What You Need to Know About Terminating Parental Rights in Tennessee
Terminating parental rights may be done voluntarily or involuntarily, and doing so ends the legal relationship between a parent and child. Here’s everything you need to know about how to terminate parental rights in Tennessee.
Both biological and prospective adoptive parents have the right to file for the termination of parental rights in Tennessee. Termination of parental rights happens by filing a petition to the courts and providing evidence that termination would be in the best interest of the child.
What Are Parental Rights in Tennessee?
The relationship between child and parent is typically thought of from a social aspect, but establishing who has legal rights to a child is necessary to care for a child. Parental rights allow a child’s guardian to make legal decisions for them as well as consent to medical treatment, apply for a passport, and even register a child in school.
Parental rights may be established by birth, marriage, paternity, or adoption. In cases of divorce or paternity lawsuits, parental rights are necessary to determine child support orders or parenting schedules as well.
Voluntary vs Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
Parental rights may be terminated voluntarily or involuntarily. Either way, the termination of parental rights is ultimately up to a judge who will look at the facts of the case and decide what is in the best interest of the child. Apart from biological parents, extended family members, the Department of Children’s Services, prospective adoptive parents, and adoption agencies with physical custody of the child have the right to file a petition to terminate parental rights.
Related: How to Give Up Parental Rights And Not Pay Child Support
Sometimes a parent may want to voluntarily terminate or “surrender” their parental rights. There are many possible reasons for a parent to surrender their legal rights, some of the most common are:
- Unrelated to Adoption – Parent cannot support or care for their child and surrenders them to the Department of Children’s Services
- Adoption at Birth – Both biological parents consent to adoption and surrender their rights to the adoptive parents at birth
- Step-Parent Adoption – Biological parent remarries and the step-parent becomes a primary residential parent and wants legal rights
In any of these cases, it is up to the court to ultimately decide whether to terminate someone’s parental rights. If terminating the rights is unrelated to adoption, courts must find the biological parent to be incapable of caring for the child and it would be in the child’s best interest to be under the care of the Department of Children’s Services. Any adoption-related cases in which a parent is planning to terminate their parental rights must be approved by a judge first, including adoption at birth.
Sometimes a parent’s parental rights are involuntarily terminated by a court. To do this courts must find clear evidence that grounds for termination of parental rights have been established and that the termination of parent’s rights is in the best interest of the child. Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-1-113(g) outlines the grounds on which a petition to terminate parental rights may be filed in a very detailed manner.
The most common grounds for involuntary termination include:
- Noncompliance by parents in a permanency plan
- Severe child abuse by a parent
- Sexual abuse by a parent
- A parent is found guilty of sex trafficking
- A parent is imprisoned for conduct against their child
- A parent is imprisoned for 10+ years and the child is younger than 8
- A parent is found liable for the death of the other parent
- A parent is convicted of rape from which the child was conceived
- A parent is a heavy drug and alcohol abuser
- Abandonment scenario in which parent willfully failed to support or visit their child for at least four months before filing the petition
- The child has been removed from the home by the Department of Children’s Services for 6 months and the conditions which called for the removal have not been improved
How to Terminate Parental Rights in Tennessee
The first step in terminating parental rights in Tennessee is to file a petition to the court. Anyone with long-term physical custody of the child of prospective adoptive parents may file to terminate parental rights. The petition must include:
- The child’s name
- The child’s age and birth date
- The child’s address and home country
- Facts explaining why the petition has been filed
Related: Is a Sperm Donor a Legal Parent?
The petition should also include:
- The medical and social history of the child’s parent
- A verified statement that a parental registry has been consulted within 10 days of filing the petition
- That there is no question about paternity and no other active guardianships that will prevent the child from being adopted
After filing the petition the court will issue a summons to the relevant parties. The respondent may appear in person or file a written answer to the petition. If the court is planning to grant the termination of parental rights they will appoint a guardian ad litem which is a guardian who is in charge of watching over the child throughout the case.
An adjudicatory hearing will be scheduled to determine whether or not the child needs supervision until the final decision is made, where the child will go, and what services will be provided for them. Finally, the court will enter a ruling within 30 days and determine whether or not the parent can terminate their parental rights.
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If you or a loved one would like to learn more about Terminate Parental Rights Tennessee, get your free consultation with one of our Employment Attorneys in Tennessee today!