privateadoption.orgState overview
Tennessee
A few of the basics in Tennessee, in plain words. Tap a card to read it in full with its official source.
Petitioners must live in Tennessee when the adoption is filed. Nonresidents may file in the county where a court gave them, a licensed agency, or the department guardianship or custody of the child, or where the child was placed in the custody of a licensed agency or the department. Listed active duty service members may file without current residency.
Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(d),(e) (Official code, LexisNexis free public access) · as of 2026-10-21
Home studies are done by a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, or by the department if the petitioners are indigent or the department placed the child. The court usually sends the order of reference to whoever did the home study. Only the department, licensed agencies and licensed clinical social workers may place children for adoption.
Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-116(a)(1),(e)(3); 36-1-108(a)(1) (Official code, LexisNexis free public access) · as of 2026-10-21
The Department of Children's Services keeps the putative father registry in its Nashville adoptions unit. It lists men with parentage orders or acknowledgments, and men who filed a notice of intent to claim paternity before or within 30 days after the birth. A man who filed a notice and keeps the registry updated on address changes is a putative father under the adoption law.
Tenn. Code Ann. 36-2-318(a),(e); 36-1-102(45)(A) (Official code, LexisNexis free public access) · as of 2026-10-21
Adoption petitions go to chancery or circuit court. The petition may be filed where the petitioners live, where the child lives, where a respondent lives, where an agency with custody is located, where the child came under agency care, or where the petitioners got guardianship or custody, or in a county next to any of these.
Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(a); 36-1-114(a),(b) (Official code, LexisNexis free public access) · as of 2026-10-21
Who to ask
These entries describe what Tennessee law and agencies say. For what they mean for your family, ask an adoption attorney licensed in Tennessee.
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