Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-4-111: Autopsy by consent of persons having custody of body.

(a) A physician holding an unlimited license to practice medicine under the laws of Tennessee is deemed to have been legally authorized to perform an autopsy upon the body of a deceased person, when the autopsy has been consented to by the person assuming custody of the body for the purposes of burial, such as the surviving spouse, the father, the mother, a child, a guardian, next of kin, or in the absence of any of the foregoing, such governmental agencies as charged by law with the responsibility for burial. If two (2) or more such persons assume custody of the body, the consent of one (1) of them shall be deemed sufficient legal authorization for the performance of the autopsy.

(b) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as repealing, amending or in any way affecting § 38-1-104, which prescribes the procedure by which district attorneys general may petition for an autopsy, nor § 38-5-107, which prescribes the procedure by which coroners may summon as a witness a surgeon or physician to make examination of a dead body, including the performing of an autopsy.