![]() The only other person who can be present with a surrendering party is their lawyer not the other parent, an emotional support person and particularly, not a representative of the agency to whom the child will be surrendered. ![]() The hearing is in private, generally in chambers. Still we are keeping the rule.ĥ) SURRENDER HEARING The laws regarding how the surrender hearing is conducted remain unchanged. The new process certainly has less traps for the unwary than the old one and we are “tickled”. And even here, the second pair of eyes occasionally finds errors. In my office, we have a rule, every surrender package and particularly calculation of the revocation period must be reviewed by two pairs of eyes before we offer it to the court. 38)and explanation of how this works (Chapter 3) in Coppock on Tennessee Adoption Law,7th Edition, and that process is unchanged by recent changes in the law. Mistakes here, particularly understating the revocation period, could be serious. Carefully calculate the revocation period. The revocation period is 3 days as calculated under T.R.C.P. Complete all the blanks on the form except the signatures and maybe the date of execution. § 36-1-111(b)(6)), the completed social and medical history and the homestudy, if required. Before you see the judge, attach the two information forms, the blank revocation form, (T.C.A. If relatives don’t have and don’t want to get a homestudy, a surrender is not the correct way to terminate parental rights in the case.Ĥ) SURRENDER FORM The actual surrender form is found at T.C.A. In relative adoptions, a homestudy may be waived by the court at the adoption phase, but not at surrender. If the surrender is executed to anyone other than a licensed adoption agency or DCS, the accepting parties current and approved court report from their home study is required. I plan to interview my client to obtain the information, complete the form for them, and go over it with them to confirm correctness before the form is offered to the court.ģ) OTHER ATTACHMENTS The additional attachments are the accepting parties social and medical history form, the same DCS form previously required and available from DCS, Because the forms are offered to the court as sworn evidence and collect legally significant information previously gathered by a judge, advocates should carefully review the forms for completeness and correctness before submission. Lay people will need professional help with these forms from their respective advocates. § 36-1-111(b)(4) for the surrendering party, (b)(5) for the accepting party. But, physical custody is a threshold requirement and may not be waived.Ģ) PRE-SURRENDER INFORMATIONS FORMS Parties need ID, AND now they need their respective “pre-surrender information forms” done and in hand. There is some “wiggle room” on physical custody for children in the hospital and such. Physical custody is a defined term. T.C.A. The child must be at least 4-days-old before surrender, and the accepting party must have physical custody of the child at the time of surrender. Legal and social counseling must be offered to the surrendering party and received pre-surrender, if it is desired. The rules on pre-surrender counseling and legal counsel, timing of the surrender and physical custody, are the same. A supplement to incorporate the new surrender form and other First in Adoption Actchanges is planned for September 2018, but because much of the law around the surrender process remains unchanged, the current edition remains useful on this and most other TN adoption issues.ġ) MAKE AN APPOINTMENT Like before, you contact a judge and schedule a surrender hearing, and ask the surrendering party, accepting party, and both parties counsel to be present. More is available in Coppock on Tennessee AdoptionLaw, 7th edition. You’re welcome.īecause none of us have done one of exactly these before, here are my brief thoughts on how this will go. My office has done that already, and in the spirit of collegiality and celebration of this exciting legal development, here it is. But it takes awhile to format it and make it look nice. ![]() But if you cut and paste it from the Code, it will look “Hobo” as we say in my family. Lawyers and Clerks– If you have determined that a surrender is the correct process for a voluntary termination of parental rights in your case, you will find the new form in the Tennessee Code as amended effective July 1st, 2018. Click here for the new surrender form available in WORD and PDF formats
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