Skip to main content
Tennessee Executor Duties
Pillar GuideTennessee12 min read

Tennessee Executor Duties

Tennessee executor duties guide: open the estate with the Clerk and Master, get letters, publish notice to creditors, and file the 60-day inventory.

By Settled Editorial

Tennessee executor duties start with one step that comes before all the others. You open the estate in the probate court for the county where the person lived, usually the Chancery Court through the Clerk and Master. You file a petition, take an oath, post any required bond, and the court issues your letters. Those letters testamentary (with a will) or letters of administration (without a will) are your proof of authority. Banks, the county register, and title offices ask for them before they release anything.

After the court appoints you, the clerk publishes notice to creditors and you run the estate on a set of deadlines. You file an inventory, handle creditor claims, and account to the court before you distribute. This guide walks the practical sequence: get appointed first, then do the duties in deadline order. This is general information, not legal advice. Verify each step with your local Clerk and Master or probate clerk.

Use this guide with the Tennessee probate guide, the Tennessee notice to creditors and claims guide, the Tennessee probate timeline, the Tennessee probate costs guide, the Tennessee intestate succession guide, and the Tennessee small estate affidavit guide. For your local court and county packet, see the Tennessee probate hub.

Get Appointed by the Probate Court First

Authority comes from appointment, not from the will naming you. A named executor can find the original will, secure the house, and gather records before getting appointed. But you cannot collect accounts, sign estate documents, or transfer title until the court grants your letters.

To get appointed you file a verified petition with the probate court in the proper county, and you attach the death information and, if there is a will, the document offered for probate. Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-1-117 lists what the petition must contain, including the petitioner, the decedent's residence at death, and, in an intestate case, the name and relationship of each heir at law. You take an oath, and the court may require a bond depending on the will terms and the beneficiaries. The court then issues your letters. With a will you are the executor. Without a will you are the administrator. Both are called the personal representative, and the duties below apply the same way.

One more thing on the will. If you hold a written instrument that looks like the decedent's last will, Tenn. Code Ann. § 32-1-113 makes you mail or deliver it to the personal representative named in it once you know of the death, and a photographic copy goes to the clerk of the court with probate jurisdiction in the county where the person lived. See the Tennessee probate guide for the full appointment walkthrough. (Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-1-117, law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-30/chapter-1/part-1/section-30-1-117/; Tenn. Code Ann. § 32-1-113, law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-32/chapter-1/part-1/section-32-1-113/.)

What a Tennessee Personal Representative Does

Once the court grants your letters, you are a fiduciary. You protect estate property, keep estate money separate from your own, follow the will or the intestacy rules, work with the probate court, and distribute only when the estate is ready. Your powers as a fiduciary can also come from the will, since Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-50-110 lets a will or trust pull in a long list of enumerated fiduciary powers by reference.

The duty list runs in this order:

  1. Publish notice to creditors after the court appoints you
  2. File an inventory and notify beneficiaries within 60 days
  3. Handle creditor claims through the four-month claim window
  4. Account to the court for what you received and paid
  5. Distribute the rest after claims and costs are cleared

Not every estate needs full administration. Some assets pass by beneficiary designation, joint survivorship, or a payable-on-death term. A small estate of $50,000 or less in personal property may fit Tennessee's Small Estate Probate Act instead. Real estate is its own case, covered below. Check whether full administration is even needed before you run the whole sequence. See the Tennessee small estate affidavit guide for the $50,000 path.

Duty 1: Notice to Creditors Goes Out After You Qualify

Your first big step after appointment is notice to creditors. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-306, the clerk gives public notice of your qualification, in your name as personal representative, by two consecutive weekly notices in a county newspaper. The clerk must do this within 30 days after issuing your letters. If no newspaper is published in the county, the notice is posted in three public places instead, one of them at the courthouse.

You have a paired job. The same statute makes you mail or deliver the notice to creditors you actually know about or can reasonably find, at their last known addresses. You can skip a creditor who already filed a claim, got paid, or released all claims. So keep a list of known creditors and document the mailings. This step starts the claim clock and protects you later. See the Tennessee notice to creditors and claims guide for the full process. (Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-306, law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-30/chapter-2/part-3/section-30-2-306/.)

Duty 2: File the Inventory and Notify Beneficiaries Within 60 Days

The inventory is your first big filing. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-301, you make a complete and accurate inventory of the probate estate within 60 days after entering on the administration, return it to the clerk of the court with probate jurisdiction, and verify it by your oath. The inventory lists the probate property with values.

The same 60-day window covers beneficiary notice. You send each devisee or legatee notice that they are a beneficiary: the residue takers get a full copy of the will, and the others get the paragraphs holding their bequests. Here is the catch. The inventory can be excused. If the will excuses it, or all the residuary distributees or legatees waive it, no inventory is required of a solvent estate unless a residuary distributee or legatee demands one. Confirm whether the inventory is waived in your estate before you skip it. (Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-301, law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-30/chapter-2/part-3/section-30-2-301/.)

Duty 3: Handle Creditor Claims Through the Four-Month Window

Tennessee runs a clear claim clock. After the clerk publishes notice, creditors file claims within the period set out in the statutory notice, which is four months from the first date of publication under Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-306(b). Claims that miss the period prescribed in the notice are barred.

There is an outer limit too. The clerk returns any claim received more than 12 months from the date of death, so no claim survives past that 12-month mark even with no published notice. That 12-month non-claim date also drives when you can close. The statute lets the court permit you to distribute the balance and close before that 12-month date. If a creditor then files a valid claim after closing but before the 12-month mark, you are not personally liable, and the creditor's recourse runs against the distributees who took the property. This is why timing matters so much. Pay valid claims and costs in the right priority, and do not distribute early if claims could still come in. See the Tennessee notice to creditors and claims guide and confirm the recommended timing with your court. (Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-307, law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-30/chapter-2/part-3/section-30-2-307/.)

Duty 4: Account to the Court for the Estate

Accounting is how you show the court what you received, what you paid, and what remains. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-606, the clerk charges you with all the money you received, or could have received with reasonable diligence, and credits you with reasonable compensation and with disbursements backed by lawful vouchers. So keep every receipt and voucher.

Accountings can be waived in some estates, the same way the inventory can be waived, when the will or all the interested distributees excuse them. Do not assume yours is waived. The court still reviews the settlement before it discharges you. Build your account as you go: track each receipt, each payment, and the source document for every line. See the Tennessee probate timeline for how the accounting and closing dates line up. (Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-606, law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-30/chapter-2/part-6/section-30-2-606/.)

Duty 5: Distribute Only After Claims and Costs Are Cleared

Distribution comes last, and only after the estate can support it. Before you hand anything to a beneficiary, walk this checklist:

  1. Has notice to creditors been published and mailed to known creditors?
  2. Is the inventory filed or properly waived, and have beneficiaries been notified?
  3. Has the four-month claim window run, and have valid claims been paid?
  4. Are administration costs and any taxes paid in the right priority?
  5. Has the surviving spouse's elective share or exempt-property right been addressed if one applies?
  6. Are final income tax returns filed or accounted for?
  7. Does your account support every receipt, payment, and proposed distribution?
  8. Do you have signed receipts from beneficiaries to file?

Distributing before claims and costs are handled can make you personally liable for a later valid claim, so clear those first. A named beneficiary in the will is not a green light to distribute on day one. Claims, costs, the spouse's elective share, and title issues can come first. When the estate is ready, you distribute under the probated will or, with no will, under the Tennessee intestacy rules, then report it to the court. See the Tennessee intestate succession guide for who inherits when there is no will.

Real Estate Vests in the Heirs

Tennessee real estate is a special case. Solely owned real property generally passes directly to the heirs or devisees at the moment of death. You usually do not administer it the way you do a bank account. Probate confirms the chain of title, but it does not by itself convey the property.

The main exception is when the real estate has to be sold to pay estate debts. That can require a separate court process, and deed language, liens, and title-company requirements come into play. If the estate is short on cash and the value is in the house, get title and deed review before you act.

How a Tennessee Executor Gets Paid

Tennessee does not set a fixed statutory percentage for executor or administrator pay. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-606, the clerk credits the accounting party with reasonable compensation for services. The court reviews and approves the amount based on the size of the estate, the difficulty of the work, the time it took, and the results.

Some practitioners describe approved compensation for routine estates landing in roughly the 3% to 5% range of estate value, but that is a practice observation, not a statutory rate, and the court can allow more or less. Plan on reasonable compensation that your probate court signs off on, and do not assume a flat percentage. (Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-606, law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-30/chapter-2/part-6/section-30-2-606/.)

Common Questions

Do I qualify before a separate probate court in Tennessee?

It depends on the county. Most Tennessee counties handle probate in the Chancery Court through the Clerk and Master. Some counties have a separate Probate Court or vest probate jurisdiction in the General Sessions Court by private act. You file in the county where the person lived.

What is the first deadline after I am appointed?

The clerk publishes notice to creditors within 30 days of your letters under § 30-2-306, and you file the inventory and notify beneficiaries within 60 days of entering on the administration under § 30-2-301, unless the inventory is waived.

How long do creditors have to file claims?

Four months from the first date of publication of the notice under § 30-2-306(b), with no claim surviving past 12 months from the date of death under § 30-2-307. Confirm the exact dates with your court before you distribute.

How much does a Tennessee executor get paid?

Reasonable compensation, reviewed by the probate court under § 30-2-606. Tennessee does not fix a percentage. A 3% to 5% range is sometimes referenced in practice, but it is not a statutory rate.

Can I distribute as soon as I am appointed?

No. Wait until notice to creditors, the claim window, costs, any elective-share issue, and tax matters are handled. Distributing too early can make you personally liable for a later valid claim.

This guide is general information about Tennessee estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the Clerk and Master, the probate clerk, or a licensed Tennessee attorney.

Sources

Prefer to talk it through? Connect with a probate attorney

Settled Estate is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

Information current as of June 14, 2026

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Tennessee can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

Need Help With Your Probate Case?

Take our free assessment to understand your options and get personalized guidance for your situation.

Take Free AssessmentFind Your County
← Back to Resources