Tennessee Executor and Estate Kit: the $50,000 Small Estate Route After 45 Days, First Month Checklist and Estate Ledger

Who it is for

Whoever is settling the estate of someone who lived in Tennessee. Through a court office. Filed with the probate court clerk; in Davidson County, the Circuit Court Clerk's office.

Not the right fit if

The person didn't live in or own property in Tennessee, or a will contest or family dispute means you need an estate attorney. Not a form preparation or legal service.

Why it is different

• Sources, checked November 2026: Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk (Probate): Small estate petition for limited letters of authority, estates without a will (PDF); Justia (statute text) (secondary source): Tenn. Code 32-1-104, Will other than holographic or nuncupative; signatures (2025 Tennessee Code, Justia); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Tennessee (Nolo, updated August 2025); In re Estate of Joe Marce Abbott (Tenn. Ct. App. 2018), quoting Tenn. Code 32-1-103 (Tennessee Courts).
• All 11 Tennessee facts are confirmed: on an official page, or where none could be read, on a vetted secondary source marked as such.

What is inside

• Tennessee small estate route. Personal property worth $50,000 or less at death; real estate isn't personal property and isn't counted. Real estate isn't counted, and the affidavit doesn't transfer it; it needs its own route. 45 days. Forty-five days after the death. Signed before a notary. Sworn before a notary public or a deputy clerk. Through a court office. Filed with the probate court clerk; in Davidson County, the Circuit Court Clerk's office. Small Estate Petition for Limited Letters of Authority (no will). Davidson County's version; other counties publish their own. Small estate limited letters of authority: A short court process that gives limited letters for an estate within the limit.
• How a Tennessee will had to be signed. At least two attesting witnesses, who sign in the testator's presence and in each other's presence (Tenn. Code 32-1-104, 2025 code text on Justia). Allowed. Nolo's summary of Tenn. Code 32-2-110: the testator and the witnesses sign an affidavit before a notary. A notary isn't needed for the will itself. Recognized without witnesses if the signature and material provisions are in the testator's handwriting; two witnesses must prove the handwriting at probate (Nolo, citing 32-1-105). A will isn't invalid because an interested witness signed it (statute as quoted by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in 2018).
• Tennessee estate ledger (Excel). Assets, debts, payments and distributions; it compares the countable assets with $50,000, dates day 45 after the death and leaves real estate out of the count.
• First 30 days, tracker and letters. The first month in order with day 45 marked, a documents and accounts tracker, and plain letters to a bank, a utility and Social Security.