Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
File: means to present a vital record provided for in this chapter for registration by the office of vital records. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
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.
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. 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
sex: means a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. 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
Vital records: means certificates or reports of birth, death, marriage, divorce or annulment and other records related thereto. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
(1) New certificates of birth shall be prepared on adoptions, legitimations and orders of paternity only.(2) All orders of adoption, legitimation and paternity shall be final, and all required legal papers placed on file in the office of vital records.(3) The certificate of birth in the original name shall be removed from the volume and a record inserted that shall show the original certificate number, date removed and code citation.(4) The birth shall have occurred in Tennessee and a certificate of birth in the original name shall be on file in the department.(b)(1) The new certificate shall be prepared on a standard form in current use in the department and shall be signed by the state registrar in the space provided for the signature of the attendant at birth.(2) The new certificate shall show the date of birth, place of birth, sex, and date of filing as shown on the certificate of birth in the original name.(3) A new certificate of birth by adoption shall show the residence of the adoptive parent or parents as at the time the final order of adoption was granted.(c)(1) When a final order of adoption has been granted to only one (1) petitioner and upon receipt of a certified request of the petitioner, the word “adoption” may be entered on the new certificate of birth in the space provided for the information concerning the other parent.(2) The certified request shall be furnished to the state registrar prior to the preparation of the new certificate.(3) A new certificate of birth by adoption shall not be prepared if so requested by the court that granted the adoption, the adoptive parent or parents, or the adopted person.(d)(1) A certificate of birth in the original name that indicates a legitimate birth and another person as father shall not be removed for the preparation of a new certificate of birth by legitimation, unless an order from a court of competent jurisdiction refuting such facts as set forth by regulation is furnished to the state registrar.(2) A new certificate of birth shall not be prepared for the person in the instance where the person’s father and mother were married prior to the birth of the person and the original certificate indicates another person as father or an illegitimate birth.(3) The certificate of birth in the original name shall be amended in accordance with regulations to show correct facts at the time of the birth.(e) Upon receipt from the juvenile court clerk of an order of legitimation as provided in [former] § 36-2-206 [repealed], or an order of paternity, a new certificate of birth shall be issued, regardless of the age of the person named in any such order.(f) When an order of paternity has been granted on an unborn infant, the original certificate of birth shall be prepared and filed in accordance with the laws and regulations of the department, and a new certificate by paternity shall be prepared upon receipt of the required legal papers from the court.
