(a) Unless the child is related to the petitioners, a final order of adoption shall not be entered before the home study has been filed with the court and before the petition has been on file at least six (6) months and before a final court report is filed with the court, except when the order is based upon a petition for re-adoption pursuant to § 36-1-106; however, the court, considering the petition as a whole, may deem it in the best interest of the child to reduce the waiting period to three (3) months.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-1-119

  • Adoption: means the social and legal process of establishing by court order, other than by paternity or legitimation proceedings or by voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, the legal relationship of parent and child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • court: includes the juvenile court for purposes of the authority to accept the surrender or revocation of surrenders of a child and to issue any orders of reference, orders of guardianship, or other orders resulting from a surrender or revocation that it accepts and for purposes of authorizing the termination of parental rights pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Court report: means the report to the adoption or surrender court in response to an order of reference that describes to the court the status of the child and the prospective adoptive parents or the persons to whom the child is surrendered. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Final court report: means a written document completed by the department or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker after submission of any prior court reports in response to the court's order of reference. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Guardianship: means the status created by a court order appointing a person or entity guardian of the child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Home study: means the product of a preparation process in which individuals or families are assessed by themselves and the department or licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker as to their suitability for adoption and their desires with regard to the child they wish to adopt. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Preliminary home study: means an initial home study conducted prior to or, in limited situations, immediately after, the placement of a child with prospective adoptive parents who have not previously been subject to a home study that was conducted or updated not less than six (6) months prior to the date a surrender is sought to be executed to the prospective adoptive parents or prior to the date of the filing of the adoption petition. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Related: means grandparents or any degree of great-grandparents, aunts or uncles, or any degree of great-aunts or great-uncles, or stepparent, or cousins of the first degree, or first cousins once removed, or any siblings of the whole or half degree or any spouse of the above listed relatives. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) If the child is related to the petitioners, the court may, in its discretion, waive the six-month waiting period, the orders of reference, the preliminary home study and home study, the order of guardianship or custody, and the final court report and may proceed to immediately grant an order of adoption.
(c)

(1) If the child has already resided in the home of the petitioners for three (3) months, the court has received the final court report concerning the circumstances of the child and the petitioners, and is satisfied that the adoption will be in the best interest of the child, the court may waive the six-month waiting period after the filing of the adoption petition and may enter an order of adoption.
(2) If the child was voluntarily left at a facility or in a newborn safety device pursuant to § 68-11-255, the child has resided in the home of the petitioners for at least three (3) months, and the court has received the final court report concerning the circumstances of the child and the petitioners and is satisfied that the adoption will be in the best interest of the child, then the court may waive the six-month waiting period after the filing of the adoption petition and may enter an order of adoption.
(d) If no appeal has been taken from any order of the court, the court must complete or dismiss the adoption proceeding by entering a final order within one (1) year of the filing of the petition, unless the petitioner shows good cause why such final order should not be entered.
(e) If an appeal is taken from an order of the court, the proceeding must be completed by the court by entering a final order of adoption or a final order dismissing the proceeding within nine (9) months from the final judgment upon appeal, except for good cause shown by the petitioner.
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