(a) The parents of a child may enter into a temporary agreement under this part granting custodial responsibility during deployment.

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-7-201

  • 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.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • 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
(b) An agreement under subsection (a) must be:

(1) In writing; and
(2) Signed by both parents and any nonparent to whom custodial responsibility is granted.
(c) Subject to subsection (d), an agreement under subsection (a), if feasible, must:

(1) Identify the destination, duration, and conditions of the deployment that is the basis for the agreement;
(2) Specify the allocation of caretaking authority among the deploying parent, the other parent, and any nonparent;
(3) Specify any decision-making authority that accompanies a grant of caretaking authority;
(4) Specify any grant of limited contact to a nonparent;
(5) If under the agreement custodial responsibility is shared by the other parent and a nonparent, or by other nonparents, provide a process to resolve any dispute that may arise;
(6) Specify the frequency, duration, and means, including electronic means, by which the deploying parent will have contact with the child, any role to be played by the other parent in facilitating the contact, and the allocation of any costs of contact;
(7) Specify the contact between the deploying parent and child during the time the deploying parent is on leave or is otherwise available;
(8) Acknowledge that any party’s child-support obligation cannot be modified by the agreement, and that changing the terms of the obligation during deployment requires modification in the appropriate court;
(9) Provide that the agreement will terminate according to the procedures under part 4 of this chapter after the deploying parent returns from deployment; and
(10) Specify which parent is required to file the agreement with a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to § 36-7-205.
(d) The omission of any of the items specified in subsection (c) does not invalidate an agreement under this section.