Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-102 (2024)

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:

• (1)
  • (A) For purposes of terminating the parental or guardian rights of a parent or parents or a guardian or guardians of a child to that child in order to make that child available for adoption, "abandonment" means that:
    • (i)
      • (a) If the child is four (4) years of age or more at the time of the filing of a petition for termination of parental rights, for a period of four (4) consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of a proceeding, pleading, petition, or amended or supplemental petition to terminate the parental rights of the parent or parents or the guardian or guardians of the child who is the subject of the petition for termination of parental rights or adoption, the parent or parents or the guardian or guardians either have failed to visit or have failed to support or have failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child;
      • (b) If the child is less than four (4) years of age at the time of the filing of a petition for termination of parental rights, for a period of three (3) consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of a proceeding, pleading, petition, or amended or supplemental petition to terminate the parental rights of the parent or parents or the guardian or guardians of the child who is the subject of the petition for termination of parental rights or adoption, the parent or parents or the guardian or guardians either have failed to visit or have failed to support or have failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child;
    • (ii)
      • (a) The child has been removed from the home or the physical or legal custody of a parent or parents or guardian or guardians by a court order at any stage of proceedings in which a child is alleged to be a dependent and neglected child, and the child was placed in the custody of the department or a licensed child-placing agency;
      • (b) The juvenile court found, or the court where the termination of parental rights petition is filed finds, that the department or a licensed child-placing agency made reasonable efforts to prevent removal of the child or that the circumstances of the child's situation prevented reasonable efforts from being made prior to the child's removal; and
      • (c) For a period of four (4) months following the physical removal, the department or agency made reasonable efforts to assist the parent or parents or the guardian or guardians to establish a suitable home for the child, but that the parent or parents or the guardian or guardians have not made reciprocal reasonable efforts to provide a suitable home and have demonstrated a lack of concern for the child to such a degree that it appears unlikely that they will be able to provide a suitable home for the child at an early date. The efforts of the department or agency to assist a parent or guardian in establishing a suitable home for the child shall be found to be reasonable if such efforts equal or exceed the efforts of the parent or guardian toward the same goal, when the parent or guardian is aware that the child is in the custody of the department;
    • (iii) A biological or legal father has either failed to visit or failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child's mother during the four (4) months immediately preceding the birth of the child; provided, that in no instance shall a final order terminating the parental rights of a parent as determined pursuant to this subdivision (1)(A)(iii) be entered until at least thirty (30) days have elapsed since the date of the child's birth;
    • (iv) A parent or guardian is incarcerated at the time of the filing of a proceeding, pleading, petition, or amended petition to terminate the parental rights of the parent or guardian of the child who is the subject of the petition for termination of parental rights or adoption, or a parent or guardian has been incarcerated during all or part of the four (4) consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the action if the child is four (4) years of age or more or three (3) consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the action if the child is less than four (4) years of age and has:
      • (a)
        • (1) Failed to visit, has failed to support, or has failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child for four (4) consecutive months immediately preceding the parent's or guardian's incarceration if the child is four (4) years of age or more; or
        • (2) Failed to visit, has failed to support, or has failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child for three (3) consecutive months immediately preceding the parent's or guardian's incarceration if the child is less than four (4) years of age;
      • (b)
        • (1) Failed to visit, has failed to support, or has failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child during an aggregation of the first one hundred twenty (120) days of nonincarceration immediately preceding the filing of the action if the child is four (4) years of age or more; or
        • (2) Failed to visit, has failed to support, or has failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child during an aggregation of the first ninety (90) days of nonincarceration immediately preceding the filing of the action if the child is less than four (4) years of age; or
      • (c) With knowledge of the existence of the born or unborn child, engaged in conduct prior to, during, or after incarceration that exhibits a wanton disregard for the welfare of the child; or
    • (v) The child, as a newborn infant aged fourteen (14) days or younger was voluntarily left at a facility or in a newborn safety device by the child's mother pursuant to § 68-11-255; and, for a period of thirty (30) days after the date of voluntary delivery, the mother failed to visit or seek contact with the infant; and, for a period of thirty (30) days after notice was given under § 36-1-142(f), and no less than ninety (90) days cumulatively, the mother failed to seek contact with the infant through the department or to revoke her voluntary delivery of the infant;
  • (B) For purposes of this subdivision (1), "token support" means that the support, under the circumstances of the individual case, is insignificant given the parent's means. Support is presumptively token support if it is less than the amount of the minimum child support order established by the department of human services child support guidelines. The parent or guardian bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that any support provided was more than token support;
  • (C) For purposes of this subdivision (1), "token visitation" means that the visitation, under the circumstances of the individual case, constitutes nothing more than perfunctory visitation or visitation of such an infrequent nature or of such short duration as to merely establish minimal or insubstantial contact with the child;
  • (D) For purposes of this subdivision (1), "failed to support" or "failed to make reasonable payments toward such child's support" means the failure, for the applicable time period, to provide monetary support or the failure to provide more than token payments toward the support of the child. That the parent had only the means or ability to make small payments is not a defense to failure to support if no payments were made during the relevant time period;
  • (E) For purposes of this subdivision (1), "failed to visit" means the failure, for the applicable time period, to visit or engage in more than token visitation. That the parent had only the means or ability to make very occasional visits is not a defense to failure to visit if no visits were made during the relevant time period;
  • (F) Abandonment may not be repented of by resuming visitation or support subsequent to the filing of any petition seeking to terminate parental or guardianship rights or seeking the adoption of a child;
  • (G) "Abandonment" and "abandonment of an infant" do not have any other definition except that which is set forth in this section, it being the intent of the general assembly to establish the only grounds for abandonment by statutory definition. Specifically, it shall not be required that a parent be shown to have evinced a settled purpose to forego all parental rights and responsibilities in order for a determination of abandonment to be made. Decisions of any court to the contrary are hereby legislatively overruled;
  • (H) Every parent who is eighteen (18) years of age or older is presumed to have knowledge of a parent's legal obligation to support such parent's child or children;
  • (I) For purposes of this subdivision (1), it shall be a defense to abandonment for failure to visit or failure to support that a parent or guardian's failure to visit or support was not willful. The parent or guardian shall bear the burden of proof that the failure to visit or support was not willful. Such defense must be established by a preponderance of evidence. The absence of willfulness is an affirmative defense pursuant to Rule 8.03 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure;
  • (J) For purposes of this subdivision (1), a period of incarceration lasting less than seven (7) consecutive days must be counted as days of nonincarceration;
  • (K) For purposes of this subdivision (1), aggregation is accomplished by counting the days preceding, following, and in-between each period of incarceration of at least seven (7) consecutive days; and
  • (L) If the original pleading is amended or supplemented to allege a new or additional period of abandonment occurring after an original pleading, then each period of abandonment constitutes an additional ground for termination of parental rights for the court's consideration. For supplemental petitions to terminate parental rights, the calculation of the applicable time periods for abandonment are calculated from the date a motion to supplement was filed;

• (2) "Abandonment of an infant" means, for purposes of terminating parental or guardian rights, "abandonment" of a child under one (1) year of age;

• (3) "Adopted person" means:
  • (A) Any person who is or has been adopted under this part or under the laws of any state, territory, or foreign country; and
  • (B) For purposes of the processing and handling of, and access to, any adoption records, sealed adoption records, sealed records, post-adoption records, or adoption assistance records pursuant to this part, "adopted person" also includes a person for whom any of those records is maintained by the court, other persons or entities or persons authorized to conduct a surrender or revocation of surrender pursuant to this part, or which records are maintained by the department, a licensed or chartered child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or the department of health or other information source, whether an adoption petition was ever filed, whether an adoption order was ever entered, whether the adoption was ever dismissed, whether the adoption was ever finalized, or whether the adoption was attempted or was otherwise never completed due to the abandonment of any necessary activity related to the completion of the adoption;

• (4) "Adoption" means the social and legal process of establishing by court order, other than by paternity or legitimation proceedings or by voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, the legal relationship of parent and child;

• (5) "Adoption assistance" means the federal or state programs that exist to provide financial assistance to adoptive parents to enable them to provide a permanent home to a special needs child as defined by the department;

• (6) "Adoption facilitator":
  • (A) Means a person, corporation, agency, or other entity, located inside or outside of this state, that provides or engages in any of the following services in exchange for compensation in violation of § 36-1-108 or § 36-1-109, whether directly or indirectly:
    • (i) Soliciting parents who are considering placing their child for adoption, whether born or not yet born, for the purpose of acting as a link between the prospective adoptive parents, or the prospective adoptive parents' representative, attorney, or agency, for the transfer of legal or physical custody of their child, including, but not limited to, adoptive placement; or
    • (ii) Soliciting prospective adoptive parents for the purpose of acting as a link between parents who are considering placing their child for adoption, whether born or not yet born, and the prospective adoptive parents, or the prospective adoptive parents' representative, attorney, or agency, for the transfer of legal custody of their child, including, but not limited to, adoptive placement; and
  • (B) Does not include:
    • (i) The department;
    • (ii) A licensed child-placing agency;
    • (iii) A chartered child-placing agency;
    • (iv) A licensed clinical social worker;
    • (v) A licensed attorney;
    • (vi) A prospective adoptive parent or parents; or
    • (vii) A parent or parents considering placing their child for adoption;

• (7) "Adoption record" means:
  • (A)
    • (i) The records, reports, or other documents maintained in any medium by the judge or clerk of the court, or by any other person pursuant to this part who is authorized to witness the execution of surrenders or revocations of surrenders, which records, reports, or documents relate to an adoption petition, a surrender or parental consent, a revocation of a surrender or parental consent, or which reasonably relate to other information concerning the adoption of a person, and which information in such records, reports, or documents exists during the pendency of an adoption or a termination of parental rights proceeding, or which records, reports, or documents exist subsequent to the conclusion of those proceedings, even if no order of adoption or order of dismissal is entered, but which records, reports or documents exist prior to those records, reports, or documents becoming a part of a sealed record or a sealed adoption record pursuant to § 36-1-126; or
    • (ii) The records, reports, or documents maintained in any medium by the department's social services division, or by a licensed or chartered child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, and which records, reports, or documents contain any social, medical, legal, or other information concerning an adopted person, a person who has been placed for adoption or a person for whom adoptive placement activities are currently occurring, and which information in such records, reports, or documents exists during the pendency of an adoption or termination of parental rights proceeding, or which exists subsequent to the conclusion of those proceedings, even if no order of adoption or dismissal of an adoption has been entered, but which records, reports, or documents exist prior to those records, reports, or documents becoming sealed records or sealed adoption records pursuant to § 36-1-126;
  • (B) The adoption record is confidential and is not subject to disclosure by the court, by a licensed child-placing agency, by a licensed clinical social worker or by any other person or entity, except as otherwise permitted by this part; however, prior to the record's becoming a sealed record or a sealed adoption record pursuant to § 36-1-126, the adoption record may be disclosed as may be necessary for purposes directly related to the placement, care, treatment, protection, or supervision by the legal custodian, legal guardian, conservator, or other legally authorized caretaker of the person who is the subject of the adoption proceeding, or as may be necessary for the purposes directly related to legal proceedings involving the person who is subject to the jurisdiction of a court in an adoption proceeding or other legal proceeding related to an adoption, including terminations of parental rights, or as may otherwise be necessary for use in any child or adult protective services proceedings concerning the person about whom the record is maintained pursuant to titles 37 and 71;
  • (C) The adoption record shall not, for purposes of release of the records pursuant to §§ 36-1-127 - 36-1-141, be construed to permit access, without a court order pursuant to § 36-1-138, to home studies or preliminary home studies or any information obtained by the department, a licensed or chartered child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or other family counseling service, a physician, a psychologist, or member of the clergy, an attorney or other person in connection with a home study or preliminary home study as part of an adoption or surrender or parental consent proceeding or as part of the evaluation of prospective adoptive parents, other than those studies that are expressly included in a report to the court by such entities or persons. Information relating to the counseling of a biological mother regarding crisis pregnancy counseling shall not be included in the adoption record for purposes of release pursuant to this part without a court order pursuant to § 36-1-138;

• (8) "Adoptive parent or parents" means the person or persons who have been made the legal parents of a child by the entry of an order of adoption under this part or under of the laws of any state, territory or foreign country;

• (9) "Adult" means any person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older. An adult may be adopted as provided in this part;

• (10) "Aggravated circumstances" means abandonment, abandonment of an infant, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated child abuse and neglect, aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, aggravated rape, rape, rape of a child, incest, or severe child abuse, as defined at § 37-1-102;

• (11) "Biological parents" means the woman and man who physically or genetically conceived the child who is the subject of the adoption or termination proceedings or who conceived the child who has made a request for information pursuant to this part;

• (12) "Biological relative" means:
  • (A) For adopted persons for whom any adoption records, sealed adoption records, sealed records, or post-adoption records are maintained: the biological parents or child of an adopted person or person for whom any adoption record, sealed record, sealed adoption record or post-adoption record is maintained, the brothers or sisters of the whole or half blood, the blood grandparents of any degree, the blood aunts or uncles, or the blood cousins of the first degree, of such persons; and
  • (B) For persons about whom any background information is sought as part of the surrender or parental consent process: the biological parents of the child, the brothers or sisters of the whole or half blood, the blood grandparents of any degree, or the blood aunts or uncles;

• (13) "Chartered child-placing agency" means an agency that had received a charter from the state of Tennessee through legislative action or by incorporation for the operation of an entity or a program of any type that engaged in the placement of children for foster care or residential care as part of a plan or program for which those children were or could have been made available for adoptive placement and that may have, at sometime during its existence, become subject to any licensing requirements by the department or its predecessors;

• (14) "Child" or "children" means any person or persons under eighteen (18) years of age;

• (15) "Child-caring agency" means any agency authorized by law to care for children outside their own homes for twenty-four (24) hours per day;

• (16) "Consent" means:
  • (A) The written authorization to relinquish a child for adoption, which is given by an agency such as the department or a public child care agency of another state or country or licensed child-placing agency of this or another state, which agency has the authority, by court order or by surrender or by operation of law or by any combination of these, to place a child for adoption and to give permission for the adoption of that child by other persons;
  • (B) The written permission of a parent pursuant to § 36-1-117(f) to permit the adoption of that parent's child by that parent's relative or by the parent's spouse who is the child's stepparent;
  • (C) The process as described in § 36-1-117(g) by which a parent co-signs an adoption petition with prospective adoptive parents who are unrelated to the child to be adopted for the purpose of agreeing to make the child available for adoption by the co-petitioning prospective adoptive parents, and that permits the court to enter an order of guardianship to give the adoptive parents custody and supervision of the child pending completion or dismissal of the adoption proceeding or pending confirmation or revocation of the consent by the parent. This process must be called a "parental consent";
  • (D) The permission of a child fourteen (14) years of age or older given to the court, in chambers, before the entry of an order of adoption of such child;
  • (E) The permission of a guardian ad litem for a disabled child or an adult permitting the adoption of those persons pursuant to the procedures of § 36-1-117(i) and (j);
  • (F) The sworn, written permission of an adult person filed with the court where the adoption petition is filed that seeks the adoption of the adult; or
  • (G) The agreement for contact by the parties to the post-adoption records search procedures that may be required in §§ 36-1-127 - 36-1-141;

• (17) "Conservator" means a person or entity appointed by a court to provide partial or full supervision, protection, and assistance of the person or property, or both, of a disabled adult pursuant to title 34, chapter 1 or the equivalent law of another state;

• (18)
  • (A) "Court" means the chancery or circuit court; provided, that "court" includes the juvenile court for purposes of the authority to accept the surrender or revocation of surrenders of a child and to issue any orders of reference, orders of guardianship, or other orders resulting from a surrender or revocation that it accepts and for purposes of authorizing the termination of parental rights pursuant to § 36-1-113; title 37, chapter 1, part 1; and title 37, chapter 2, part 4;
  • (B) All appeals of any orders relative to the juvenile court's actions in taking a surrender or revocation or in terminating parental rights shall be made to the court of appeals as provided by law; or
  • (C) A juvenile court magistrate, appointed by the juvenile court judge pursuant to title 37, shall have authority to take a surrender of a child and to take a revocation of such surrender;

• (19) "Court report" means the report to the adoption or surrender court in response to an order of reference that describes to the court the status of the child and the prospective adoptive parents or the persons to whom the child is surrendered. Such a report may be preliminary, supplementary, or final in nature. The court report shall not include the home study or preliminary home study, but instead shall include a summary of such study;

• (20) "Department" means the department of children's services or any of its divisions or units;

• (21) "Eligible person" means, for purposes of §§ 36-1-125 - 36-1-141, a person who is verified by the department as being in the class of individuals who is permitted by this part to receive access to records;

• (22) "Final court report" means a written document completed by the department or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker after submission of any prior court reports in response to the court's order of reference. It gives information concerning the status of the child in the home of the prospective adoptive parents and gives a full explanation to the court of the suitability of the prospective adoptive parent or parents to adopt the child who is the subject of the adoption petition. The final court report is designed to bring the status of the proposed adoptive home and the child up to date immediately prior to finalization of the adoption and should be the last report the court receives before finalization of the adoption by entry of an order of adoption;

• (23) "Financially able" means that the petitioners for adoption of a child are able, by use of any and all income and economic resources of the petitioners, including, but not limited to, assistance from public or private sources, to ensure that any physical, emotional, or special needs of the child are met;

• (24) "Foster care" has the meaning given to that term in § 37-1-102; provided, that no plan or permanency plan, as defined in § 37-2-402, shall be required in the case of foster care provided by or in any agency, institution or home in connection with an adoption of a child, so long as a petition for the adoption of that child by an individual or individuals to whom care of that child has been given is filed in a court of competent jurisdiction within six (6) months of the time that child first comes into the care of the agency, institution or home;

• (25) "Foster parent" has the meaning given to that term in § 37-1-102;

• (26)
  • (A) "Guardian" means a person or entity appointed by a court to provide care, custody, control, supervision, and protection for a child, and authorized by the court to adopt or consent to the adoption of the child as a result of a surrender, parental consent, or termination of parental rights;
  • (B) "Guardian" also means a person or entity authorized by a court to adopt or consent to the adoption of a child upon proof that the child is without any living person entitled to notice pursuant to § 36-1-117(a);
  • (C) For purposes of this part, "guardian" does not include:
    • (i) A person or entity appointed guardian of a child by a juvenile court pursuant to § 37-1-104;
    • (ii) A person appointed permanent guardian of a child by a juvenile court pursuant to § 37-1-801 unless that person has also been awarded guardianship pursuant to § 36-1-113(m);
    • (iii) A person appointed guardian of the person or property of a child, or both, by a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to § 34-2-101; or
    • (iv) Any other person or entity appointed guardian of the person or property of a child pursuant to an order that does not specifically include the right to adopt or consent to the adoption of the child and that was not entered as a result of a surrender, parental consent, termination of parental rights, or finding that the child is without any living person entitled to notice pursuant to § 36-1-117(a);
  • (D) The rights of the guardian must be terminated by surrender or court order or the guardian must provide consent as defined in subdivision (16)(A) before an order of adoption can be entered; provided, that a guardian's rights need not be terminated when the guardian is the petitioner in an adoption;
  • (E) When the department or a licensed child-placing agency is the guardian of the child, its rights must be terminated by court action or it must provide consent as defined in subdivision (16)(A) before an adoption can be ordered;

• (27)
  • (A) "Guardianship" means the status created by a court order appointing a person or entity guardian of the child. Guardianship rights are those transferred to the guardian by court order, including the right to provide care, custody, control, supervision, and protection for a child and to adopt or consent to the adoption of the child as a result of a surrender, parental consent, termination of parental rights, or finding that the child is without any living person entitled to notice pursuant to § 36-1-117(a);
  • (B) Guardianship granted by a court as a result of a surrender, consent, or termination of parental rights, or the equivalent law of any other jurisdiction, may be complete or partial;
  • (C)
    • (i) A person or entity has complete guardianship for the purpose of permitting a court to order an adoption when all necessary parental or guardianship rights have been terminated by surrender, consent, waiver of interest, or court order, and a court with jurisdiction to do so enters an order granting guardianship to that person or entity;
    • (ii) Complete guardianship entitles the guardian to the right to care for the child as provided under § 37-1-140, or as otherwise provided by the court order, and permits the guardian to place the child for adoption and consent to the adoption, or to be granted an adoption of the child, without further termination of parental or guardian rights;
    • (iii) A prospective adoptive parent granted complete guardianship is the child's guardian for the purpose of § 37-4-201;
  • (D)
    • (i) A person or entity has partial guardianship when a court with jurisdiction to do so enters an order granting guardianship to that person or entity as a result of the surrender, parental consent, or termination of parental rights of at least one (1), but not all, parents or guardians of the child, or as a result of the death of one (1) parent or guardian when the parental or guardianship rights of the remaining parent or guardian have not been terminated by surrender, consent, waiver of interest, or court order pursuant to this part or title 37;
    • (ii) Partial guardianship entitles the guardian to provide care, supervision, and protection of the child pursuant to § 37-1-140, or to the extent permitted by the court order granting partial guardianship, and permits the guardian to place the child for adoption and consent to that adoption; it does not authorize the court to enter an order of adoption until all remaining parental or guardianship rights have been terminated by surrender, consent, waiver of interest, or court order;
    • (iii) Upon receiving partial guardianship, the department or licensed child-placing agency may place a child for adoption with prospective adoptive parents and may consent to the adoption of the child by those prospective adoptive parents; the prospective adoptive parents are required to comply with § 36-1-117 before an adoption can be granted;

• (28) "Home study" means the product of a preparation process in which individuals or families are assessed by themselves and the department or licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker as to their suitability for adoption and their desires with regard to the child they wish to adopt. The home study shall conform to the requirements set forth in the rules of the department and it becomes a written document that is used in the decision to approve or deny a particular home for adoptive placement. The home study may be the basis on which the court report recommends approval or denial to the court of the family as adoptive parents. A court report based upon any home study conducted by a licensed child-placing agency, licensed clinical social worker or the department that has been completed or updated within one (1) year prior to the date of the surrender or order of reference shall be accepted by the court for purposes of §§ 36-1-111 and 36-1-116. The home study shall be confidential, and at the conclusion of the adoption proceeding shall be forwarded to the department to be kept under seal pursuant to § 36-1-126, and shall be subject to disclosure only upon order entered pursuant to § 36-1-138;

• (29) "Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)" means §§ 37-4-201 - 37-4-207 relating to the placement of a child between states for the purposes of foster care or adoption. The ICPC is administered in Tennessee by the department through its state office in Nashville;

• (30)
  • (A) "Legal parent" means:
    • (i) The biological mother of a child;
    • (ii) A man who is or has been married to the biological mother of the child if the child was born during the marriage or within three hundred (300) days after the marriage was terminated for any reason, or if the child was born after a decree of separation was entered by a court;
    • (iii) A man who attempted to marry the biological mother of the child before the child's birth by a marriage apparently in compliance with the law, even if the marriage is declared invalid, if the child was born during the attempted marriage or within three hundred (300) days after the termination of the attempted marriage for any reason;
    • (iv) A man who has been adjudicated to be the legal father of the child by any court or administrative body of this state or any other state or territory or foreign country or who has signed, pursuant to § 24-7-113, § 68-3-203(g), § 68-3-302, or § 68-3-305(b), an unrevoked and sworn acknowledgment of paternity under Tennessee law, or who has signed such a sworn acknowledgment pursuant to the law of any other state, territory, or foreign country; or
    • (v) An adoptive parent of a child or adult;
  • (B) A man shall not be a legal parent of a child based solely on blood, genetic, or DNA testing determining that he is the biological parent of the child without either a court order or voluntary acknowledgement of paternity pursuant to § 24-7-113. Such test may provide a basis for an order establishing paternity by a court of competent jurisdiction, pursuant to the requirements of § 24-7-112;
  • (C) If the presumption of paternity set out in subdivisions (30)(A)(ii)-(iv) is rebutted as described in § 36-2-304, the man shall no longer be a legal parent for purposes of this chapter and no further notice or termination of parental rights shall be required as to this person;

• (31) "Legal relative" means a person who is included in the class of persons set forth in the definition of "biological relative" or "legal parent" and who, at the time a request for services or information is made pursuant to §§ 36-1-127 and 36-1-133 - 36-1-138 or with reference to a contract for post-adoption contact under § 36-1-145 immediately prior to the execution of a surrender or the entry of an order terminating parental rights, is related to the adopted person by any legal relationship established by law, court order, or by marriage, and includes, a stepparent and the spouse of any legal relative;

• (32)
  • (A) "Legal representative" means:
    • (i) The conservator, guardian, legal custodian, or other person or entity with legal authority to make decisions for an individual with a disability or an attorney-in-fact, an attorney at law representing a person for purposes of obtaining information pursuant to this part, or the legally appointed administrator, executor, or other legally appointed representative of a person's estate; or
    • (ii) Any person acting under any durable power of attorney for health care purposes or any person appointed to represent a person and acting pursuant to a living will;
  • (B) For purposes of subdivision (32)(A), "disability" means that the individual is a minor pursuant to any state, territorial, or federal law, or the law of any foreign country, or that the individual has been determined by any such laws to be in need of a person or entity to care for the individual due to that individual's physical or mental incapacity or infirmity;

• (33) "Licensed child-placing agency" means any agency operating under a license to place children for adoption issued by the department, or operating under a license from any governmental authority from any other state or territory or the District of Columbia, or any agency that operates under the authority of another country with the right to make placement of children for adoption and that has, in the department's sole determination, been authorized to place children for adoption in this state;

• (34) "Licensed clinical social worker" means an individual who holds a license as an independent practitioner from the board of social worker certification and licensure pursuant to title 63, chapter 23, and, in addition, is licensed by the department to provide adoption placement services;

• (35) "Lineal ancestor" means any degree of grandparent or great-grandparent, either by birth or adoption;

• (36) "Lineal descendant" means a person who descended directly from another person who is the biological or adoptive ancestor of such person, such as the daughter of the daughter's mother or granddaughter of the granddaughter's grandmother;

• (37) "Order of reference" means the order from the court where the surrender is executed or filed or where the adoption petition is filed that directs the department or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker to conduct a home study or preliminary home study or to complete a report of the status of the child who is or may be the subject of an adoption proceeding, and that seeks information as to the suitability of the prospective adoptive parents to adopt a child;

• (38) "Parent" or "parents" means any biological, legal, adoptive parent or parents or, for purposes of §§ 36-1-127 - 36-1-141, stepparents;

• (39) "Parental consent" means the consent described in subdivision (16)(C);

• (40) "Parental rights" means the legally recognized rights and responsibilities to act as a parent, to care for, to name, and to claim custodial rights with respect to a child;

• (41) "Physical custody" means physical possession and care of a child. "Physical custody" may be constructive, as when a child is placed by agreement or court order with an agency, or purely physical, as when any family, including a formal or informal foster family, has possession and care of a child, so long as such possession was not secured through a criminal act. An agency and a family may have physical custody of the same child at the same time;

• (42) "Post-adoption record" means:
  • (A) The record maintained in any medium by the department, separately from the sealed record or sealed adoption record and subsequent to the sealing of an adoption record or that is maintained about any sealed record or sealed adoption record. The post-adoption record contains information, including, but not limited to, adopted persons or the legal or biological relatives of adopted persons, or about persons for whom sealed records or sealed adoption records are maintained, or about persons who are seeking information about adopted persons, or persons on whom a sealed record or sealed adoption record is maintained. The post-adoption record contains information concerning, but not limited to, the written inquiries from persons requesting access to records, the search efforts of the department, the response to those search efforts by those persons sought, information that has been requested to be transmitted from or on behalf of any person entitled to access to records pursuant to this part, any updated medical information gathered pursuant to this part, court orders related to the opening of any sealed adoption records or sealed records, and personal identifying information concerning any persons subject to this part;
  • (B) The limited record maintained by the licensed or chartered child-placing agency or a licensed clinical social worker pursuant to § 36-1-126(b)(2), that indicates the child's date of birth, the date the agency received the child for placement, from whom the child was received and such person's last known address, with whom the child was placed and such person's or entity's last known address, and the court in which the adoption proceeding was filed and the date the adoption order was entered or the adoption petition dismissed; and
  • (C) This record is confidential and shall be opened only as provided in this part;

• (43)
  • (A) "Preliminary home study" means an initial home study conducted prior to or, in limited situations, immediately after, the placement of a child with prospective adoptive parents who have not previously been subject to a home study that was conducted or updated not less than six (6) months prior to the date a surrender is sought to be executed to the prospective adoptive parents or prior to the date of the filing of the adoption petition;
  • (B) The preliminary home study is designed to obtain an early and temporary initial assessment of the basic ability of prospective adoptive parents to provide adequate care for a child who is proposed to be adopted by those prospective adoptive parents, and is utilized only for the purpose of approval of surrenders or for purposes of responding to an order of reference pursuant to § 36-1-116(e)(2), or for purposes of entering a guardianship order under § 36-1-116(f)(3);
  • (C) The preliminary home study shall consist of a minimum of two (2) visits with the prospective adoptive parents, at least one (1) of which shall be in the home of the prospective adoptive parents, and the study shall support the conclusion that no apparent reason exists why the prospective adoptive parents would not be fit parents for the child who is the subject of the adoption. To be valid for use as the basis for a court report in connection with a surrender or a parental consent, the preliminary home study must have been completed or updated within thirty (30) days prior to the date the surrender is accepted or the parental consent is executed or confirmed or the guardianship order is entered. The home study shall be confidential, and, at the conclusion of the adoption proceeding, shall be forwarded to the department to be kept under seal pursuant to § 36-1-126, and shall be subject to disclosure only upon order entered pursuant to § 36-1-138;

• (44) "Prospective adoptive parents" means a nonagency person or persons who are seeking to adopt a child and who have made application with a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker or the department for approval, or who have been previously approved, to receive a child for adoption, or who have received or who expect to receive a surrender of a child, or who have filed a petition for termination or for adoption;

• (45) "Putative father" means a biological or alleged biological father of a child who, at the time of the filing of a petition to terminate parental rights, or if such petition is not filed, then at the time of the filing of a petition to adopt a child, has not been excluded by DNA testing as described in § 24-7-112 establishing that he is not the child's biological father or that another man is the child's biological father, is not a legal parent, and meets at least one (1) of the following criteria:
  • (A) The person has filed with the putative father registry, pursuant to § 36-2-318, as described in § 36-1-113(d)(3)(A), a statement of an intent to claim paternity of the child at any time prior to or within thirty (30) days after the child's birth and has notified the registry of all address changes;
  • (B) The person has claimed to the child's biological mother, or the petitioners or their attorney, or to the department, a licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker who is involved in the care, placement, supervision, or study of the child, a belief that the person is the father of the child and has either paid financial support to or for the benefit of the child or the child's mother during the pregnancy, or when the mother had physical custody of the child, or has made a court filing or appearance consistent with the person's claim of paternity; provided, that if the person has previously notified the department of his claim to paternity of the child pursuant to the putative father registry, § 36-2-318(e)(3), then the person is subject to all requirements for waiver of notice provisions of § 36-2-318(f)(2) and to all requirements for filing a paternity petition;
  • (C) The person has openly lived with the child and has held himself out as the father of the child; provided, that if custody of the child has been removed from the biological mother by court order, then notice is given to any man who was openly living with the child at the time of the initiation of the custody or guardianship proceeding that resulted in the removal of the custody or guardianship of the child from the biological mother or biological father, if the man held himself out to be the father of the child at the time of the removal; or
  • (D) The person has entered a permanency plan under title 37, chapter 2, part 4, or under similar provisions of any other state or territory in which the biological father acknowledges paternity of the child.

• (46) "Related" means grandparents or any degree of great-grandparents, aunts or uncles, or any degree of great-aunts or great-uncles, or stepparent, or cousins of the first degree, or first cousins once removed, or any siblings of the whole or half degree or any spouse of the above listed relatives;

• (47)
  • (A) "Sealed adoption record" means:
    • (i) The adoption record as it exists subsequent to its transmittal to the department, or subsequent to its sealing by the court, pursuant to the requirements of § 36-1-126; or
    • (ii) The limited record maintained by the licensed or chartered child-placing agency or a licensed clinical social worker pursuant to § 36-1-126(b)(2);
  • (B) This record is confidential and shall be opened only as provided in this part;
  • (C) The sealed adoption record shall not, for purposes of release of the records pursuant to §§ 36-1-127 - 36-1-141, be construed to permit access, without a court order pursuant to § 36-1-138, to home studies or preliminary home studies or any information obtained by the department, a licensed or chartered child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or other family counseling service, a physician, a psychologist, or member of the clergy, an attorney or other person in connection with a home study or preliminary home study as part of an adoption or surrender or parental consent proceeding or as part of the evaluation of prospective adoptive parents, other than those studies that are expressly included in a report to the court by such entities or persons. Information relating to the counseling of a biological mother regarding crisis pregnancy counseling shall not be included in the adoption record for purposes of release pursuant to this part without a court order pursuant to § 36-1-138;

• (48)
  • (A) "Sealed record" means:
    • (i) Any records, reports, or documents that are maintained at any time by a court, a court clerk, a licensed or chartered child-placing agency, licensed clinical social worker, the department, the department of health, or any other information source concerning the foster care or agency care placement, or placement for adoption, of a person by any branch of the Tennessee children's home society authorized by chapter 113 of the Public Acts of 1919; or
    • (ii) Any records, reports, or documents maintained by a judge, a court clerk, the department, a licensed or chartered child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, the department of health, or any other information source that consist of adoption records or information about an adoption proceeding or a termination of parental rights proceeding about an adopted person, or that contain information about a person who was placed for adoption but for whom no adoption order was entered or for whom an adoption proceeding was dismissed or for whom an adoption was not otherwise completed, or that contain information concerning persons in the care of any person or agency, and which records have otherwise been treated and maintained by those persons or entities under prior law, practice, policy, or custom as confidential, nonpublic adoption records, sealed adoption records, or post-adoption records of the person, or that may be otherwise currently treated and maintained by those persons or entities as confidential, nonpublic adoption records, sealed adoption records or post-adoption records of the person; or
    • (iii) The limited record maintained by the licensed or chartered child-placing agency or a licensed clinical social worker pursuant to § 36-1-126(b)(2);
  • (B) This record is confidential and shall be opened only as provided in this part;
  • (C) The sealed record shall not, for purposes of release of the records pursuant to §§ 36-1-127 - 36-1-141, be construed to permit access, without a court order pursuant to § 36-1-138, to home studies or preliminary home studies or any information obtained by the department, a licensed or chartered child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or other family counseling service, a physician, a psychologist, or member of the clergy, an attorney or other person in connection with a home study or preliminary home study as part of an adoption or surrender or parental consent proceeding or as part of the evaluation of prospective adoptive parents, other than those studies that are expressly included in a report to the court by such entities or persons. Information relating to the counseling of a biological mother regarding crisis pregnancy counseling shall not be included in the adoption record for purposes of release pursuant to this part without a court order pursuant to § 36-1-138;

• (49) "Sibling" means anyone having a sibling relationship;

• (50) "Sibling relationship" means the biological or legal relationship between persons who have a common biological or legal parent;

• (51) "Surrender" means a document executed under § 36-1-111, or under the laws of another state or territory or country, by the parent or guardian of a child, by which that parent or guardian relinquishes all parental or guardianship rights of that parent or guardian to a child, to another person or public child care agency or licensed child-placing agency for the purposes of making that child available for adoption; and

• (52)
  • (A) "Surrogate birth" means:
    • (i) The union of the wife's egg and the husband's sperm, which are then placed in another woman, who carries the fetus to term and who, pursuant to a contract, then relinquishes all parental rights to the child to the biological parents pursuant to the terms of the contract; or
    • (ii) The insemination of a woman by the sperm of a man under a contract by which the parties state their intent that the woman who carries the fetus shall relinquish the child to the biological father and the biological father's wife to parent;
  • (B) No surrender pursuant to this part is necessary to terminate any parental rights of the woman who carried the child to term under the circumstances described in this subdivision (52) and no adoption of the child by the biological parent or parents is necessary;
  • (C) Nothing in this subdivision (52) shall be construed to expressly authorize the surrogate birth process in Tennessee unless otherwise approved by the courts or the general assembly.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 996,s 1, eff. 7/1/2024.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 996,s 4, eff. 7/1/2024.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 996,s 3, eff. 7/1/2024.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 996,s 2, eff. 7/1/2024.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 613,s 3, eff. 7/1/2024.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 373, s 1, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 373, s 6, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 373, s 5, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 373, s 4, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 373, s 3, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 373, s 2, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 361, s 2, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 253, s 7, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 363, s 16, eff. 5/5/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 363, s 1, eff. 5/5/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 363, s 16, eff. 5/5/2023.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 363, s 1, eff. 5/5/2023.

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1008, s 3, eff. 5/9/2022.

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 937, s 9, eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 937, s 17, eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 311, s 3, eff. 7/1/2021.

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 101, Secs.s 2, s 3 eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 101, s 1, eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by 2020 Tenn. Acts, ch. 525, Secs.s 1, s 2, s 3, s 4 eff. 3/6/2020.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 36, s 23, eff. 7/1/2019.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 36, s 31, eff. 7/1/2019.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 35, s 3, eff. 3/22/2019.

Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 875, Secs.s 2, s 3, s 4, s 5, s 6 eff. 7/1/2018.

Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 875, s 1, eff. 7/1/2018.

Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 919, Secs.s 1, s 2 eff. 7/1/2016.

Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 716, s 2, eff. 7/1/2016.

Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 636, Secs.s 2, s 4 eff. 3/23/2016.

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.