Tennessee Code Title 34. Guardianship § 34-1-106

(a) The petition for the appointment of a fiduciary shall be served in accordance with the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. The guardian ad litem appointed may serve the petition on the respondent.

(b) The petitioner shall give notice to the closest relative of the respondent required to be named in the petition and to the person, if any, having care or custody of the respondent, institution, or residential provider with whom the respondent is living by certified mail or personal service in accordance with the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. If, after reasonable effort, a postal address cannot be ascertained, a notification may be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the petition is filed, or if there is no newspaper of general circulation published in the county, notice may be posted at the county courthouse, except where such petitions are filed by or on behalf of a regional mental health institute owned and operated by the department of mental health and substance abuse services or by or on behalf of the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities pertaining to an individual receiving home- and community-based waiver services or intermediate care facility/intellectual disability (ICF/ID) services.