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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
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 §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
Department: means the department of children's services or any of its divisions or units. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Guardianship: means the status created by a court order appointing a person or entity guardian of the child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Parental consent: means the consent described in subdivision (15)(C). See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
parents: means any biological, legal, adoptive parent or parents or, for purposes of §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Physical custody: means physical possession and care of a child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1)(A) A person who executed a surrender may revoke the surrender at any time within three (3) calendar days of the date of the surrender. The three-day period shall be calculated using the method for computation of time established in the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6.01.(B) The surrender shall be revoked by appearing before the judge who accepted the surrender or that judge’s successor or substitute, or another judge of a court with jurisdiction to accept a surrender in the absence of the judge who accepted the surrender or that judge’s successor or substitute, or by appearing before the person, or that person’s successor, pursuant to § 36-1-111(g), (h) or (i) before whom the surrender was executed and by executing the revocation of surrender form.(C) The three-day period for revocation of the surrender shall not limit the court’s authority to order the revocation of the surrender pursuant to § 36-1-118.(D) The revocation of the surrender shall be executed under oath by the parent or guardian who executed the surrender of the child, and the judge or other person who accepted the surrender or the judge’s successor or substitute as indicated in subdivision (a)(1)(B) shall sign and date the revocation form.(E) In the event the person under § 36-1-111(g), (h) or (i) is unavailable or has no authorized successor, the person may apply to a court that is qualified to receive a surrender in Tennessee or a court with domestic relations jurisdiction in another state or country to execute the revocation before a judge of that court as provided herein.(F)(i) No surrender may be revoked by the person surrendering the child or set aside by a court after the expiration of the three-day period except as the surrender may be invalidated by court order entered pursuant to a timely filed complaint filed pursuant to subsection (c) or as permitted by order of the court entered pursuant to § 36-1-118.(ii) The execution of a revocation of a surrender within the three-day period shall be grounds for the dismissal of any adoption petition filed during that period and, upon motion of the person who revoked the surrender, the court shall dismiss the adoption petition without prejudice.(2)(A) A parental consent may be revoked at any time prior to the entry of an order of confirmation of the parental consent by the court.(B) The parent who executed the parental consent shall appear before the judge of the court in which the adoption petition is filed, or in the judge’s absence, the judge’s successor or substitute or, if no successor or substitute, any judge or a court with jurisdiction to adjudicate adoption petitions, and shall execute a revocation of the parental consent.(b)(1) The court or person receiving the revocations shall maintain the originals in the office of the clerk or the office of the person receiving the surrender, together with the original of the surrender or adoption petition containing the parental consent, if available, and shall personally give or shall send by certified mail, return receipt requested, certified copies of the revocations to the child’s parents, the prospective adoptive parents, the local office of the department, or a licensed child-placing agency to whom the child had been surrendered, and if the prospective adoptive parents are represented by counsel, a certified copy of the revocation shall be forwarded to such counsel.(2)(A) When the revocation is received, the court or the person before whom the revocation was executed shall attach a certified copy of the revocation to a certified copy of the surrender or petition for adoption containing the parental consent, and shall within three (3) days mail the copies of both documents by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the adoptions unit in the state office of the department in Nashville.(B) If the revocation must be executed before a court or person before whom the surrender was not executed or in which the adoption petition was not filed, the original of the revocation shall be sent within three (3) days to the court or person before whom the surrender was executed or in which the adoption petition was filed, and that court or person shall be responsible for sending the forms to the department and to the persons or agencies who are entitled to copies of the revocation.(C) The department shall record the revocation with the copies of the surrender or adoption petition containing the parental consent and the order of guardianship for purposes of tracking the adoptive placement status of the child.(c) After the revocation period has expired or after the court has entered an order confirming a parental consent, no surrender or waiver of interest or parental consent shall be set aside by a court except upon clear and convincing evidence of duress, fraud, intentional misrepresentation or for invalidity under § 36-1-111(d), and no surrender, waiver of interest, or parental consent may be set aside for any reason under this part unless the action based on these grounds is initiated within thirty (30) days of the execution of the surrender, waiver of interest or within thirty (30) days of the date of entry of the order of confirmation of the parental consent.(d)(1) A surrender or parental consent that is revoked shall have the effect of returning the child’s legal status to that which existed before the surrender was executed, and the department, a licensed child-placing agency, or the person who or that had custody or guardianship of the child prior to the surrender pursuant to any parental status, prior court order or statutory authorization shall continue or resume custody or guardianship under that prior parental status, prior court order, or statutory authority, that had established the custodial or guardianship status of the child prior to the execution of the surrender or parental consent, unless a court of competent jurisdiction shall otherwise determine as specifically provided herein.(2)(A) Unless they had received or maintained custody or guardianship of the child pursuant to a court order entered or pursuant to statutory authority prior to the execution of the surrender or parental consent, the department, the licensed child-placing agency, or the person or persons to whom the child was surrendered and who has physical custody of the child, shall, within five (5) days of the receipt by such department, agency or person of the revocation, return the child to the child’s parents or guardian who executed and revoked the surrender or parental consent; provided, that a sworn complaint may be filed in the court where the revocation was executed, or in the event that the surrender was executed before a person or court pursuant to § 36-1-111(g), (h) or (i), in the chancery, circuit, or juvenile court where the child resides in Tennessee, to show cause why the child would likely suffer immediate harm to the child’s health and safety if returned to the child’s parent or parents or guardian who had executed the surrender.(B) If a complaint is filed pursuant to subdivision (d)(2)(A), the child shall remain in the physical and/or legal custody or guardianship of the persons or agencies to whom the child was surrendered or with respect to whom the parental consent was executed until the court makes any further orders pursuant to this section, and those persons or agencies shall have authority to provide any necessary care and supervision of the child, subject to further orders of the court.(C)(i) The complaint filed under this subdivision (d)(2) shall name the parent or parents or guardian or guardians who executed and revoked the surrender or parental consent as defendant or defendants. Except for cause shown in an order entered on the record, the court shall hold a preliminary hearing within three (3) days of the filing of the petition to determine if there is probable cause to believe that the child will be subject to immediate harm to the child’s health or safety if the child is returned to the child’s parent or parents or guardian or guardians.(ii) If probable cause is not established in the preliminary hearing, the child shall be immediately returned to the child’s parent or parents or guardian who executed the surrender that has been revoked.(iii) If probable cause is established, the court shall continue the child in the custody of the persons or the agency to whom the child was surrendered or with respect to whom a parental consent was executed, subject to further orders of the court, pending the final hearing.(iv) The court may make any necessary orders pending the final hearing for the protection of the child.(D) The case shall be set for a final hearing on the merits within thirty (30) days of the preliminary hearing except for cause shown in a written order of the court entered on the record.(E) Unless clear and convincing evidence at the final hearing shows that the child’s safety and health would be in immediate danger if the child is returned or remains in the custody of the parent or guardian who executed the surrender or filed the parental consent, the complaint shall be dismissed. If the child was not returned to the parent at the preliminary hearing, the child shall be immediately returned to the child’s parent or guardian who had executed the surrender or filed the parental consent.(3)(A) If no complaint is filed pursuant to subdivision (d)(2), the court where the surrender or parental consent was revoked shall enter any orders that are necessary to effect the return of the child to the parent or parents or guardian who had custody of the child prior to the execution of the surrender or prior to filing the parental consent, unless another person, the department, or a licensed child-placing agency had custody or guardianship of the child under a prior order entered before the execution of the surrender or filing of the parental consent, or that had custody or guardianship under statutory authorization prior to the execution of the surrender or parental consent that was revoked by that parent.(B) The court in which a surrender, revocation or parental consent is given or filed, or adoption court may not modify any prior custody or guardianship order that had given custody or guardianship of the child to the department, a licensed child-placing agency, or another person under a prior order or pursuant to any statutory authorization prior to the surrender or the filing of the parental consent, and if such order or statutory authority exists, the court’s jurisdiction over the child shall terminate after the execution of the revocation of the surrender or parental consent, and the prior parental status, prior court order or prior statutory authority shall continue in effect; provided, that if for any reason, the agencies or persons who had prior custody or guardianship of the child are unable or unwilling to resume custody of the child, the court receiving the revocation shall be authorized to make a custody determination and award temporary custody of the child to any suitable person, the department, or a licensed child-placing agency with custodial authority pursuant to § 36-1-140, or it may make an order of guardianship or partial guardianship pursuant to § 36-1-102, with the right to adopt or consent to the child’s adoption.(4) In the event that the surrender was executed before a person or court under § 36-1-111(g), (h) or (i), the chancery, circuit or juvenile court where the surrender was filed pursuant to § 36-1-111(n), or in the county where the child resides in Tennessee if the surrender has not been filed, shall have jurisdiction to enter orders in compliance with this subsection (d) to effect the child’s return to the child’s parent or parents or guardian or to provide for the child’s custody or guardianship as permitted herein.(e) If the child is not returned to the child’s parent or parents or guardian pursuant to subdivision (d)(2)(E), and unless the department, a licensed child-placing agency, or another person to whom the child was surrendered or to whom a parental consent was executed had custody or guardianship of the child pursuant to a court order entered prior to the filing of the surrender or the parental consent or pursuant to statutory authorization prior to the execution of the surrender or parental consent, the court where the revocation was executed shall have jurisdiction following a revocation of the surrender or parental consent to award temporary custody to any appropriate person, the department, or any other licensed child care agency, with the authority as legal custodian pursuant to § 37-1-140, or the court may award guardianship or partial guardianship pursuant to § 36-1-102 with the right to adopt or consent to the child’s adoption.(f) The department or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker shall have the right to intervene in any complaint filed pursuant to subdivision (d)(2)(A) for the purpose of introducing proof as to the child’s health and safety.
