Have a look at 2025 TN Public Chapter 500.
Basically, it requires that when we give notice by publication in a newspaper, we must also publish in a paid local online platform, where one exists. But the TN Press Association already has a free statewide re-publication service, which repeats the newspaper ads with no paywall, so anyone can view it.
While I’m open to explanations, this seems to “fix” something that was not broken for no good reason. And it requires adoptive parents to pay an extra publication fee and spend more on legal fees. Memphis now has a paid platform on offer for $30.
In addition to figuring out if there is a local platform and seeing that the correct notice is run there and the extra fees are paid, the adoptive parents’ attorney must also obtain, review, and file with the court a publisher’s affidavit from the paid online platform. We already do all this for the newspaper, as previously required. I predict that this additional requirement will add at least an hour of legal time to each adoption that requires publication notice, in addition to the fee to the platform.
While attorneys are often portrayed as greedy, it is noteworthy that the TBA adoption section seeks repeal of this requirement for the benefit of their clients. Just one more reason why I love the lawyers in the adoption bar.
Regardless of the new required redundancy, any potential respondent looking for a publication notice is best served by checking the free and existing TN Press Association site that repeats the paper publications statewide. Checking there does not require knowledge of the newspaper that the court ordered to be used. As we know that choice isn’t always 100% obvious.
In practice, just trying to figure out whether there is a paid platform in a locality is a snipe hunt that slows permanence for kids.
Foreclosures and elections got themselves exempted from this silliness, but regular people, nope.
So, here’s the to-do list:
[ ] If you have a publication notice to run, the bill was effective July 1, 2025. Read and follow this new law.
[ ] Call your state house member and senator and ask them to justify or repeal this nonsense and suggest that your adoptive parent clients do the same.
Dawn
