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Tennessee source record

Every source behind the Tennessee guide

4 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 16 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch October 3, 2026

What each source establishes

The Tennessee guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and the statutory creditor-deadline clocks the official text states.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

Tenn. Pub. Ch. 829 (2014) (amending Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-4-102(4)–(5))

Tennessee Secretary of State · PASSED: April10, 2014 · Verified August 9, 2026

Section 30-4-102(5), is amended by deleting the language "twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)" and substituting the language "fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)".

What this means: Enacted session law (primary). Historically set the small-estate limit at $50,000 by amending Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-4-102(5). SUPERSEDED IN FORM by 2023 Pub. Ch. 297, which deleted Title 30, Chapter 4 in full and substituted 'The Small Estate Probate Act'; the $50,000 ceiling survives, restated in new § 30-4-102(9) (see source tn-small-estate-2023). Retained here as the enacted origin of the $50,000 figure.

What was published from this source

  • TN Tenn. Pub. Ch. 829 (2014) (amending Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-4-102(4)–(5))

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • threshold $50,000
  • property means personal property only
  • section identity 30-4-102(5)
  • section identity

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Simplified-procedure rule

Tenn. Pub. Ch. 297 (2023) (HB 337; Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 30, ch. 4)

Tennessee Secretary of State · PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 297 · Verified August 9, 2026

Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 30, Chapter 4, is amended by deleting the chapter and substituting: 30-4-101. This chapter is known and may be cited as "The Small Estate Probate Act."

What this means: Enacted session law (primary), obtained free from the Tennessee Secretary of State. This 2023 act deleted Title 30, Chapter 4 in full and substituted 'The Small Estate Probate Act,' replacing the former clerk-certified affidavit route (2022 Pub. Ch. 665) with a court-petition/limited-letters procedure. It restates the $50,000 small-estate ceiling (new § 30-4-102(9)) and the 45-day wait (new § 30-4-103), and provides a good-cause waiver of the 45-day wait. The full codified chapter is otherwise behind the LexisNexis-contracted Tennessee Code, but the enacted public chapter is the controlling primary text.

What was published from this source

  • TN Tenn. Pub. Ch. 297 (2023) (HB 337; Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 30, ch. 4)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • TN 2023 chapter replaced (delete and substitute)
  • TN small estate $50,000 (restated 2023)
  • TN 45-day petition for limited letters
  • TN good-cause waiver of 45-day wait
  • section identity

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Simplified-procedure rule

Tenn. Pub. Ch. 665 (2022) (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-4-103)

Tennessee Secretary of State · This act takes effect July 1, 2022 · Verified August 9, 2026

After the expiration of forty-five (45) days from the date of the decedent's death, as evidenced by the death certificate, provided no petition for the appointment of a personal representative of the decedent has been filed in that period of time and the decedent's estate, one (1) or more of the decedent's competent adult heirs or next of kin, or any creditor proving that the creditor's debt on oath before the court, shall file with the clerk of the court an affidavit, along with a copy of the death certificate, which shall set forth the following: (i) That the decedent left no will requiring administration by the court having probate jurisdiction in the county where the decedent was domiciled; (ii) That the decedent had no interest in real property; (iii) An itemized description and the value of all the decedent

What this means: Enacted session law rewriting Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-4-103 (the affidavit + limited-letter-of-authority route). SUPERSEDED by 2023 Pub. Ch. 297, which deleted Title 30, Chapter 4 in full and replaced the affidavit mechanism with a court petition for limited letters (see source tn-small-estate-2023). Retained here to document the 45-day wait's origin and the pre-2023 affidavit procedure; it does not describe current law and does not state the dollar threshold.

What was published from this source

  • TN Tenn. Pub. Ch. 665 (2022) (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-4-103)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • 45-day wait and no real property
  • fee set by clerk under 8-21-401
  • section identity 30-4-103
  • section identity

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Creditor deadline rule

Tenn. Pub. Ch. 102 (2021) (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-310)

Tennessee Secretary of State · This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it. · Verified August 9, 2026

Twelve (12) months from the decedent's date of death; or (B) Four (4) months from the date when the bureau received the notice to creditors

What this means: Enacted session law. Sets only the TennCare-specific outer limit; the general publication/actual-notice bar (§ 30-2-307) is not restated here.

What was published from this source

  • TN Tenn. Pub. Ch. 102 (2021) (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-310)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • TennCare outer limit 12mo/4mo
  • section identity 30-2-310
  • section identity

Response digest 97e6f7b3b472057e… · HTTP 200

Tennessee provisions this site could not read

Not every state serves its own code. Where Tennessee did not, the attempt is recorded here instead of being covered over with a figure copied from a secondary summary. Each row names the authority that would settle the question and the page that failed to return it.

Authority soughtWhat is therefore not publishedTried on
Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 30 (compensation of personal representatives)Why no Tennessee compensation figure appears on this page — representative pay2026-09-17
Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 30, ch. 4 (small estates)The Tennessee small-estate ceiling is not quoted here, and this is why — small estate route2026-09-17
Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 8, ch. 21 (fees of clerks)Tennessee court costs: what could not be verified for this page — court and filing cost2026-09-17
Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 30, ch. 2 (notice to creditors; claims)The Tennessee creditor period is not restated here — creditor deadline2026-09-17

What Tennessee courts publish

Every link is probed before each release.

Limits on court material

  • Probate jurisdiction in Tennessee sits in Chancery Court in most counties, but in Davidson and Shelby Counties a dedicated Probate Court exists. There is no statewide small-estate form or statewide filing-fee schedule; under the 2023 Small Estate Probate Act the petition for limited letters is filed with, and the fee set by, the county court clerk (Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401).

Checking these Tennessee records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the267 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for Tennessee. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the Tennessee estate guide ·All 267 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected