To adopt a child in Tennessee, you file a petition in chancery or circuit court, complete a home study and background checks, wait the required period (usually six months), and appear at a final hearing where a judge signs the adoption order. From first inquiry to finalization, the process typically runs six months to over a year, depending on the type of adoption and whether anyone contests it. Once the judge signs, the adopted child has the same legal status as a biological child for inheritance, custody, and every other purpose.
Choose the Type of Adoption
The path you take shapes cost, timeline, and which requirements apply.
- Public agency adoption through DCS. You adopt a child already in state custody. Legal fees at the end are typically the only cost when the child is waiting in Tennessee.1Department of Children’s Services. How to Adopt
- Private agency adoption. A licensed child-placing agency matches you with a child whose birth parents have voluntarily surrendered their rights. The agency charges for the home study, matching, and counseling.
- Independent adoption. You work directly with birth parents, with an attorney handling the paperwork instead of an agency arranging the match.
- Stepparent adoption. You adopt your spouse’s child. Your spouse signs the petition as co-petitioner, and that signature is their consent; no separate surrender is needed from them. The other biological parent must consent or have their parental rights terminated.2Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-115
- Relative adoption. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, or other family members adopt. Courts can waive the home study for relatives.3Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-116
- Adult adoption. Anyone over 18 can petition to adopt another person, including another adult. It’s often used to formalize a long-standing parent-child relationship that was never legally completed.2Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-115
Who Can Adopt
You must be at least 18 to file. If you’re married, your spouse must join the petition; you cannot adopt without them unless they are legally incompetent. Single people can adopt.2Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-115
You must live in Tennessee and keep your regular residence here when you file. Two exceptions exist. Nonresidents can file in the county where a Tennessee court or agency granted them guardianship or custody of the child. Active-duty service members can file without Tennessee residency if they lived in Tennessee for six consecutive months before entering service, or if Tennessee is their state of legal residence with the military.
You also need physical custody of the child at the time you file, or the legal right to receive custody.
Ending the Birth Parents’ Rights
No adoption goes through until the biological parents’ legal rights end, either voluntarily by surrender or parental consent, or involuntarily by court-ordered termination. This is where adoptions most often stall.
A birth parent cannot sign a surrender or parental consent until at least three calendar days after the child is born. Once signed, the parent has three more calendar days to revoke a surrender. If the parent has their own attorney, the court can shorten that revocation window to 24 hours. A parental consent, distinct from a surrender, can be revoked any time before the court enters an order confirming it.4Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-112
Only a legal parent, guardian, or putative father is a necessary party. Grandparents, siblings, aunts, and uncles are not entitled to notice unless they are the child’s guardian or custodian when the petition is filed.5Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-117
Complete the Home Study and Background Checks
Before filing, you contact a licensed child-placing agency or a licensed clinical social worker to arrange a home study. If you qualify as indigent under federal poverty guidelines, you can request one through DCS. Courts can waive the requirement entirely for relative adoptions.3Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-116
The evaluation looks at your home, finances, physical and mental health, motivation, and character. Expect at least one home visit and interviews with everyone in the household. You’ll provide birth certificates, marriage licenses, tax returns, pay stubs, physician statements, and personal references.
Timing rules matter. A full home study must have been completed or updated within one year before the court’s order of reference. A preliminary home study filed with the petition must be no older than 30 days. If you already have custody when you file but haven’t submitted a timely study, the court will order one completed within 15 days.3Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-116 DCS must accept a home study performed by a licensed agency or licensed clinical social worker within the previous two years, so if you have a valid recent study for another placement, you likely don’t need to start over.
Every adult in the household undergoes screening: fingerprint-based criminal history checks through the TBI and FBI, local records, a DCS database search for child abuse or neglect history, and an internet records check.6Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. Custodial Relative/Kinship Foster Home Approval Checks cover current, maiden, and prior legal names. Certain convictions, especially violent offenses or offenses against children, can disqualify you.
File the Adoption Petition
Adoption petitions are filed in chancery or circuit court. You have options for where. Acceptable counties include where you live, where the child lives, where a respondent lives, where the agency is located, where the child came under agency care, or where you received guardianship or custody. Any county adjacent to one of those also qualifies.7Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-114
Court filing fees run around $119, though the exact amount varies slightly by county. Attorney fees and any agency fees are separate.
The Waiting Period and Final Hearing
After filing, a post-placement supervision period begins. A social worker visits your home to see how the child is adjusting, and the court issues an order of reference directing the agency or social worker to prepare a final report.
Tennessee law generally requires the petition to be on file for at least six months before a judge can enter a final order, and the court must have received the completed home study and a final report. The six-month wait can be waived if the child is related to you, or if the child has already lived in your home for six months and the court has the final report and finds the adoption is in the child’s best interest.
If someone opposes the adoption, the court must set a scheduling conference within 30 days of the response being filed and give the case priority over other civil matters except child protective services cases.8Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-124
At the final hearing, the judge reviews the documentation and enters the final order of adoption. The order confirms that all necessary parental rights have been terminated, that you are fit to have custody and financially able to provide for the child, and that the adoption is in the child’s best interest.9FindLaw. Tennessee Code 36-1-120
What the Adoption Order Does
The moment the judge signs, the legal relationship between you and the child is identical to a biological parent-child relationship. The child gains full inheritance rights and every other legal benefit of biological parentage. The biological parents’ legal rights and responsibilities end at the same time. In a stepparent adoption, the spouse who is already the child’s biological parent keeps their rights.10Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-121
Tennessee also allows legally enforceable written agreements for ongoing contact between adoptive families and birth parents. A child who is 14 or older must sign the agreement. Breaching it cannot undo the adoption.11Justia. Tennessee Code 36-1-145
After Finalization
New Birth Certificate
You complete a request form from the state registrar and submit it with the final order. The registrar issues a new certificate showing the adoptive parents’ names and the child’s new name, if changed, within 45 days of receiving the completed paperwork.12Justia. Tennessee Code 68-3-312
Social Security Number
Apply for a new Social Security number by submitting Form SS-5 with the adoption decree and other supporting documents. Processing usually takes about two weeks. If the IRS previously issued an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number for the child, stop using it once the SSN arrives and notify the IRS using Form 15101.13Internal Revenue Service. Provide a Social Security Number (SSN) for Adoptive Child
Health Insurance
Federal law gives you a 60-day special enrollment window to add your adopted child to your employer-sponsored health plan, starting from the date of adoption or placement. You don’t need to wait for open enrollment. A child adopted from DCS foster care may also remain TennCare-eligible.
Sealed Records
All adoption records are sealed after finalization. An adopted person who is 21 or older can request access to their sealed adoption records, court records, and vital statistics records. Birth parents, adoptive parents, siblings, and lineal ancestors or descendants who are 21 or older are also eligible. Access is permanently barred for anyone whose parental rights were involuntarily terminated for cause, and for anyone the records show committed a crime of violence or neglect against the adopted person. A biological parent who was a victim of rape or incest can block release of identifying information.14FindLaw. Tennessee Code 36-1-127
Costs and Financial Help
Costs range from nearly free for foster care adoptions through DCS to tens of thousands of dollars for private or international adoptions. Court filing fees are about $119. Attorney fees, home study fees, and agency fees make up most of the cost in non-DCS adoptions.
If you adopt from DCS foster care, the child is usually eligible for a monthly adoption subsidy, TennCare coverage, and reimbursement of nonrecurring adoption expenses up to $1,500.15Department of Children’s Services. Adoption FAQ These subsidies are tied to “special needs” designations under the federal Title IV-E program.
The federal adoption tax credit for 2026 allows you to claim up to $17,670 in qualified adoption expenses per child. You can claim the full credit if your modified adjusted gross income is $265,080 or less. The credit phases out between $265,081 and $305,079 and disappears at $305,080. If your employer offers an adoption assistance program, you can also exclude up to $17,670 in employer-provided benefits from taxable income. You can use both the credit and the exclusion, but not for the same expenses.16Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Credit
Adoptions That Cross State or National Lines
If you’re adopting a child from another state, the placement must comply with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. Both the sending state and Tennessee must approve the placement before the child can cross state lines. DCS is Tennessee’s compact administrator.17Department of Children’s Services. Interstate Compact Information Approval timelines vary; private and independent adoptions can clear in days, while public agency placements may take months.
For international adoptions, the final order must confirm compliance with the requirements of the foreign country and U.S. immigration rules. If the child was adopted abroad, Tennessee allows a “readoption” proceeding to recognize the foreign decree under state law and obtain a Tennessee birth certificate.9FindLaw. Tennessee Code 36-1-120 The court must also confirm compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act if it applies.