Tennessee Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Tennessee probate runs through the Chancery Court by default, though Davidson and Shelby Counties have standalone Probate Courts and some counties vest probate in the general sessions court by private or public act. Most uncontested estates move through the state's default common form process, an administrative track handled by the Clerk and Master rather than a judge.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Tennessee

Chancery Court is Tennessee's default probate forum, but it is not the only one. T.C.A. § 16-16-201(a) vests probate jurisdiction in the chancery court "in all counties where not otherwise specifically provided by public, private, special or local acts," so a county act can place probate elsewhere. Davidson County (Nashville) and Shelby County (Memphis) have their own dedicated Probate Courts. In a number of other counties a private or public act vests probate jurisdiction in the general sessions court instead; the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service notes that in many counties the general sessions court may have, by private or public act, other subject matter jurisdiction including probate. Subsection (d) of the same statute, which transferred probate jurisdiction from the general sessions court to chancery in one population-bracketed county effective July 1, 2014, confirms that general sessions probate counties exist. Check which court handles probate in your county before you file. In Chancery Court counties, the Clerk and Master handles the day-to-day probate docket on the Chancellor's behalf, including opening estates, reviewing filings, and issuing letters testamentary or letters of administration.

Tennessee has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so it does not use the informal or formal labels other states apply. Instead it distinguishes between two forms of proof. Common form probate is the default: when a will is uncontested, the Clerk and Master can admit it to probate, appoint the personal representative, and handle routine estate matters without a full hearing before the Chancellor. It is faster and less expensive, and most Tennessee estates use it. Solemn form probate is reserved for wills that are expected to be contested or that involve some complication. It requires formal notice to all interested parties and a hearing before the Chancellor, and it produces an order that is more conclusively binding on the heirs, because everyone with a stake in the outcome had formal notice and an opportunity to object before the order was entered.

Tennessee's probate statutes generally refer to the person managing the estate as the personal representative, whether that person is an executor named in a will or an administrator appointed because the decedent died intestate. Either way, that person owes fiduciary duties to the estate and its beneficiaries and must account to the court for how the assets were handled.

Once a personal representative is appointed, the clerk of the court publishes notice to creditors in the personal representative's name. T.C.A. § 30-2-307(a)(1) bars any claim arising from a debt of the decedent unless it is filed within the period prescribed in that notice, and T.C.A. § 30-2-306(b) sets the period: a creditor must file by the earlier of four months from the first publication or posting of the notice, or 12 months from the decedent's date of death. The four-month deadline applies only to a creditor who received an actual copy of the notice at least 60 days before that four-month date. A creditor who received the copy less than 60 days before it instead gets 60 days from the date it received the copy. A creditor who never received an actual copy is governed by the outer 12-month bar; T.C.A. § 30-2-307(d) directs the clerk to return any claim received more than 12 months after the date of death. That claims period runs alongside the rest of the administration, whether the estate is proceeding in common form or solemn form, and the estate generally cannot close until it has passed.

Intestate Succession in Tennessee: Who Inherits Without a Will

When a Tennessee resident dies without a valid will, T.C.A. § 31-2-104 controls who inherits, and the statute does not ask about the deceased's actual wishes.

If the decedent left no surviving descendants (children, grandchildren, and so on), the surviving spouse inherits the entire estate. If the decedent did leave surviving descendants, the spouse takes the greater of one-third of the estate or a full child's share, meaning the spouse's portion is calculated as if the spouse were simply another child, whichever number is larger. The remaining property passes to the descendants, divided by representation if they are of unequal degree, for example if one child of the decedent predeceased the decedent and left children of their own. Notably, Tennessee's statute does not distinguish, the way some Uniform Probate Code states do, between children who are also the surviving spouse's children and children from a prior relationship. The one-third-or-child's-share rule applies the same way regardless of whose children they are, which is a genuine point of difference from community property states like Texas.

Tennessee is not a community property state. Married couples in Tennessee do not automatically co-own property acquired during the marriage the way spouses in Texas do; each spouse's individually titled property is generally treated as their own for intestate succession purposes, subject to the spousal share described above and to Tennessee's separate elective community property option, which spouses must affirmatively choose through a written agreement or trust rather than receiving automatically.

If there is no surviving spouse, the estate passes first to the decedent's descendants. If there are no descendants, it passes to the decedent's parents, split equally if both survive or entirely to the survivor if only one does. If only one parent survives along with siblings, the estate splits between that parent and the decedent's siblings, or a deceased sibling's descendants, by representation. With no surviving parent, the estate passes to siblings and their descendants. Beyond that, Tennessee law continues to more remote next of kin, and only escheats to the state as an absolute last resort when no qualifying relative can be found.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Tennessee's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Tennessee Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Tennessee

Tennessee's small estate affidavit is available under T.C.A. §§ 30-4-102 and 30-4-103 when the value of the estate is $50,000 or less. An interested party, typically an heir or beneficiary, can file the affidavit with the clerk of court, but only after waiting at least 45 days from the date of death. That waiting period gives creditors and other potential claimants a minimum window before assets move.

The clerk generally requires a bond payable to the state to protect creditors and other heirs, though the bond is commonly waived when the person filing is the estate's sole heir or beneficiary, or when all heirs consent to the affidavit in writing. Once approved, the affidavit lets the collector gather and distribute the decedent's personal property, such as bank accounts and vehicles, without the time and expense of a full probate administration.

Tennessee has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax, having repealed its inheritance tax effective January 1, 2016. Only the federal estate tax could apply to a Tennessee estate, and for 2026 that tax reaches only estates above a $15,000,000 per-person exclusion, confirmed on IRS.gov, so it affects a very small share of Tennessee estates.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

Many uncontested Tennessee estates, especially those that qualify for the small estate affidavit or that move through common form probate, are genuinely manageable without hiring a lawyer. A probate attorney becomes more valuable when a will is likely to be challenged, when the estate includes a business or property in more than one state, when the family situation is blended in a way intestate succession does not cleanly address, or when the estate is large enough to raise a real federal estate tax question. For more on how probate works generally, see Probate by State.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Tennessee as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Tennessee, particularly for a contested estate, a business interest, a blended family, or an estate large enough to raise a federal estate tax question. Figures, thresholds, and program details change; verify current details directly with the official source before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.

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