(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 34-6-304

  • Court: means any court having jurisdiction to hear matters concerning guardians or conservators. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
  • 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.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age and who has not otherwise been emancipated. See Tennessee Code 34-1-101
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Through the power of attorney for care of a minor child, the parent may authorize the caregiver to perform the following functions without limitation:

(A) Enroll the child in school and extracurricular activities;
(B) Obtain medical, dental and mental health treatment for the child; and
(C) Provide for the child’s food, lodging, housing, recreation and travel.
(2) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit the power of the parent to grant additional powers to the caregiver.
(b) The caregiver shall have the right to enroll the minor child in the local education agency serving the area where the caregiver resides. The local education agency shall allow a caregiver with a properly executed power of attorney for care of a minor child to enroll the minor child but, prior to enrollment, may require documentation of the minor child’s residence with a caregiver or documentation or other verification of the validity of the stated hardship. Except where limited by federal law, the caregiver shall be assigned the rights, duties and responsibilities that would otherwise be assigned to the parent, legal guardian or legal custodian pursuant to title 49.
(c) Further, any adult accepting the power of attorney, as well as the parent, guardian, or other legal custodian, who enrolls a student in a school system while fraudulently representing the child’s current residence or the parent’s hardship or circumstances for issuing the power of attorney, is liable for restitution to the school district for an amount equal to the per pupil expenditure for the district in which the student is fraudulently enrolled. Restitution shall be cumulative for each year the child has been fraudulently enrolled in the system. Such restitution shall be payable to the school district and, when litigation is necessary to recover the restitution, the adult accepting the power of attorney, parent, guardian or other legal custodian shall be liable for the costs and fees, including attorney’s fees, of the school district. Such an action for restitution shall be brought by or on behalf of the district in the circuit or chancery court in which the district is located within one (1) year of the date the fraudulent misrepresentation was discovered.