Intestate Inheritance Rights for Adopted Children - Tennessee

Birth Parents in Relation to Adopted Person

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 36-1-121; 31-2-105

An adopted child shall not inherit real or personal property from his or her birth parents or their relatives when the relationship between them has been terminated by final order of adoption, nor shall the birth parents or their relatives inherit from the adopted child. However, if a parent of a child dies without the relationship of parent and child having been previously terminated, and any other person thereafter adopts the child, the child's right of inheritance from or through the deceased birth parent or any relative thereof shall be unaffected by the adoption.

For purposes of intestate succession by, through, or from a person, an adopted person is the child of an adopting parent and not of the birth parents except that adoption of a child by the spouse of a birth parent has no effect on the relationship between the child and that birth parent.

Adoptive Parents in Relation to Adopted Person

Citation: Ann. Code § 36-1-121

The adopted child and the child's descendants shall be capable of inheriting and otherwise receiving title to real and personal property from the adoptive parents and their descendants.

The adoptive parents and their family shall have a right of inheritance but only as to property of the adopted child acquired after the child's adoption.

Adopted Persons Who Are Not Included in a Will

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.