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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
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
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 §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Adult: means any person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
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
Department: means the department of children's services or any of its divisions or units. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
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
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 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. 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
Physical custody: means physical possession and care of a child. 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
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. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
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
United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(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) 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.(f)(1) All final orders of adoption shall be reported by the clerk to the division of vital records of the department of health by sending a certified copy of the order or a certified 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 or for a Report of Foreign Birth as provided in §§ 68-3-310 – 68-3-313.(2) The court clerk 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.(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).
