In this chapter:

(1) “Adult” means an individual who has attained eighteen (18) years of age or is an emancipated minor;

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-7-102

  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • 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.
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(2) “Caretaking authority” means the right to live with and care for a child on a day-to-day basis. “Caretaking authority” includes physical custody, parenting time, right to access, and visitation;
(3) “Child” means:

(A) An unemancipated individual who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age; or
(B) An adult son or daughter by birth or adoption, or under law of this state other than this chapter, who is the subject of a court order concerning custodial responsibility;
(4) “Court” means a tribunal, including an administrative agency, authorized under law of this state other than this chapter to make, enforce, or modify a decision regarding custodial responsibility;
(5) “Custodial responsibility” includes all powers and duties relating to caretaking authority and decision-making authority for a child. “Custodial responsibility” includes physical custody, legal custody, parenting time, right to access, visitation, and authority to grant limited contact with a child;
(6)

(A) “Decision-making authority” means the power to make important decisions regarding a child, including decisions regarding the child’s education, religious training, health care, extracurricular activities, and travel;
(B) “Decision-making authority” does not include the power to make decisions that necessarily accompany a grant of caretaking authority;
(7) “Deploying parent” means a service member who is deployed or has been notified of impending deployment and is:

(A) A parent of a child under law of this state other than this chapter; or
(B) An individual who has custodial responsibility for a child under law of this state other than this chapter;
(8) “Deployment” means the movement or mobilization of a service member for more than thirty (30) days pursuant to uniformed service orders that:

(A) Are designated as unaccompanied;
(B) Do not authorize dependent travel; or
(C) Otherwise do not permit the movement of family members to the location to which the service member is deployed;
(9) “Family member” means a sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, stepparent, or grandparent of a child or an individual recognized to be in a familial relationship with a child under law of this state other than this chapter;
(10) “Limited contact” means the authority of a nonparent to visit a child for a limited time. “Limited contact” includes authority to take the child to a place other than the residence of the child;
(11) “Nonparent” means an individual other than a deploying parent or other parent;
(12) “Other parent” means an individual who, in common with a deploying parent, is:

(A) A parent of a child under law of this state other than this chapter; or
(B) An individual who has custodial responsibility for a child under law of this state other than this chapter;
(13) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;
(14) “Return from deployment” means the conclusion of a service member’s deployment as specified in uniformed service orders;
(15) “Service member” means a member of a uniformed service;
(16) “Sign” means with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:

(A) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(B) To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process;
(17) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; and
(18) “Uniformed service” means:

(A) Active and reserve components of the army, navy, air force, marine corps, or coast guard of the United States;
(B) The United States merchant marine;
(C) The commissioned corps of the United States public health service;
(D) The commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration of the United States; or
(E) The national guard of a state.