Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120 (2026)
Final order of adoption - Contents - Report of foreign birth
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) The final order of adoption must state:
- (1) The full name of the child used in the proceeding;
- (2) The full names of the petitioners and their county of residence and whether the petitioner is a stepparent of the adopted person;
- (3) The fact and date of the filing of the petition;
- (4) The date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order;
- (5) The fact and date of the filing of a guardianship order, if such order has been entered;
- (6)
- (A) That all persons entitled to notice of the proceedings have been served with process and the status of those persons in the proceedings and that all necessary parties were properly before the court;
- (B) That the time for answering the petition has expired;
- (C) That termination of all parental or guardian rights to the child by court order or surrenders or parental consents that are necessary to proceed with the adoption have occurred; and
- (D) That orders reflecting the termination of parental rights pursuant to actions filed by the prospective adoptive parents, orders confirming parental consents, or the consents of the department or a licensed child-placing agency with authority to place and consent to the child's adoption, the consent of the child who is over fourteen (14) years of age, the consent of the guardian ad litem of an incompetent adult or mentally disabled child, or of any other person or entity required by law have been filed in the court record;
- (7) That if the child has been brought into Tennessee from another state or foreign country, there has been compliance with the ICPC, if applicable, or with the requirements of the foreign government or legal authorities in the foreign country for the petitioners to have custody of the child and with all requirements of the United States government for the immigration of the child to this country, unless good cause has been shown to excuse such compliance;
- (8) That the child's adoption is in compliance with or is not subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.);
- (9) Whether the child has been the subject of an adoption decree in a foreign country in which the petitioners were given the child in adoption by such decree and whether this adoption is a readoption for the purpose of complying with the requirements of the United States government for the purposes of the child's immigration or naturalization;
- (10) That the petitioners are fit persons to have the care and custody of the child;
- (11) That the petitioners are financially able to provide for the child;
- (12) That the child is a suitable child for adoption; and
- (13) That the adoption is for the best interest of the child.
- (b) Before the entry of the final order, there shall be filed with the proposed order:
- (1) An affidavit by the attorney for the petitioners detailing the fees charged for any services rendered in the placement of the child or for legal services, and any fees paid by the attorney to any other person or entity for services rendered in securing the placement of the child or for providing any services related to securing any home studies to secure a surrender or adoption of the child; and
- (2) An affidavit by the licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker that or who placed the child with the petitioners regarding the fees charged by such agency or social worker to the adoptive parents for the placement of the child and for any home studies and supervision of the placement conducted by the licensed child-placing agency or by the licensed clinical social worker.
- (c) The court shall review the affidavits required in subsection (b) and shall determine whether all fees set forth therein are reasonable. The court shall retroactively approve such fees or order reimbursement of any fees it determines to be unreasonable.
- (d) The court shall, if satisfied that all the requirements necessary for the adoption of the child are present, thereupon decree the adoption of the child by the petitioners and shall order that the name of the child be changed to that requested by the petitioners.
- (e)
- (1) The clerk of the court shall furnish the department a certified copy of all final orders of adoption and the affidavits required under subsection (b) or final orders dismissing the adoption proceedings, and the department shall record pertinent information from the order, and the department shall maintain a copy of the order with all other information in the sealed adoption record.
- (2) Upon entry of the final order of adoption by the court, the clerk of the court shall simultaneously furnish the adoptive parents or their attorney a certified copy of the order of adoption.
- (f)
- (1) All orders of adoption, readoption, or foreign recognition, as authorized by § 36-1-106(c), must be reported by the clerk or by the petitioner's or petitioners' attorney to the division of vital records of the department of health for children born in this state or in a foreign country by sending a certified copy of the order and certificate of adoption and by reporting the information required by that division for a new certificate of birth or for a report of foreign birth for the child to the registrar of the division of vital records for preparation of a new certificate of birth by adoption as provided in §§ 68-3-310 - 68-3-313. This section does not prohibit court clerks from certifying or issuing any certificate of adoption forms as may be required by the state of the child's birth.
- (2) The court clerk or the petitioner's or petitioners' attorney shall supply the registrar of the division of vital records the following information for the preparation of a Report of Foreign Birth if the child who has been adopted was born in a foreign country:
- (A) The full adoptive name of the child;
- (B) The adopted child's date of birth;
- (C) The adopted child's sex;
- (D) The city, province and country of the adopted child's birth;
- (E) The full name of the adoptive father;
- (F) The full maiden name of the adoptive mother; and
- (G) The legal residence of the adoptive parents.
- (3) Upon entry of the order of adoption, readoption, or foreign recognition by the court, as authorized by § 36-1-106(c), the court clerk shall immediately furnish to the division of vital records, or to the adoptive parents or parents' attorney, the necessary documents listed in subdivisions (f)(1) and (2) for the issuance of a new birth certificate by adoption or report of a foreign order.
- (g) Costs for furnishing certified copies under subsections (e) and (f) shall be taxed to the petitioners.
- (h) Notwithstanding the sealing and confidentiality of adoption records pursuant to this part, the clerk of the court in which adoption proceedings have occurred, upon being furnished verification of the identity of the requesting person, shall furnish to the adopted person, adoptive parents or their attorney or attorneys, upon their request at any time, certified copies of the final order of adoption or readoption or final orders dismissing such adoption proceedings. Nothing other than certified copies of the final order of adoption or readoption or final order dismissing such adoption proceedings shall be released pursuant to this subsection (h).
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 996,s 20, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 945,s 3, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 945,s 2, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 945,s 1, eff. 7/1/2024.
Acts 1951, ch. 202, § 22 (Williams, § 9572.36); Acts 1959, ch. 223, § 10; impl. am. Acts 1975, ch. 219, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 36-125; § 36-1-125; Acts 1995, ch. 532, § 1; 1996, ch. 1054, § 128; 2003 , ch. 231, § 15.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 17
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1989–2024 · leading case: In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000).
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “Section 36-1-120 (a)(4) requires that the court include in its final order of adoption "[t]he date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order.”
In Re: Taylor B. W., 397 S.W.3d 105 (Tenn. 2013). “See Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a)(6)(C) (2010).”
In Re Sidney J., 313 S.W.3d 772 (Tenn. 2010). “” Likewise, section 36-1-120(a)(4), which governs the contents of a final order of adoption, requires that the final order include “[t]he date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order.”
In re Joseph F., 492 S.W.3d 690 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016). “§ 36-1-120 (providing that final order of adoption must demonstrate that termination of parental rights has occurred).”
Johnson ex rel. Johnson v. Wilbourn, 781 S.W.2d 857 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989). “See T.C.A. § 36-1-120. There is no such provision permitting the survival of an adoption proceeding after the death of the prospective parents or authorizing a posthumous order approving an adoption.”
In Re: S.E.J. Donald Jordan v. Donald Roberson (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120 (a)(4) (2005).”
In Re: Francis P, 532 S.W.3d 356 (2017). “effect compliance with requirements for surrender or termination “as part of the adoption proceeding”); Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120 (a)(6)(D) (requiring that *366 the order of adoption include a statement that termination of all necessary parental rights by court order or…”
In Re: The Adoption of Jeffrey T. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2010). “es; 3) whether the Trial Court erred in terminating Father’s parental rights when Father had filed a petition for custody in the Chancery Court for Hamblen County; 4) whether the Trial Court erred in granting the adoption when a home study had not been done; and, 5) whether the…”
In Re: Adoption of M.J.S. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120 (a)(4)(1996)(emphasis added).”
In Re: Adoption of M.J.S. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120 (a)(13) (1996).”
In Re Lyric N. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2022). “We note that this Court has distinguished situations in which an existing guardianship of the child is involved, such as when full guardianship rights are held by 6 Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-1-120(a) (2021) sets forth the requirements for what a “final order of adoption must…”
In Re A'Jayi A. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2024). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120 (a)(13) (2021); In re Adoption of A.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120(10) — 1 case
In Re: The Adoption of Gabrielle N. N. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a) — 1 case
In Re Lyric N. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2022). “We note that this Court has distinguished situations in which an existing guardianship of the child is involved, such as when full guardianship rights are held by 6 Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-1-120(a) (2021) sets forth the requirements for what a “final order of adoption must…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a)(10) — 2 cases
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “Section 36-1-120 (a)(4) requires that the court include in its final order of adoption "[t]he date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order.”
In Re Lyric N. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2022). “We note that this Court has distinguished situations in which an existing guardianship of the child is involved, such as when full guardianship rights are held by 6 Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-1-120(a) (2021) sets forth the requirements for what a “final order of adoption must…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a)(13) — 1 case
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “Section 36-1-120 (a)(4) requires that the court include in its final order of adoption "[t]he date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a)(4) — 3 cases
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “Section 36-1-120 (a)(4) requires that the court include in its final order of adoption "[t]he date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order.”
In Re Sidney J., 313 S.W.3d 772 (Tenn. 2010). “” Likewise, section 36-1-120(a)(4), which governs the contents of a final order of adoption, requires that the final order include “[t]he date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order.”
In Re: Adoption of M.J.S. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120 (a)(4)(1996)(emphasis added).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a)(4)(1996) — 1 case
In Re Adoption of M.J.S., 44 S.W.3d 41 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). “Section 36-1-120 (a)(4) requires that the court include in its final order of adoption "[t]he date when the petitioners acquired physical custody of the child and from what person or agency or by which court order.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a)(6)(C) — 1 case
In Re: Taylor B. W., 397 S.W.3d 105 (Tenn. 2013). “See Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-1-120(a)(6)(C) (2010).”
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