--- name: tn-juvenile-court description: > This skill should be used for a Tennessee matter before Juvenile Court under Title 37 — parentage / paternity and legitimation, custody and support of children of UNMARRIED parents, dependency and neglect, termination of parental rights, and delinquency. Triggers include "Tennessee Juvenile Court", "paternity Tennessee", "parentage Tennessee", "legitimation Tennessee", "establish paternity Tennessee", "unmarried parents custody Tennessee", "child support unmarried parents Tennessee", "dependency and neglect Tennessee", "termination of parental rights Tennessee", "TPR Tennessee", "Tenn. Code Ann. Title 37", "Tenn. Code Ann. 37-1-103", "juvenile court magistrate Tennessee", "juvenile court appeal Tennessee", "de novo appeal Circuit Court Tennessee". A venue skill for Title 37 Juvenile Court jurisdiction and routing; it defers the substantive parentage / custody / support law to tn-family-law and document form to tn-statewide-format. version: 0.1.0 --- # Tennessee Juvenile Court — Title 37 > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Juvenile-court matters — parentage, > custody, dependency and neglect, and especially termination of > parental rights — carry profound and often irreversible > consequences for parents and children. Strongly consider > consulting a licensed Tennessee family-law / juvenile attorney; > in many of these proceedings a parent may be entitled to > appointed counsel. This skill is a drafting/venue aid; verify the > controlling Title 37 provisions and the court's local rules before > filing. Tennessee's **Juvenile Courts** are creatures of **Title 37** of the Tennessee Code. They are the venue for matters concerning **minors** that fall outside a married-couple divorce. This skill covers what Juvenile Court handles, how matters are routed there (versus to Circuit / Chancery), and the magistrate / appeal structure. For the substantive parentage, custody, and support law, see `tn-family-law`. For document form, see `tn-statewide-format`. ## What Juvenile Court handles (for minors) | Matter | Authority | |---|---| | **Parentage / paternity and legitimation** | Title 37 (with the Title 36 ch. 2 parentage statutes) | | **Custody and support of children of UNMARRIED parents** | Title 37 | | **Dependency and neglect** | Title 37 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-101 et seq.) | | **Termination of parental rights (TPR)** | Title 37 / Title 36 ch. 1 | | **Delinquency and unruly children** | Title 37 | Once parentage and custody are before the Juvenile Court, the **substantive standards are the same Title 36 framework** covered in `tn-family-law`: child support follows the **income-shares model** (§ 36-5-101; Guidelines at Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 1240-02-04), and custody / parenting decisions apply the **best-interest factors at § 36-6-106(a)**. The forum differs; the substantive law does not. ## Routing — Juvenile vs. Circuit / Chancery The dividing line is whether the parents were **married to each other**: - **Unmarried parents** → establishing parentage and the resulting custody / support order is a **Juvenile Court (Title 37)** matter. Use this skill. - **Married or formerly married parents** → custody and support **incident to a divorce** (or post-divorce modification) is a **Circuit or Chancery Court** matter. Use `tn-family-court`, not this skill. > State the routing plainly: divorce and married-parent custody do > **not** go to Juvenile Court — they go to Circuit / Chancery > (`tn-family-court`). Juvenile Court is for parentage, > unmarried-parent custody/support, dependency/neglect, TPR, and > delinquency. There can be overlap — for example, parentage may be raised in more than one proceeding, and a dependency/neglect or TPR case can run alongside a custody case. Confirm the proper forum for the specific facts before filing. ## Establishing parentage / paternity and legitimation - A parentage or legitimation action establishes the **legal parent-child relationship** for a child whose parents were not married to each other. Tools include a **voluntary acknowledgment of paternity**, **genetic (DNA) testing**, and an adjudication of parentage. - Once parentage is established, the court can enter **custody / parenting** and **child-support** orders applying the Title 36 standards (see `tn-family-law`). - The substantive parentage statutes sit in **Title 36, Chapter 2**; the Juvenile Court's authority to hear them sits in **Title 37**. Verify the current chapter, the standing rules, the acknowledgment and rescission timelines, and the genetic-testing provisions before drafting a petition. ## Dependency and neglect; termination of parental rights - **Dependency and neglect** proceedings (Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-101 et seq.) address children alleged to be dependent, neglected, or abused, often involving the **Department of Children's Services (DCS)**. These cases follow their own statutory timeline (preliminary / adjudicatory / dispositional hearings) and a clear-and-convincing-evidence standard for adjudication — verify the current standards and timelines. - **Termination of parental rights (TPR)** permanently severs the legal parent-child relationship and is the gateway to adoption. TPR requires proof of a **statutory ground** plus a **best-interest** finding, each by **clear and convincing evidence**. Grounds and the best-interest factors are statutory — research and cite the current provisions; do not rely on memory, as the grounds and the TPR best-interest factors have been amended. > These are among the highest-stakes proceedings in Tennessee law. > A parent may have a **right to appointed counsel** in dependency / > neglect and TPR cases — confirm the current entitlement and advise > the party to seek counsel. ## Magistrates and the appeal / rehearing path Many Juvenile Court matters are heard in the first instance by a **magistrate** (sometimes called a referee), whose findings and recommendations are subject to **confirmation by the judge** and to a party's right to request a **rehearing before the juvenile court judge** within a short statutory window. Keep the two layers distinct: 1. **Magistrate → juvenile court judge.** A party who disagrees with a magistrate's order may seek a **rehearing** before the juvenile court judge within the time set by Title 37 and the court's rules. 2. **Juvenile court → appeal.** From a final juvenile-court order, the appeal route depends on the **type of case**. Certain juvenile matters appeal **de novo to Circuit Court**, while others (notably termination of parental rights and dependency/neglect appeals in some configurations) follow a different appellate route. **The specific appeal route, the time to appeal, and any bond requirement vary by case type — verify the controlling Title 37 provision for the specific order before relying on a particular route.** > Do not assume a single appeal path. The rehearing-then-appeal > structure and the destination of the appeal (Circuit Court de novo > vs. the appellate courts) turn on the kind of juvenile order at > issue. Confirm against current Title 37. ## Filing mechanics (overview) - File in the **Juvenile Court** of the proper county (Tennessee has both dedicated juvenile courts and, in many counties, general sessions courts exercising juvenile jurisdiction — confirm the local court). - Use `tn-statewide-format` for the Tenn. R. Civ. P. 10 caption, signature, and **redaction of minors' identifiers** (juvenile records carry heightened confidentiality — verify the current sealing / confidentiality rules). - E-filing and forms are **county-by-county**; confirm the venue's platform and any AOC-approved juvenile forms with the relevant county skill. ## Composition - For the substantive parentage / custody / support / TPR law: `tn-family-law` - For divorce and married-parent custody (the other side of the routing line): `tn-family-court` - For format, caption, and redaction of minors' identifiers: `tn-statewide-format` - For the specific county / juvenile court: `tn-davidson`, `tn-shelby`, `tn-knox`, `tn-hamilton`, `tn-county-courts` - For pro se conventions: `tn-pro-se` - For drafting petitions / motions / declarations: `tn-draft-motion`, `tn-draft-declaration` - For proposed orders: `tn-draft-order`, `tn-submit-order` - For deadlines (rehearing / appeal windows): `tn-deadlines` - For hearings: `tn-hearings` - For citation verification: `tn-fact-check` ## References - `references/jurisdiction-routing.md` — Title 37 jurisdiction and the unmarried-vs-married routing line - `references/parentage-legitimation.md` — paternity, voluntary acknowledgment, genetic testing, legitimation - `references/dependency-neglect.md` — § 37-1-101 et seq. timeline and DCS involvement - `references/termination-of-parental-rights.md` — statutory grounds + best-interest standard (clear and convincing evidence) - `references/magistrate-and-appeals.md` — rehearing before the judge and the case-type-dependent appeal route