(a) If, for purposes of inheritance under a will or trust or by intestate succession or contract, a relationship of parent and child must be established to determine succession by, through, or from a person:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 31-2-105

  • Child: includes any individual, adopted or natural born, entitled to take as a child under this title by intestate succession from the parent whose relationship is involved and excludes any person who is only a stepchild, a foster child, a grandchild or any more remote descendant. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Parent: includes any person entitled to take, or who would be entitled to take if the child, adopted or natural born, died without a will, as a parent under this title by intestate succession from the child whose relationship is in question and excludes any person who is only a stepparent, foster parent, or grandparent. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) An adopted person is the child of an adopting parent and not of the natural parents, except that adoption of a child by the spouse of a natural parent has no effect on the relationship between the child and that natural parent; and
(2) In cases not covered by subdivision (a)(1), a person born out of wedlock is a child of the mother. That person is also a child of the father, if:

(A) The natural parents participated in a marriage ceremony before or after the birth of the child, even though the attempted marriage is void; or
(B)

(i) The paternity is established by adjudication before the death of the father or is established thereafter by clear and convincing proof, but only if an assertion of paternity is made that seeks the adjudication within the earlier of:

(a) The period prescribed in the notice published or posted in accordance with § 30-2-306; or
(b) One (1) year after the father’s death;
(ii) The paternity established under this subdivision (a)(2)(B) is ineffective to qualify the father or the father’s kindred to inherit from or through the child unless the father has openly treated the child as the father’s, and has not refused to support the child.
(b) In no event is a parent permitted to inherit through intestate succession or under a will or trust or by contract until all child support arrearages together with any interest owed, at the legal rate of interest computed from the date each payment was due, have been paid in full to the parent ordered to receive support or to the parent’s estate if deceased.
(c) Nothing in this section prevents a child from inheriting from a parent through intestate succession.
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