Letter asking for the balance on the date of death in Tennessee
A short letter that asks a bank or other holder for the value of the person's accounts on the date of death. Banks usually want this before the estate is settled.
What to expect
A bank may ask for a certified death certificate and proof that you are allowed to ask. The bank decides what it will release and when.
Bank accounts after a death in Tennessee
Accounts held jointly with right of survivorship or payable to a named beneficiary go to the survivor or beneficiary and are not part of the small estate. For an account in the person's name alone, an heir can use small estate limited letters (estate of $50,000 or less). After six months with no personal representative, a bank may pay up to $10,000 directly to the surviving spouse or children, but it does not have to.
Law: Tenn. Code Ann. 30-4-102(8), 30-4-104, 30-2-103(b)(2)
Source: Official page
Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?
| Kind of property | How it is treated | Details |
|---|---|---|
Bank accounts in the person's name alone | Counts | Bank accounts in the person's name alone, with no survivor or payable-on-death beneficiary, count. Law: Tenn. Code Ann. 30-4-102(8) |
Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts | Left out | Accounts held jointly with right of survivorship, or payable to a named beneficiary, are left out. Law: Tenn. Code Ann. 30-4-102(8) |
Death certificates in Tennessee
Order certified copies from Tennessee Vital Records (Andrew Johnson Tower, 1st Floor, 710 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243) with application PH-1663. The mail application charges $15.00 per copy, payable to Tennessee Vital Records. Send a copy of a valid government photo ID unless the application is notarized. The cause of death is shown only for a parent, child, spouse, or an attorney or agency acting for the estate or a qualifying family member. Questions: (615) 741-1763.
Law: Tennessee Department of Health, form PH-1663 (Rev. 11/2019)
- Where to get it
- Tennessee Department of Health, Office of Vital Records
- Official page
- Official page
Surviving spouse in Tennessee
An employer pays any wages owed to the person directly to the surviving spouse (or, if none, the children), with no dollar cap since April 11, 2025. After six months with no personal representative, others holding the person's funds may pay up to $10,000 to the spouse or children. These payments are charged against the spouse's elective share, homestead allowance and year's support allowance.
Small estate proceeding: Petition for Limited Letters of Administration (or Limited Letters Testamentary) of a Small Estate
An heir files a short sworn petition in the probate court. The clerk issues 'limited letters' that let that person collect only the personal property listed in the petition, pay the debts and distribute the rest. It cannot be used for real estate.
- Limit
Up to $50,000
The person's probate personal property can be worth no more than $50,000 in total.
- What counts
The value of the person's probate personal property only. Real estate, property held as tenants by the entirety or jointly with right of survivorship, and property payable to a beneficiary other than the estate are left out.
- Waiting period
At least 45 days must pass after the death, as shown by the death certificate, with no petition for a regular personal representative filed in that time. The court may shorten the wait for good cause.
- Who can use it
One or more of the person's competent adult heirs. If there is a will, and the will divides the property differently from intestacy law and the family wants the will followed, the personal representative named in the will files instead and the will is either probated as a muniment of title or filed with the clerk with the witnesses' affidavits.
- Court or where to file
The court with probate jurisdiction (probate, chancery or circuit court, depending on the county) in the county where the person legally lived at death.
- Notary
The petition is sworn. Some county clerks ask you not to sign until you are in front of the clerk.
- Papers to attach
- Copy (county forms ask for a certified copy) of the death certificate
- Itemized list of the personal property covered, with the value of each item
- List of each creditor and the amount owed
- Written consents of all adult heirs and beneficiaries, if bond is to be waived and the petitioners are not the only heirs or beneficiaries
- The original will and the witnesses' affidavits, if there is a will
- TennCare release (Request for Release), which several county clerks require
- Steps
- Wait at least 45 days after the death (or ask the court to shorten it for good cause).
- Get the county's small estate petition from the probate clerk and list the personal property, its value and the debts.
- If bond is required, get written consents from all the adult heirs and beneficiaries, or arrange a bond with a corporate surety equal to the property's value. No bond is needed if the petitioners are the only heirs (or the only will beneficiaries).
- File the sworn petition and death certificate with the probate clerk and pay the clerk's fees.
- The clerk issues limited letters; give a certified copy to each bank or holder of the listed property.
- Pay the debts and distribute the rest under the will or intestacy law.
- Fee
Set by each county clerk under Tenn. Code Ann. 8-21-401; ask the clerk. Examples from county instructions: $100.50 (Davidson County, without a will) and $374.50 (Hawkins County), plus $5 to file a will.
- Debts and responsibility
Anyone who receives property from the small estate stays liable for one year after receiving it, up to its value, to unpaid creditors, to anyone with a prior right to it, or to a personal representative appointed later. If property is distributed before TennCare is repaid what it is owed for medical assistance, both the personal representative and the person who received the property are liable to TennCare up to the value received. No notice to creditors is published, and creditors cannot file claims in a small estate. The personal representative and any surety are automatically discharged on the first anniversary of the limited letters.
- What the bank or holder must do
A person who owes the person money or holds their property, or a transfer agent, must pay, transfer and deliver it to the personal representative when given a certified copy of the limited letters and a demand. Doing so releases them as if they had paid a regular personal representative, and they need not check how it is used. If they refuse, the property may be recovered or its delivery compelled in court, and the costs are charged against the person who wrongfully refused.
Law: Tenn. Code Ann. secs. 30-4-101 to 30-4-104, as rewritten by 2023 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 297
Source: Official page
Good to know in Tennessee
- Tennessee's small estate procedure is a short court case: limited letters issued by the clerk, not a private affidavit.
- Small estate limited letters cannot transfer real estate.
- Since April 11, 2025, employers pay all wages owed to a deceased employee directly to the surviving spouse or children, with no cap.
Changes in 2024–2026
2025 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 194 (effective April 11, 2025) removed the cap on wages an employer pays directly to the surviving spouse or children and set a $10,000 limit, after six months, for payments by others. Earlier: 2022 Pub. Ch. 665 (effective July 1, 2022) and 2023 Pub. Ch. 297 (effective April 28, 2023) rewrote the small estate law into today's limited-letters procedure; the $50,000 limit did not change.
Related pages
Free help in Tennessee
A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.
- Help4TN (Tennessee free legal help and referrals)
- Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk: Small Estate Petition packet
- LawHelp.org
- Legal Services Corporation (LSC) - Find legal aid
- Eldercare Locator · 1-800-677-1116
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (debt collection and mortgage complaints) · (855) 411-2372