Tennessee Small Estate Affidavit

No affidavit: a petition and limited letters

Tennessee law in this chapter does not use a holder-presented affidavit. The procedure starts with a sworn petition. The clerk then issues limited letters. The letters are restricted to the property itemized and identified in the petition, and the petition must be attached to the letters and made part of them. The chapter is the Small Estate Probate Act, Tennessee Code Annotated sections 30-4-101 to 30-4-104, enacted by Public Chapter 297 of 2023. That act deleted the prior chapter and substituted the current chapter. Old-chapter affidavit text found in secondary sources is pre-2023 law and does not describe the current procedure.

The court is the court then exercising probate jurisdiction in the county of the decedent's legal residence at death. "Property" in this chapter means only personal property, or an interest in personal property, owned by the decedent on the date of death that would be subject to probate. It does not include personal property held as tenants by the entirety or jointly with right of survivorship, or personal property payable to a beneficiary other than the decedent's estate. A "small estate" is a probate estate in which the value of the probate property does not exceed $50,000. An estate at $50,000 qualifies, because the test is "does not exceed." There is no real property authority in the letters. The statutory letters form states that there is no real property at issue in the matter and that the letters give no authority to handle any real estate matters.

Who may file: two forks

After 45 days from death, as evidenced by a copy of the death certificate, and provided no petition for appointment of a personal representative has been filed in that period, the filing route depends on the will position.

Fork A covers an intestate filing. One or more competent adult heirs file a petition for limited letters of administration.

Fork B covers a testate filing, and it has three conditions that must all hold: the decedent died testate, distribution under the will differs from intestate distribution, and distribution under the will is desired. Where those conditions hold, the person named as personal representative in the will shall use one of two will routes. The first route is to petition to probate the will as a muniment of title under section 32-2-111, together with limited letters testamentary. The second route is to file the original will plus affidavits of the attesting witnesses, or, for a holographic will, affidavits of two disinterested persons attesting to the handwriting, with the clerk. The clerk records the will and the affidavits, and the recording is deemed sufficient probate for this chapter. Do not collapse Fork B into a general rule that a testate estate always takes letters testamentary. The three conditions govern.

There is no creditor filer fork in the current section, and no non-heir filer with consents. Both belonged to earlier law and are gone from the current text.

The sworn petition

The seeker files a sworn petition. The petition must contain the information in section 30-1-117(a)(1) to (10), plus an itemized list of the property to which the limited letters are to apply, the value of each item, the identity of each creditor, and the amount owing to each identified creditor.

This guide does not list the ten items in section 30-1-117(a)(1) to (10). The current text of that section was not read in full for this guide, and only dated editions surfaced in the banked research. Check the current text of section 30-1-117 before filing, and do not rely on a dated edition's list. The itemized list and the creditor identities and amounts are stated in section 30-4-103 itself and are part of the petition in every case.

Bond: corporate surety, with three exceptions only

Regardless of language in the decedent's will waiving bond, the petitioner shall make bond payable to the clerk of the court, for the benefit of those entitled, with a corporate surety, in an amount equal to the value of the decedent's property to be administered under this chapter. A will's bond waiver never excuses the bond on its own.

Bond is not required only where one of three exceptions holds: the petitioner or petitioners are the sole heirs of the intestate decedent; the petitioner or petitioners are the sole beneficiaries of the testate decedent; or all adult heirs and beneficiaries consent in writing. No bond premium figure is stated in the chapter, and none is stated here. County bond-cost claims found in secondary sources were not carried.

Fees: the statutory standard, county totals differ

The fee lane rests on a secondary republication, not on the official fee text read in full, and the chaptered 2025 fee act is a first-open for a later read. On that tier, the current section 8-21-401(c)(1) states a standard filing fee for probate estates, including small estates: $275 as of January 1, 2026, $300 as of January 1, 2027, and $325 as of January 1, 2028. Fees in that section do not include officer's fees or state and local litigation taxes.

Stale fee figures must not be carried: $41 for filing small estate affidavits belongs to a 2023 edition, and $30 including one certified copy belongs to a provision repealed effective January 1, 2026. County totals vary and were carried only as snippets in the banked research. Confirm the total with the filing court. This guide states the statutory standard plus that warning, and no flat county figure.

Issuance, no creditor publication, and discharge

On posting the required bond, unless waived under one of the three exceptions, the clerk issues the limited letters on the statutory form in section 30-4-103(9). The form empowers the personal representative to collect and preserve all assets, to remove personal property from property leased by the decedent, and to cancel inapplicable insurance. Assets are limited to those itemized in the attached petition, and total value shall not exceed $50,000.

A notice to creditors must not be published, and a creditor is not permitted to file a claim in a small estate probate under this chapter. That rule is express in section 30-4-103(6). It does not end creditor exposure, as the next section explains.

Discharge turns on the date of death. For a decedent dying before January 1, 2016, discharge is by court order on filing the tax receipt or certificate stated in the section. Otherwise, the personal representative and the surety wait until the first anniversary of issuance, when the court shall automatically discharge them. The limited letters must remain open and active until the first anniversary. On good cause shown, the court may waive the 45-day wait.

Collection, distribution, remedies, and conversion

Each person indebted to the estate, possessing estate property, or acting as registrar or transfer agent for stocks, bonds, notes, or evidence of ownership, indebtedness, or right must be furnished a clerk-certified copy of the limited letters. On receipt plus the personal representative's demand, each such person shall pay, transfer, or deliver the indebtedness owing and the other property in possession or subject to registration or transfer. A person who pays, transfers, or delivers to the personal representative under the chapter is released and discharged from further liability to the estate and its creditors, as if dealing with a duly appointed, qualified, and acting personal representative, and need not see to the application of the property.

Property must be distributed to heirs as provided by law, or, if there is a will, as provided in the will admitted as muniment of title or filed under the Fork B route. A recipient of property from the personal representative is liable, and remains liable for up to one year from payment, transfer, or delivery, to the extent of the value received, to unpaid creditors, to anyone with a prior right, or to a later-appointed personal representative. If distribution precedes payment of all medical assistance owed to TennCare under section 71-5-116, both the personal representative and the recipient are liable to TennCare, to the extent of the value received.

A separate TennCare release rule sits in section 71-5-116(c)(2). On the editions read, it requires that before any probate estate may be closed under Title 30, for a decedent enrolled in TennCare at death, the personal representative file with the probate clerk a TennCare Bureau release evidencing payment, waiver, or no amount due. How that release rule interacts with a limited-letters estate, where no creditor publication issues and the letters must stay open a year, was not resolved in the banked research. The current text of section 71-5-116 is a first-open. This guide states the section 30-4-104(c) liability rule and the section 71-5-116(c)(2) release text in separate lanes. It does not carry the old-act county handout line that a TennCare release is not required for small estates.

On refusal after receipt of the letters, property may be recovered, or transfer and delivery may be compelled in a competent court on proof of the petition facts, with costs adjudged against the wrongful refuser. If the personal representative or a creditor discovers additional assets exceeding the statutory limitation, the court may allow conversion to probate administration on a verified petition under section 30-1-117 by the personal representative or a creditor. The personal representative, if property has not yet been paid, transferred, or delivered, or the recipient or recipients are liable for assets paid, transferred, or delivered before conversion.

What this guide does not state

No county form is named, because no county packet or form was opened in full in the banked research. County packet titles mix eras, and county fee and consent details were snippet tier only. No notarization requirement is stated, because none appears in sections 30-4-101 to 30-4-104 as read. No vehicle title-transfer procedure is stated, because no Tennessee deceased-owner title procedure was opened. Senate Bill 2290, a 2026 introduced bill proposing a $15,000 life-insurance petition and a standardized clerk form, is introduced only and is not law. It is not carried as a procedure. The year the $50,000 cap arrived was not opened and is not asserted.

For small-estate procedures in other states, see the Small Estate Affidavits by State directory. For the questions each state's procedure answers, see Small Estate Affidavit Questions.

Source

Sources: Tennessee Code Annotated sections 30-4-101 to 30-4-104, Small Estate Probate Act, Public Chapter 297 of 2023, enacted text (Capitol HA0109 amendment to HB 337) with Justia 2025 republications of sections 30-4-103 and 30-4-104; section 8-21-401 fee text via FindLaw republication with Public Chapter 486 of 2025 enactment corroboration; section 71-5-116(c)(2) via 2010 and 2020 Justia editions. Facts verified 2026-10-31. Open flags: (1) the current text of section 30-1-117(a)(1) to (10) was not read in full, so the ten petition items are not listed here; (2) the chaptered Public Chapter 486 fee act PDF was not opened, so fee figures rest on a republication; (3) the current text of section 71-5-116 and its interaction with limited-letters estates is unresolved; (4) no county packet or form was opened in full, so no county figure or form is stated; (5) no vehicle title-transfer procedure was opened.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to the Tennessee probate court or a lawyer.