Dawn’s Blog
News, Updates and Resources for Legal Professionals and those who follow adoption law
Process Update: Amending a Tennessee Birth Certificate Post-Adoption, and Georgia, too.
In 2024, the form to amend a Tennessee birth certificate after adoption, a Certificate of Adoption, was revised to remove the previously required court certification. Tennessee Department of Vital Records requires instead, that a certified copy of the final order of...
Identity Documents
Increased Care with Identity Documents Advised And A Suggested Approach for Unresponsive Government Agencies Identity documents have become increasingly requested and regulated since 9/11. That trend has accelerated as immigration and gender identity have...
Adoption Law School Now ON-DEMAND
Registration will open by the end of September for Good Law’s flagship seminar, Adoption Law School*, but this time as an on-demand course. You asked for it, and finally, Dawn’s done it. 15 hours of CLE, including 3 hours of ethics credit, will be open for...
Class Action Filed Against DCS
On May 19, 2025, a class action on behalf of 13 Tennessee foster children was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services,...
DAWN COPPOCK is retiring from the practice of law.
I know I just said I wasn’t retiring, and that was true when I said it. Now it isn’t. I started declining new cases today. By April 7, 2025 I will be retired, except for a few outstanding cases and on-demand seminar production. I had expected to retire near my husband...
Update your termination of parental rights pleadings with the new notice to incarcerated respondent birth parents effective July 1, 2024.
Effective for Petitions filed on or after July 1, 2024, the new notice is: T.C.A. § 36-1-113 (f) (1) A parent or guardian who is incarcerated at the time the parent is served with a petition to terminate parental rights shall receive notice that: (A) A...
A Foster Child’s Relationship to Foster Parents Acquires More Legal Significance As Time Passes
At 6 months, the foster child’s relationship with foster parents becomes a “significant relationship,” so it has weight when compared with other nonparental, pre-removal relationships. At 9 months, the foster parents don’t just get notice of hearings regarding the...
Adoption Assistance for Drug-Exposed Infants
Adoption assistance is a program to assist adoptive families of special needs children. The program is state-administered with the majority of funding from the federal government and a state contribution as well. The benefits are usually a monthly stipend and health...
Finalization – Six Months or Three Months?
Question: I understand that the waiting period for adoption, the time the child must live with the prospective adoptive family before the adoption can be finalized, has been reduced from 6 months to 3 months, correct? Answer: Not exactly. The waiting period is still 6...