Probate in Tennessee: do you need a lawyer, and what it costs

Settling an estate in Tennessee

What an executor deals with after the funeral: the will, the court, creditors, tax and closing the estate. Each fact links to the statute it comes from and shows the date we last read it.

Filing the original will

Tennessee law does not set a deadline for turning in an original will after a death. Anyone may deposit the will with the probate court in the county where the person who died lived, and the court keeps it safe until it is presented for probate.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 32-1-112Read the statute text · codes.findlaw.comchecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

In Tennessee, the estate is handled by the court with probate jurisdiction in the county where the person who died usually lived. By default that is the chancery court; some counties have a separate probate court or another court set by local law.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-1-102; § 32-2-101; § 30-4-102(1)Read the statute text · codes.findlaw.comchecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

In Tennessee, the court clerk publishes a notice to creditors within 30 days after letters are issued, and the executor or administrator (the law calls them the personal representative) also mails notice to creditors they know of. Creditors generally have 4 months from the first publication to file claims, and in every case claims are barred 12 months after the death.

Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 30-2-306, 30-2-307Read the statute text · codes.findlaw.comchecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

In Tennessee, the executor or administrator must file a complete inventory of the probate estate with the probate court clerk within 60 days after starting the administration, sworn under oath.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-301Read the statute text · codes.findlaw.comchecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

In Tennessee, if the estate cannot pay every debt, they are paid in this order: costs of administration, then reasonable funeral expenses, then taxes owed to any government (including TennCare recovery), then all other claims filed on time.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-317Read the statute text · codes.findlaw.comchecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

Tennessee has no inheritance tax for people who died in 2016 or later, and no separate estate tax is due on current deaths.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-8-318; § 67-8-204Read the source · unicourt.github.iochecked Oct 5, 2026effective Jan 1, 2016

Closing an estate

In Tennessee, the executor or administrator files an accounting with the probate court clerk within 15 months of qualifying, and every year after until the estate is done. If the will or all residuary beneficiaries waive accountings, the estate can instead be closed by sworn statements from the executor and the beneficiaries after the creditor claim period ends.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-601Read the statute text · codes.findlaw.comchecked Oct 5, 2026