 (2014)).”
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “" Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a) (Supp.1998).”
Doe v. Sundquist, 2 S.W.3d 919 (Tenn. 1999). “The stay granted by the Court of Appeals prohibiting the release of adoption records under the provisions of Tenn.Code Ann. § 36 — 1—127(c) is lifted.”
In Re Swanson, 2 S.W.3d 180 (Tenn. 1999). “532 (codified as Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 36-1-101 *185 to 36-1-206 (1996 & Supp.”
In Re Alexis C. (2018). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101 (d) (2017). Ascertaining a child’s best interests involves more than a “rote examination” of the statutory factors.”
In Re Addalyne S., 556 S.W.3d 774 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2018). “§ 36-1-101 (d) (2017). In re Gabriella D.”
In Re NATHANIEL C.T., Jason J.T. & Emerald S.T., 447 S.W.3d 244 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014). “The Trial Court stated, in part: The Court finds that this action was originally commenced as a termination of parental rights and adoption case under T.C.A § 36-1-101 et seq. The statute recited by the Movants, T.”
In Re Daymien T., 506 S.W.3d 461 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016). “§ 36-1-101(d). Further, “[t]he child’s best interest must be viewed from the child’s, rather than the parent’s, perspective.”
Johnson ex rel. Johnson v. Wilbourn, 781 S.W.2d 857 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989). “Adoptions in Tennessee are governed by statute, specifically T.C.A. § 36-1-101, et seq. Pursuant to § 36-1-105, Powell filed a petition for adoption in the Chancery Court for Shelby County on April 5, 1983.”
In re C.A.F., 114 S.W.3d 524 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003). “Public Policy and the Adoption Statutes • [41 The Department of Children’s Services argues that the State has a special duty to protect children, and that this duty is articulated among other places in the adoption statutes, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101 , et seq. The procedures…”
In Re Adoption of A.K.S.R., 71 S.W.3d 715 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101 (d). The trial court found that appellee should have custody of the twins for several reasons: The Court finds that Robbie Fulford is the paternal aunt of these children and the adopted parent of their only sibling.”
In re T.K.Y., 205 S.W.3d 343 (Tenn. 2006). “§§ 36-1-101 to -142. A Determining the “Father” We must first determine whether, under Tennessee’s statutory parentage scheme, Mr.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(1)(a)(iv) — 1 case
In Re: Adoption of Logan A.S. John W.W., Jr., Stephanie L. W., & Lindsey B. W. v. Glenn S. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2010).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a) — 1 case
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “" Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a) (Supp.1998).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a)(2) — 2 cases
In re C.A.F., 114 S.W.3d 524 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003). “Public Policy and the Adoption Statutes • [41 The Department of Children’s Services argues that the State has a special duty to protect children, and that this duty is articulated among other places in the adoption statutes, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101 , et seq. The procedures…”
In Re Caf, 114 S.W.3d 524 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a)(2)(C) — 2 cases
In Re Caroline U. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2019).
Daniel Jerome Canzoneri v. Colleen Luella Burns (Tenn. Ct. App. 2021).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a)(3) — 1 case
Devona Mills v. Immual Mills (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a)(4) — 1 case
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “" Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a) (Supp.1998).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a)(5) — 1 case
Jennifer Skerrett v. The Ass'n for Guidance (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-101(d) — 13 cases
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “" Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-1-101(a) (Supp.1998).”
In Re Daymien T., 506 S.W.3d 461 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016). “§ 36-1-101(d). Further, “[t]he child’s best interest must be viewed from the child’s, rather than the parent’s, perspective.”
In Re Bac, 317 S.W.3d 718 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009).
In Re Sy, 121 S.W.3d 358 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003).
In Re Metric D. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2024).
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