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Settling an Estate in Tennessee

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Tennessee · Last updated August 27, 2026

Tennessee is one of the few states where the first question is not how to open an estate but which courthouse door to use. Tennessee Code Annotated 16-16-201 vests all jurisdiction over the probate of wills and the administration of estates in the Chancery Court, but only in counties where the legislature has not provided otherwise by public, private, special, or local act, and a number of counties have done exactly that. Some counties have a separate Probate Court, and others have placed estates in the General Sessions Court, so the correct filing venue in Tennessee genuinely depends on the county of the decedent's domicile. Tennessee's small estate affidavit under Tennessee Code Annotated 30-4-102 reaches probate property of $50,000 or less, and the statute defines property as personal property only, so a house never qualifies. Creditor claims are cut off four months after the first publication of the notice to creditors, with an outside bar of twelve months from the date of death.

Find out where you stand in Tennessee

Where are you in settling the estate?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

Is probate required in Tennessee?

Not always. Assets with a surviving joint owner, payable on death accounts, life insurance and retirement benefits with a living beneficiary, and property titled in a living trust pass outside probate. Where the probate personal property is $50,000 or less, Tennessee also offers a small estate affidavit instead of full administration.

Which court handles probate in Tennessee?

It depends on the county. Tennessee Code Annotated 16-16-201 vests probate and administration of estates in the Chancery Court in every county not otherwise provided for by public, private, special, or local act. Some counties instead have a separate Probate Court, and others assign estates to General Sessions Court, so confirm before filing.

What is the small estate limit in Tennessee?

Tennessee Code Annotated 30-4-102 defines a small estate as one where the probate property does not exceed $50,000. Property means only personal property, so real estate does not qualify and does not count toward the ceiling. The affidavit may be filed with the clerk after forty five days from the date of death.

How long does probate take in Tennessee?

A full administration usually runs about six months to a year. The floor is set by the creditor period, since claims are barred four months after the first publication of the notice to creditors and no estate can safely close before that window runs. Contested estates and estates with real property to sell take longer.

The court varies by county, and the creditor bar has three moving parts

The single most useful thing to know about a Tennessee estate is that there is no one Tennessee probate court. Tennessee Code Annotated 16-16-201 places all jurisdiction relating to the probate of wills and the administration of estates in the Chancery Court, but it does so only in counties where the matter is not otherwise specifically provided for by public, private, special, or local act. Tennessee has used that carve out heavily. Some counties, including Shelby County, have a standalone Probate Court, Davidson County estates are handled by a probate docket administered through the Circuit Court Clerk in Nashville, and a substantial number of smaller counties have vested probate jurisdiction in their General Sessions Court. A reader in Knoxville and a reader in Memphis will file in differently named courts for the same kind of estate, and the fee schedules and local forms differ with them. The second Tennessee peculiarity is the shape of the creditor bar. The statutory notice form in Tennessee Code Annotated 30-2-306(b) states three separate cutoffs, and a claim is barred at whichever comes first: four months from the date of first publication or posting of the notice to creditors, or sixty days from the date a creditor actually received a copy of the notice where the creditor received it within sixty days of that four month date, and in no event later than twelve months from the decedent's date of death. Publication runs in a newspaper of the county, or by written notices posted in three public places where the county has no newspaper. On the family side, a surviving spouse in Tennessee is not limited to what the will leaves. Tennessee Code Annotated 30-2-102 provides a year's support, a reasonable allowance in money for the surviving spouse's maintenance for one year after the death measured against the previous standard of living, and Tennessee Code Annotated 31-4-101 provides an elective share that scales with the length of the marriage: 10 percent of the net estate for a marriage of less than 3 years, 20 percent from 3 to less than 6 years, 30 percent from 6 to less than 9 years, and 40 percent at 9 years or more. Those entitlements sit on top of homestead and exempt property, and the court considers assets that passed to the spouse outside probate when it fixes the year's support.

Relevant Laws

Tennessee Code Annotated 16-16-201 (Chancery court probate jurisdiction)

Vests all jurisdiction relating to the probate of wills and the administration of estates of every nature in the chancery court, but expressly only in all counties where not otherwise specifically provided by public, private, special, or local act. That exception is why some Tennessee counties hear estates in a separate Probate Court and others in General Sessions Court, and why the correct filing venue has to be confirmed county by county.

Tennessee Code Annotated 30-4-102 and 30-4-103 (Small estates)

Defines a small estate as one in which the value of the probate property does not exceed $50,000, and defines property for this purpose as only personal property, which keeps real estate out of the affidavit route entirely. The sworn petition may be filed with the clerk after forty five days from the date of death, provided no petition for the appointment of a personal representative has already been filed, and it must itemize the property, its value, and each known creditor.

Tennessee Code Annotated 30-2-306 and 30-2-307 (Notice to creditors and claim bar)

Requires notice to creditors published in a newspaper of the county, or posted in three public places where the county has no newspaper, and prescribes the notice form. Claims are barred unless filed by the earliest of four months from the date of first publication or posting, sixty days from the date a creditor received actual notice where that receipt fell within sixty days of the four month date, and twelve months from the decedent's date of death.

Tennessee Code Annotated 31-4-101 and 30-2-102 (Elective share and year's support)

What a surviving spouse can claim in Tennessee is unusually generous by national standards. The elective share is 10 percent of the net estate for a marriage of less than 3 years, 20 percent for 3 to less than 6, 30 percent for 6 to less than 9, and 40 percent at 9 years or more. Separately, 30-2-102 provides a year's support allowance for one year of maintenance, in addition to homestead and exempt property.

Regional Variances

Tennessee administration tracks

Probate personal property of $50,000 or less

Small estate affidavit under Tennessee Code Annotated 30-4-102 and 30-4-103. Available only where the probate property does not exceed $50,000, where property means personal property only, and where no one has already petitioned for a personal representative. Filed with the clerk after forty five days from death, itemizing the assets, their values, and every known creditor.

Any estate that includes real property the estate must sell

The affidavit route is unavailable, because Tennessee counts only personal property toward the $50,000 ceiling. Note that title to the land itself vests in the heirs or devisees at death; the reason to open an administration is to obtain authority to sell it for debts and to give a buyer clean title.

Above the small estate ceiling

Full administration in whichever court holds probate jurisdiction in that county. Letters testamentary or of administration issue, bond is required unless the will excuses it or the court dispenses with it, notice to creditors is published, claims are resolved, and the estate closes on a final accounting with beneficiary receipts.

Contested estates and will challenges

A will contest moves the matter onto a different footing regardless of estate size, and it suspends distribution. Because the court of original jurisdiction differs by county, so does the path a contest takes, which is another reason to establish the correct court at the outset rather than after a dispute surfaces.

Which Tennessee court holds the file

Default: the county Chancery Court

Tennessee Code Annotated 16-16-201 vests all probate and estate administration jurisdiction in the chancery court in all counties where not otherwise specifically provided by public, private, special, or local act. This is the correct answer for the majority of Tennessee counties, including much of East Tennessee.

Counties with a separate Probate Court

A handful of Tennessee counties have a standalone Probate Court created outside the chancery default, Shelby County among them. In those counties the estate is filed with the Probate Court clerk rather than the Chancery Court clerk, and that court's own local rules and fee schedule govern.

Counties using General Sessions Court

A significant number of Tennessee counties have placed probate jurisdiction in their General Sessions Court by local act. Tennessee Code Annotated 16-16-201 itself contemplates movement in this area, including a subsection transferring probate matters from general sessions court to chancery court in counties within a narrow population band.

Davidson County

Nashville and Davidson County run a probate docket administered through the Circuit Court Clerk, with a Probate Court Clerk's office at 1 Public Square in Nashville. Filings, letters, and accountings in a Davidson County estate go there rather than to the Chancery Court clerk.

Tennessee deadlines and mechanics

Creditor claims: four months, sixty days, twelve months

Under the statutory notice form in Tennessee Code Annotated 30-2-306(b), a claim is barred at the earliest of four months from first publication or posting, sixty days from a creditor's actual receipt of the notice where receipt fell within sixty days of that four month date, or twelve months from the decedent's date of death. All three run in a single estate; the personal representative must track whichever bites first.

Publication

Notice runs in some newspaper of the county. Where the county has no newspaper, notice is given by written notices posted in three public places. The publisher's affidavit showing the dates of publication is prima facie evidence that the requirement was met, so obtain and keep it under Tennessee Code Annotated 30-2-306(c).

Inventory and accounting

Tennessee requires the personal representative to file an inventory of the estate with the clerk and to account, but both duties can be excused where the will or the beneficiaries dispense with them in the manner the statute allows. Confirm with the clerk whether an inventory is required in the specific estate before assuming it has been waived.

Small estate affidavit waiting period

Forty five days must pass from the date of death before the small estate petition can be filed under Tennessee Code Annotated 30-4-103, and the route closes if a petition for the appointment of a personal representative has already been filed. Both conditions are worth checking before assets are promised to anyone.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Identify the court with probate jurisdiction in the decedent's county

Before any filing days after starting

Tennessee Code Annotated 16-16-201 makes Chancery Court the default but yields to any public, private, special, or local act, and counties have used that. Confirm with the clerk in the county of domicile whether estates are filed in Chancery Court, a separate Probate Court, or General Sessions Court, and obtain that court's local packet and fee schedule.

Test the estate against the $50,000 personal property ceiling

Weeks 1-6 days after starting

Total the probate personal property only. Tennessee Code Annotated 30-4-102 caps a small estate at $50,000 of probate property and defines property as personal property, so exclude real estate along with survivorship assets, payable on death accounts, and trust property. If a house has to be sold to pay debts, plan on a full administration.

Prepare the small estate affidavit after the forty five day wait

After 45 days from date of death days after starting

If the estate qualifies and no one has petitioned for a personal representative, prepare the sworn petition under Tennessee Code Annotated 30-4-103 with an itemized list of the decedent's property, the value of each item, the identity of each creditor, and the amount owed to each. File it with the clerk of the court that hears estates in that county.

Document: small-estate-affidavit

Publish notice to creditors and diary all three claim deadlines

Immediately after letters issue days after starting

Publish in a newspaper of the county, or post in three public places if there is none, and keep the publisher's affidavit. Calendar four months from first publication, twelve months from the date of death, and a separate sixty day date for every creditor given actual notice late. Distributing before the earliest applicable bar risks personal liability.

File the inventory and reserve for spousal entitlements

As directed by the clerk days after starting

Prepare the inventory of estate assets for filing with the clerk unless the duty has been properly excused, and confirm that point with the clerk rather than assuming. At the same time, hold back a reserve for a possible year's support under Tennessee Code Annotated 30-2-102 and an elective share under 31-4-101, both of which can be claimed after distribution planning has begun.

Document: asset-inventory

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, and this is the most expensive mistake in a Tennessee estate. The claim period does not close at four months from first publication in every case. A creditor who received actual notice late gets sixty days from receipt, and the twelve month bar measured from the date of death runs independently. A personal representative who distributes the estate and then faces an allowed claim can be answerable for it out of pocket, so wait out the full window and keep a reserve.

Two separate entitlements, and they stack. Tennessee Code Annotated 30-2-102 gives a year's support, a reasonable allowance in money for one year of maintenance according to the spouse's previous standard of living, and the court weighs the totality of the circumstances including assets that passed outside probate. Tennessee Code Annotated 31-4-101 then allows an election against the will for 10, 20, 30, or 40 percent of the net estate depending on whether the marriage lasted under 3 years, 3 to 6, 6 to 9, or 9 years and up.

Title to Tennessee real property vests in the heirs or devisees at the moment of death rather than in the personal representative, so the land is not waiting on the estate to pass. The estate still matters, because the property remains subject to being sold to pay debts if the personal property is not enough. Selling during administration generally needs authority from the will or an order from the court holding the estate, and a buyer's title company will ask to see it.

The controllable costs are the clerk's filing fee, which is set locally and therefore differs between a Chancery Court county and a General Sessions county, the newspaper charge for the notice to creditors, bond premium where bond is not excused, and appraisal fees for any real property or unusual assets. Attorney fees and the personal representative's compensation are paid from the estate and are subject to the court's review for reasonableness.

Usually yes. A Tennessee court's authority does not reach real property sitting in another state, so an ancillary proceeding is normally opened in the county where that land is located, using authenticated copies of the Tennessee will and the letters. Run the two administrations in parallel rather than in sequence, because the second state applies its own creditor window and its own recording rules to the transfer.

Other Tennessee guides

Asset Protection Planning in Tennessee (2026)

Dealing With Debt Collectors in Tennessee (2026)

Expunging a Criminal Record in Tennessee (2026)

Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Tennessee (2026)

Firing an Employee in Tennessee (2026)

How to Break a Lease in Tennessee Legally (2026)

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