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How to Adopt an Adult in Tennessee

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Tennessee · Last updated October 7, 2026

Tennessee strips adult adoption down past almost every requirement you would expect to find. The court order permanently makes one adult the legal parent of another adult, carrying the inheritance and next of kin consequences of a parent and child relationship, and the statute asks remarkably little to get there. Any person may be adopted, and an adult may be adopted, under Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-107. There is no list of qualifying categories, no disability requirement, and no former stepchild or foster care predicate. Tennessee also sets no minimum age difference, and nowhere requires the person being adopted to be the younger of the two. When the person being adopted is 18 or older, only that person's sworn written consent is required, and no order of reference or home study is issued (36-1-117(j)(1)). The six month waiting period that governs the adoption of a child does not apply either (36-1-117(j)(3)). Birth parents do not consent, and the adult's other relatives get no notice (36-1-117(d)(1)). One requirement does bite hard. If you are married and your spouse is living and competent to join, that spouse must join the petition as a co-petitioner rather than merely consent (36-1-115(c)). You file in chancery or circuit court, your choice, in a county where either of you lives or a county adjacent to it, and you may ask for the name change in the same petition (36-1-115(a), 36-1-114(b)). Read the inheritance rule before you file. Tennessee reads an adopted person into class gifts in wills and deeds, but that sentence does not apply to anyone adopted after turning 21 (36-1-121(c)). Attorney review of your petition and consent is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in Tennessee

Who are you hoping to adopt?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

Who can be adopted as an adult in Tennessee?

Any adult. Tennessee law provides that any person may be adopted and that an adult may be adopted, with no list of qualifying categories and no disability, foster care or former stepchild requirement attached (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-107). An adult means any person who is 18 or older (36-1-102(9)).

Which spouse has to sign an adult adoption petition in Tennessee?

The adopting person's spouse. If the petitioner has a spouse living and competent to join, that spouse shall join in the petition as a co-petitioner rather than simply give consent (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(c)). Tennessee asks nothing at all of the spouse of the adult being adopted.

Which court handles an adult adoption in Tennessee?

Either the chancery court or the circuit court. Both are named in the statute and no rule allocates adoptions between them (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(a), 36-1-102(18)). The petition may be filed in a county where either party resides, or in a county adjacent to it (36-1-114(b)).

Is a home study required for an adult adoption in Tennessee?

No. When the person sought to be adopted is 18 or older, no order of reference and no home studies need be issued (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-117(j)(1)). The social investigation, the agency report, the putative father registry check and the six month waiting period are also not required (36-1-117(j)(3)).

Tennessee adult adoption at a glance

An adult adoption in Tennessee is a court order that makes one adult the permanent legal parent of another adult, with all the legal consequences and incidents of a biological parent and child relationship (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-121(a)). Tennessee gates that order behind very little. Any person may be adopted, and an adult may be adopted (36-1-107). No category list applies, no minimum age difference exists, and the statute does not even require the adoptee to be younger. Only the adult's own sworn written consent is required, and no home study, order of reference or six month wait attaches (36-1-117(j)). The one firm requirement is structural: a living, competent spouse of the petitioner must join the petition. The sharp edge is inheritance, where a separate construction rule turns on age 21.

A late remarriage and a 34 year old stepson in Hamilton County

A Hamilton County woman marries at 58, and her new husband wants to adopt the 34 year old son she raised alone. Tennessee asks the son to fit no category and imposes no age gap, so 36-1-107 is satisfied on the face of the statute. Because the husband is married and his wife is living and competent to join, she must join the petition as a co-petitioner under 36-1-115(c) rather than simply consent. The son signs one sworn written consent (36-1-117(j)(1)). No home study, order of reference or six month wait applies (36-1-117(j)(3)), and no birth parent consent is required (36-1-117(j)(1)). They file in Hamilton County chancery court, requesting the name change in the same petition. Because the son is past 21, the family has the grandparents' trust updated to name him, since 36-1-121(c) will not read him into a gift to issue.

Relevant Laws

Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-107 (persons to whom this part is applicable)

Provides that any person, irrespective of place of birth, citizenship, or place of residence, may be adopted or readopted, and that an adult may be adopted. Tennessee attaches no list of qualifying categories to the adoption of an adult.

Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115 (who may petition, residence, spousal joinder)

Provides that any person over 18 may petition the chancery or circuit court to adopt a person and request a name change, that a living and competent spouse of the petitioner shall join in the petition, and that petitioners must maintain a regular place of abode in Tennessee.

Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-117 (parties, consent, and the adult adoption rules)

Subsection (j) carries the adult rules: only the sworn written consent of a person 18 or older is required, no order of reference or home studies are issued, and the social investigation, agency report, registry check and waiting period do not apply. Subsection (d)(1) removes the adult's relatives as parties.

Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-121 (effect of adoption on relationship and inheritance)

Establishes the parent and child relationship for all legal consequences of the biological relation and sets out inheritance rights, then provides in subsection (c) that the class gift construction rule does not apply to a person over 21 at the time of adoption.

Tenn. Code Ann. 8-21-401 (clerk filing fees in civil cases)

Sets the standard filing fee for civil cases in the circuit and chancery courts, states that the listed fees exclude officer's fees and state and local litigation taxes, and preserves the ability to begin a proceeding on a pauper's oath. No adoption specific fee appears in this chapter.

Regional Variances

Tennessee adult adoption rules at a glance

Who may be adopted

Any adult, with no enumerated categories. Any person may be adopted, and an adult may be adopted (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-107). An adult is any person 18 or older (36-1-102(9)). No disability, foster care or former stepchild predicate applies.

Age relationship

None. Tennessee sets no minimum number of years between the parties and nowhere requires the person being adopted to be younger. The only age rules are that the petitioner be over 18 (36-1-115(a)) and the adoptee be 18 or older (36-1-102(9)).

Consent of the adoptee

Required, sworn and in writing, and it is the only consent the statute calls for (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-117(j)(1)). It is defined as the sworn written permission of an adult person filed with the court where the petition is filed (36-1-102(16)(F)).

Consent of the adopting person's spouse

Joinder, not consent. A spouse living and competent to join shall join in the petition as a co-petitioner (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(c)). If a joint petitioner dies, the petition is not dismissed for that reason alone and the adoption may be granted to the survivor (36-1-116(j)).

Consent of the adoptee's spouse

Nothing is required. Tennessee asks the spouse of the adult being adopted for neither consent, joinder nor notice. Every reference to a spouse in the adoption part concerns the petitioner, a legal parent, or a relative of the adoptee rather than the adoptee's own spouse.

Birth parents

No consent is required from them, since only the adoptee's own sworn written consent is called for (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-117(j)(1)). Other biological or legal relatives of the adult are not necessary parties and get no notice unless one is the adult's conservator when the petition is filed (36-1-117(d)(1)).

Adoptee who cannot consent

If the adult has been adjudicated incompetent, the conservator consents in writing (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-117(j)(2)(A)). With no conservator, a guardian ad litem investigates and gives or withholds consent, and the court may override an arbitrary refusal on clear and convincing evidence (36-1-117(j)(2)(B), (C)).

Court and venue

Chancery court or circuit court (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(a), 36-1-102(18)). File in a county where the petitioners reside, where the person being adopted resides, or in a county adjacent to one of those (36-1-114(b)). Juvenile court handles surrenders and terminations, not adult adoptions.

Residency

The petitioner must live and maintain a regular place of abode in Tennessee when the adoption is filed, with no durational period (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(d)). Active duty service members may qualify through six months of pre service residence or Tennessee legal residence (36-1-115(e)).

Filing fee

No adoption specific statewide fee is set anywhere in the Tennessee Code. Clerks of the circuit and chancery courts charge a standard civil filing fee under Tenn. Code Ann. 8-21-401, which by its own terms excludes officer's fees and state and local litigation taxes. Confirm the amount with your county clerk.

Home study and investigation

Expressly waived by statute. No order of reference and no home studies are issued for an adoptee 18 or older (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-117(j)(1)), and the social investigation, agency or social worker report, putative father registry check and the 36-1-119 waiting period are all not required (36-1-117(j)(3)).

Name change

Requested in the adoption petition and ordered in the decree. A petitioner may request that the adopted person's name be changed in the same petition that opens the case (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(a)), and the court orders the name changed to the one requested (36-1-120(d)).

Inheritance

The order creates a parent and child relationship for all legal consequences of the biological relation (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-121(a)), with inheritance from the adoptive parents and their kindred (36-1-121(b)). The class gift construction rule in 36-1-121(c) does not apply to a person over 21 at the time of adoption.

Forms

Tennessee prescribes no statewide adult adoption form and names no form number in the statute. The code does fix what the papers must be: a petition signed personally by each petitioner and verified (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-116(c)), plus the adoptee's sworn written consent (36-1-117(j)(1)).

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Confirm Tennessee residence and the two age rules

Before you draft anything days after starting

Verify that you live and maintain a regular place of abode in Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(d)), that you are over 18, and that the person you want to adopt is 18 or older (36-1-115(a), 36-1-102(9)). No category or age gap test applies.

Decide whether your spouse joins as a co-petitioner

Before the petition is drafted days after starting

If you are married and your spouse is living and competent to join, that spouse shall join in the petition (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(c)). Plan for a co-petitioner rather than a consent form, because Tennessee provides no separation or good cause exception.

Draft the adult's sworn written consent

With the petition days after starting

Prepare the sworn written consent of the person sought to be adopted, to be filed with the court where the petition is filed (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-117(j)(1), 36-1-102(16)(F)). Where the adult has been adjudicated incompetent, the conservator's written consent takes its place (36-1-117(j)(2)(A)).

Draft and verify the adoption petition

With the consent days after starting

The petition must be signed by each petitioner personally and must be verified (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-116(c)). State the requested name change in the petition itself under 36-1-115(a). Attorney review of the petition and consent is available through DocDraft.

Pick chancery or circuit court and the filing county

Before filing days after starting

Both the chancery and circuit courts hear adoptions and Tennessee allocates nothing between them (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-115(a)). File in a county where either of you resides, or in a county adjacent to one of those (36-1-114(b)).

File the petition and pay the clerk

When the papers are signed days after starting

File the verified petition and the sworn written consent with the clerk. Tennessee sets no adoption specific fee, so ask the clerk for the standard civil filing fee plus the litigation taxes and officer's fees that Tenn. Code Ann. 8-21-401 says are charged separately.

Review the over 21 inheritance rule with your estate documents

Before the hearing days after starting

A person adopted after turning 21 is not read into class gifts to heirs, issue, children or descendants in a will, deed or similar instrument (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-1-121(c)). Check whether any family instrument needs to name the adopted person expressly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Tennessee guides

Adverse Possession in Tennessee: Four Seven Year Sections and a Twenty Year Tax Bar

Asset Protection Planning in Tennessee (2026)

Dealing With Debt Collectors in Tennessee (2026)

Expunging a Criminal Record in Tennessee (2026)

Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Tennessee

Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Tennessee (2026)

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