Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly

Tennessee HB1263: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36; Title 37 and Title 68, relative to children.

Status: Chaptered, May 15, 2026

Fiscal Summary NOT SIGNIFICANT Bill Summary ON APRIL 15, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1263, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 rewrites the bill to, instead, provide, in addition to present law, an alternative method for the voluntary surrender of parental rights if executed within the geographic boundaries of the state. If a birth parent wishes to surrender the birth parent's child for adoption by a prospective adoptive parent residing in another state, then this amendment authorizes the birth parent to execute the appropriate surrender, consent, or relinquishment documents required under that state's law in lieu of a surrender executed in accordance with present law or an out-of-court surrender. JUDGE'S PRESENCE This amendment requires the documents required by the other state's law to be executed in the presence of a judge authorized to accept a surrender in this state, except that if the birth parent is incarcerated, then the documents may be executed in the presence of the warden or deputy warden of the penitentiary or a notary public. This amendment permits the presence of a judge authorized to accept a surrender in this state to be satisfied through a virtual video platform on which the judge is able to see and hear the birth parent execute the documents in real time. The administrative office of the courts must create a form for a judge to acknowledge the judge's presence, either in person or through a virtual video platform, for the execution of the documents. This amendment provides the exclusive procedure for the voluntary surrender of parental rights in this state for a surrendering parent who does not wish to appear personally before a judge. This only applies in cases where all of the following criteria is met:  The child being surrendered is six months or less. The ch