2010 Tennessee Code
Title 68 - Health, Safety and Environmental Protection
Chapter 3 - Vital Records
Part 3 - Births
68-3-309 - Judicial determination of facts of birth.

68-3-309. Judicial determination of facts of birth.

(a)  If a delayed certificate of birth is rejected under the provisions of § 68-3-308, a petition signed and sworn to by the petitioner may be filed with a court of competent jurisdiction for an order establishing a record of the date and place of the birth and the parentage of the person whose birth is to be registered.

(b)  The petition shall allege that:

     (1)  The person for whom a delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this state;

     (2)  No certificate of birth can be found in the office of vital records; and

     (3)  Diligent efforts by the petitioner have failed to obtain the evidence required in accordance with § 68-3-308 and regulations adopted pursuant to § 68-3-308.

(c)  The petition shall be accompanied by a statement of the state registrar made in accordance with § 68-3-308 and all documentary evidence that was submitted to the state registrar in support of registration.

(d)  The court shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition and shall give the state registrar twenty-one (21) days' notice of the time and place for hearing the petition. The state registrar or the state registrar's authorized representative may appear and testify in the proceeding.

(e)  If the court finds, from the evidence presented, that the person for whom a delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this state, it shall make findings as to the place and date of birth, parentage, and other findings the case may require, and shall issue an order to establish a certificate of birth. This order shall include the birth data to be registered, a description of the evidence presented, and the date of the court's action.

(f)  The clerk of the court shall forward each order to the state registrar no later than forty (40) days from entry of the order. The order shall be registered by the state registrar and shall constitute the authority for placing a delayed certificate of birth on file.

(g)  The person for whom the delayed certificate of birth is sought or the person's parent or legal guardian shall sign the delayed certificate form furnished by the state registrar before a notary public or other person authorized to administer oaths, unless the registrant is deceased or deemed incompetent.

[Acts 1977, ch. 128, § 9; T.C.A., § 53-449.]