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Tennessee law provides that when an
individual dies with a will (testate) then the appropriate county to file for
probate of the will is where the deceased individual had their usual residence
at the time of their death.
Specifically, T.C.A. § 32-2-101 provides as follows:
Wills shall be proved and
recorded and letters testamentary granted in the probate court of the county
where the testator had the testator's usual residence at the time of the
testator's death, or, in case the testator had fixed places of residence in
more than one county, in either or any of those counties.
As a result, when an individual dies with a will and
the estate needs to be probated, the appropriate jurisdiction is their
residence at the time of death. If the
deceased had multiple residences in multiple counties at the time of their
death, then any of the counties where they had a fixed place of residence can
be the appropriate jurisdiction.
Please note that counties across
Tennessee
handle probate cases differently. Some
counties (like Davidson
County) have a full circuit
court judge designated to handle all probate matters. Other counties have specially designated
probate judges that are not circuit court judges.
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