Can a non-citizen adopt a stepchild in Tennessee?

Possibly yes. Tennessee's rules for who may petition focus on your age and where you live, so confirm with the Chancery or Circuit Court clerk in your county, or an attorney, how your immigration status is treated. Whether a non-citizen can adopt a stepchild turns on facts specific to you, and the clerk or an attorney is the right place to settle that point.

What Tennessee's adoption law says about who may petition:

• Age: Any person over 18 may petition (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-115).
• Residency: Tennessee sets no minimum residency period. Petitioners must live and maintain their regular place of abode in Tennessee when the petition is filed, and there is a military exception (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-115).
• Spouse's consent: Tennessee requires your spouse's consent to the adoption. Your spouse is the child's parent.
• Court: The petition is filed in Chancery or Circuit Court in your county.

Where immigration status comes in: The Tennessee statutes we work from do not spell out how a petitioner's immigration status is treated. That is why we point you to the clerk or an attorney for that question. Because your status is personal to you, an immigration attorney can also tell you how your situation, such as a green card, a visa or a pending application, fits with an adoption.

The rest of the process is the same for every stepparent:

• Home study: Tennessee waives the home study in stepparent adoptions (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-116).
• Child's consent: Tennessee sets a child consent age of 14 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-117).
• The other parent: The other legal parent generally needs to consent. If that parent will not consent or cannot be found, the facts matter. Tennessee has a four-month abandonment period (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113), and service by publication is allowed when you cannot locate the other parent after a diligent search. A contested case or an unknown parent is a good time to talk to an attorney about your specific situation.
• Marriage length: Tennessee does not specify a minimum marriage duration, though courts generally prefer to see a stable relationship.

Timeline and cost: Stepparent adoptions in Tennessee typically take about 3-6 months. Court filing fees run $150-$350, and the total typical cost is under $1,000, compared with $3,000-$5,000+ when families hire an attorney for the whole case.

What to do next:

• Call the Chancery or Circuit Court cl