Title 36, Domestic Relations

(1) No school official shall permit a change in the physical custody of a child at such official's school or day care center unless:(1) The person seeking custody of the child presents the school official with a certified copy of a valid court order from a Tennessee court placing…

(a) In a suit for annulment, divorce, separate maintenance, or in any other proceeding requiring the court to make a custody determination regarding a minor child, the determination shall be made on the basis of the best interest of the child. As required by § 36-6-404(b), only i…

(a) In any proceeding concerning the custody of a child, if an order of protection issued in or recognized by this state is in effect or if there is a court finding of domestic abuse or any criminal conviction involving domestic abuse within the marriage that is the subject of th…

(a) After custody or co-parenting has been established by the entry of a permanent parenting plan or final order, if a parent who is spending intervals of time with a child desires to relocate outside the state or more than fifty (50) miles from the other parent within the state,…

If a parent or other suitable person is awarded sole or joint custody of a child by a court pursuant to this chapter; and If such parent or person is subsequently arrested, confined or otherwise detained by law enforcement officials or a court of competent jurisdiction; and If, a…

Except when the juvenile court or other appropriate court finds it not in the best interests of the affected child, upon petition by a noncustodial, biological parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, the court shall grant the rights set forth in § 36-6-101(a)(3)(A)…

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, in all actions that award, change, or affect the custody of a minor child, an interlocutory, or final judgment by any court in this state shall not be stayed after entry, unless otherwise ordered by that court and upon such terms as to bon…

(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Protective Parent Reform Act.” (b) If a parent makes a good faith allegation based on a reasonable belief supported by facts that the child is the victim of child abuse, child neglect, or the effects of domestic violence, a…

(a) If a custody, parentage, child support, or dependency and neglect proceeding is pending before a court and the noncustodial parent fails to return the child to the custodial parent in accordance with the current visitation order or parenting plan, then the custodial parent ma…

Whenever a trial court finds that any person knowingly made a false allegation of sexual abuse in furtherance of litigation, in addition to any other penalties provided for by law or rule, the court may hold the accuser in contempt of court and may order the accuser to pay all li…

(1) When, in a private custody case not involving the department of children's services or a child-placing agency, a court has removed a child from the custody of the child's parent due primarily or solely to drug abuse by the parent, the court shall not return the child to the p…

(a) When a petition related to child custody is filed, other than a complaint for divorce or legal separation, and upon personal service of the complaint and summons on the respondent or upon waiver and acceptance of service by the respondent, the following temporary injunctions …

(a) In determining a custody arrangement under this chapter that is in the best interest of the child, the court shall not consider it a negative factor for a parent to raise, guide, or instruct or intend to raise, guide, or instruct a child consistent with the child's biological…

This part may be cited as the “Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.”

(1) This part shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies. This part should be construed according to its purposes, which are to:(1) Avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states in matters of child custody …

(1) In any dispute as to the proper construction of one (1) or more sections of this part, the official comments pertaining to the corresponding sections of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, Official Text, as adopted by the Uniform Law Commission as in e…

The Tennessee code commission is hereby authorized and directed to include as Official Comments those comment provisions pertaining to the corresponding sections of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which shall be transmitted to the commission with this …

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Abandoned” means left without provision for reasonable and necessary care or supervision;(2) “Child” means an individual who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age;(3) “Child custody determination” means a …

This part does not govern an adoption proceeding or a proceeding pertaining to the authorization of emergency medical care for a child.

(a) A child-custody proceeding that pertains to an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) is not subject to this part to the extent that it is governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act. (b) A court of this state shall treat a tribe as if…

(a) A court of this state shall treat a foreign country as if it were a state of the United States for the purpose of applying this part. (b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), a child-custody determination made in a foreign country under factual circumstances in sub…

(a) A child-custody determination made by a court of this state that had jurisdiction under this part binds all persons who have been served in accordance with the laws of this state or notified in accordance with this part or who have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court, …

If a question of existence or exercise of jurisdiction under this part is raised in a child-custody proceeding, the question, upon request of a party, must be given priority on the calendar and handled expeditiously.

(a) Notice required for the exercise of jurisdiction when a person is outside this state may be given in a manner prescribed by the law of this state for service of process or by the law of the state in which the service is made. Notice must be given in a manner reasonably calcul…

(a) A party to a child-custody proceeding, including a modification proceeding, or a petitioner or respondent in a proceeding to enforce or register a child-custody determination, is not subject to personal jurisdiction in this state for another proceeding or purpose solely by re…

(a) A court of this state may communicate with a court in another state concerning a proceeding arising under this part. (b) The court may allow the parties to participate in the communication. If the parties are not able to participate in the communication, they must be given th…

(a) In addition to other procedures available to a party, a party to a child custody proceeding may offer testimony of witnesses who are located in another state, including testimony of the parties and the child, by deposition or other means allowable in this state for testimony …

(a) A court of this state may request the appropriate court of another state to:(1) Hold an evidentiary hearing;(2) Order a person to produce or give evidence pursuant to procedures of that state;(3) Order that an evaluation be made with respect to the custody of a child involved…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 36-6-219, a court of this state has jurisdiction to make an initial child custody determination only if:(1) This state is the home state of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or was the home state of the child within…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 36-6-219, a court of this state which has made a child-custody determination consistent with this part has exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the determination until:(1) A court of this state determines that neither the child, nor the ch…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in § 36-6-219, a court of this state may not modify a child-custody determination made by a court of another state unless a court of this state has jurisdiction to make an initial determination under § 36-6-216(a)(1) or (2), and:(1) The court of t…

(a) A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state and the child has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with…

(a) Before a child-custody determination is made under this part, notice and an opportunity to be heard in accordance with the standards of § 36-6-211 must be given to all persons entitled to notice under the law of this state as in child-custody proceedings between residents of …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 36-6-219, a court of this state may not exercise its jurisdiction under this part if, at the time of the commencement of the proceeding, a proceeding concerning the custody of the child has been commenced in a court of another state having ju…

(a) A court of this state which has jurisdiction under this part to make a child-custody determination may decline to exercise its jurisdiction at any time if it determines that it is an inconvenient forum under the circumstances and that a court of another state is a more approp…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 36-6-219, or by other law of this state, if a court of this state has jurisdiction under this part because a person seeking to invoke its jurisdiction has engaged in unjustifiable conduct, the court shall decline to exercise its jurisdiction …

(a) Subject to § 36-4-106(b), in a child-custody proceeding, each party, in its first pleading or in an attached affidavit, shall give information, if reasonably ascertainable, under oath, as to the child's present address or whereabouts, the places where the child has lived duri…

(a) In a child-custody proceeding in this state, the court may order a party to the proceeding who is in this state to appear before the court in person with or without the child. The court may order any person who is in this state and who has physical custody or control of the c…

A court of this state may enforce an order for the return of the child made under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction as if it were a child-custody determination.

(a) A court of this state shall recognize and enforce a child-custody determination of a court of another state if the latter court exercised jurisdiction in substantial conformity with this part, or the determination was made under factual circumstances meeting the jurisdictiona…

(a) A court of this state which does not have jurisdiction to modify a child-custody determination may issue a temporary order enforcing:(1) A visitation schedule made by a court of another state; or(2) The visitation provisions of a child-custody determination of another state t…

(a) A child-custody determination issued by a court of another state may be registered in this state, with or without a simultaneous request for enforcement, by sending to the appropriate court in this state:(1) A letter or other document requesting registration;(2) Two (2) copie…

(a) A court of this state may grant any relief normally available under the law of this state to enforce a registered child-custody determination made by a court of another state. (b) A court of this state shall recognize and enforce, but may not modify, except in accordance with…

If a proceeding for enforcement under this part is commenced in a court of this state and the court determines that a proceeding to modify the determination is pending in a court of another state having jurisdiction to modify the determination under this part, the enforcing court…

(a) A petition under this part must be verified. Certified copies of all orders sought to be enforced and of any order confirming registration must be attached to the petition. A copy of a certified copy of an order may be attached instead of the original. (b) A petition for enfo…

Except as otherwise provided in § 36-6-235, the petition and order must be served, by any method authorized by the law of this state, upon the respondent and any person who has physical custody of the child.