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Tennessee law requires the personal
representative of the estate to file a complete inventory of the probate estate
within sixty days after being appointed as the personal representative for the
estate. This is a very important
responsibility of the person who is appointed by the Court to administer the
estate. T.C.A. § 30-2-301(a) provides as
follows:
(a) The personal
representative, within sixty (60) days after entering on the administration of
a testate or intestate estate, shall make a complete and accurate inventory of
the probate estate of the deceased, and return the inventory to the clerk of
the court exercising probate jurisdiction in the county of the estate, and
verify it by the personal representative's oath before the clerk or before any
person authorized by law to administer oaths in such cases whether within or
without the borders of the state of Tennessee. When the will of the deceased
excuses the requirement for making and filing an inventory of the estate, or
when excused by all of the residuary distributees or legatees, no inventory
shall be required of a solvent estate, unless demanded by any residuary
distributee or legatee of the estate.
This inventory must be
filed under oath with the clerk of the court.
There are some circumstances where no inventory is required, like T.C.A. § 30-2-301, provides that no inventory is
required when the will of the deceased specifically excuses the requirement for
the filing of an inventory.
In the alternative,
when all of the residuary distributees or legatees (commonly referred to as
heirs) of an estate agree to waive the requirements of the completion of an
inventory, then the inventory requirement can be waived by the probate Court. Otherwise, the inventory is an important
component of the probate of an estate under Tennessee law and must be filed
with the court within 60 days. Often the
inventory provides the heirs with the ability to make sure that all appropriate
assets of the estate are properly included in the estate.
Follow me on Twitter at @jasonalee for updates from the Tennessee Wills and Estates blog.
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