HB1692 • 2026

Adoption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36 and Title 37, relative to adoption.

Children Labor

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Reneau, Haile
Last action: 2026-05-05
Official status: Effective date(s) 04/27/2026
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Adoption

Present law generally requires prospective adoptive parents to contact a licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker, and request a home study concerning the suitability of their home and themselves as an adoptive parent.

What This Bill Does

Present law generally requires prospective adoptive parents to contact a licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker, and request a home study concerning the suitability of their home and themselves as an adoptive parent.
However , the court may waive this requirement when the adoptive parents are related persons.
This bill expands the exception by allowing the court to also waive the home study requirement when a child has lived in the home of the prospective adoptive parents fo r at least six months.
Present law generally prohibits the court from entering a final order of adoption until a home study has been filed with the court and before the petition has been on file for at least six months.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA0980

Amendment 1-0 to HB1692

Plain English: House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
1 to HB1692 Farmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
1751 House Bill No.
1692* HA0980 016412 - 1 - by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1.

SA0759

Amendment 1-0 to SB1751

Plain English: Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
1 to SB1751 Gardenhire Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
1751 House Bill No.
1692* SA0759 014515 - 1 - by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1.

Bill History

2026-05-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Effective date(s) 04/27/2026
2026-05-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Pub. Ch. 878
2026-05-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 878
2026-04-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Governor.
2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Transmitted to Governor for his action.
2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Senate Speaker
2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by H. Speaker
2026-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed Senate, Ayes 25, Nays 2, PNV 2
2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0759)
2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Received from House, Passed on First Consideration
2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Companion House Bill substituted
2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed H., as am., Ayes 86, Nays 7, PNV 2
2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0980)
2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/9/2026
2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly
H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/8/2026
2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/2/2026
2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee
2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 4/1/2026
2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 4/1/2026
2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/23/2026
2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 3/25/2026
2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly
Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 6, Nays 2 PNV 0
2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/17/2026
2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/17/2026
2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/18/2026
2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/16/2026
2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee
2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/10/2026
2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee to 3/10/2026
2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/3/2026
2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee
2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee
2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2026-01-20 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
2026-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law generally requires prospective adoptive parents to contact a licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker, and request a home study concerning the suitability of their home and themselves as an adoptive parent. However
, the court may waive this requirement when the adoptive parents are related persons. This bill expands the exception by allowing the court to also waive the home study requirement when a child has lived in the home of the prospective adoptive parents fo
r
at least six months.

Present law generally prohibits the court from entering a final order of adoption until a home study has been filed with the court and before the petition has been on file for at least six months. However, when the child is related to the prospective ad
optive parents, there is no such requirement for a home study or waiting period. This bill expands the exception by waiving the home study and waiting period requirements when a child has lived in the home of the prospective adoptive parents for at least
s
ix months, if the court has received the final court report concerning the circumstances of the child and is satisfied that the adoption is in the best interest of the child.

ON APRIL 8, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1692, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, clarify that a
court
is authorized to
waive the requirement for a home study in an adoption when the prospective adoptive parent or parents are not related to the child if
all of the following requirements are met:



The child has resided in the home of the prospective adoptive parent or parents for at least 12 months
.



The prospective adoptive parent or parents were granted custody of the child pursuant to a final order entered by a court of competent jurisdiction following a full adjudication on the merits
.



The petition to waive the home study includes a current criminal history background check conducted through the Tennessee bureau of investigation and a current search of the Tennessee sexual offender and violent sexual offender registry.

This amendment requires t
he court t
o
enter a written order making specific findings to support a determination that waiving the home study is in the best interest of the child.

Additionally, this amendment
does not require a court to waive a home study. The decision to waive a home study remains within the sound discretion of the court.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SENATE BILL 1751
By Haile

HOUSE BILL 1692
By Reneau
HB1692
010250
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36
and Title 37, relative to adoption.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-1-116(a)(1), is amended by
deleting the language "provided, that the court may waive this requirement when the child is to
be adopted by related persons" and substituting:
provided, that the court may waive this requirement when the child is to be adopted by
related persons or the child has already resided in the home of the petitioners for six (6)
months
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-1-116(e)(1), is amended by
deleting the language "for prospective adoptive parents who are related to the child" and
substituting:
for prospective adoptive parents who are related to the child or in whose home the child
has already resided for six (6) months
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-1-119(a), is amended by deleting
the language "Unless the child is related to the petitioners" and substituting the language
"Unless the child is related to the petitioners or has already resided in the home of the
petitioners for six (6) months".
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-1-119(c), is amended by adding
the following new subdivision:
(3) If the child has already resided in the home of the petitioners for six (6)
months, the court has received the final court report concerning the circumstances of the
child and the petitioners, and the court is satisfied that the adoption will be in the best

- 2 - 010250

interest of the child, then the court may waive the preliminary home study, home study,
and six-month waiting period after the filing of the adoption petition and may enter an
order of adoption.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.