Which office takes the filing in Columbia, who runs it, what it costs, the local rules that trip people up, and which of the three Tennessee paths your estate is on.
Tennessee no longer has a small estate affidavit you hand to a bank. The 2023 rewrite of the Small Estate Probate Act replaced it with a sworn petition to the court clerk, who issues Limited Letters. Pages still describing the old affidavit are out of date, and the clerk's office will turn you around.
Probate in Maury County is heard in Chancery Court and filings go to the Clerk and Master. The county's own claim form is captioned for the Chancery Court Probate Division, and the local rules send estate administration to that office.
Two addresses circulate for this office. The filing address is 1115 South Main Street, which is what appears on the clerk's own staff directory and on the return line of the county's 2026 claim form. The Public Square address that shows up in some directories is the courthouse, not the Clerk and Master.
The office keeps shorter public hours than its staff hours. Staff are in from 7:30, but the window is open 8:00 to 4:00.
Local rules that change what you should do, and that a statewide guide will not tell you.
| Filing | Cost |
|---|---|
| Open estate | $411.50 |
| Small estate without a will | $145.50 |
| Small estate with a will | $150.50 |
| Muniment of title | $334.50 |
| Re-open an estate | $44.50 |
| Interim accountings | $40.00 |
| Exception to a claim | $42.00 |
| Filing a claim against an estate | see note |
Read this before relying on the numbers. Maury's published schedule is dated July 2022 and the county's own 2026 claim form already contradicts it: the schedule lists a claim at $11.00, the current form says $50.00 under T.C.A. 8-21-401. Where a fee schedule is four years old and demonstrably out of date in at least one line, treat every figure as a starting point and call 931-375-1307 for the real number. Service of process, publication, and certified mail are charged on top.
Personal property in the person's name alone totalling $50,000 or less, counted without any real estate, and at least 45 days since the death. You file a sworn petition listing every asset and every debt, and the clerk issues Limited Letters you present to the bank. Expect a bond requirement.
More than $50,000 in personal property, or anything the smaller track cannot carry. A personal representative is appointed, notice to creditors is published, and claims run four months from first publication. Most uncontested estates settle in six to twelve months.
A will admitted for the limited purpose of establishing title, with no personal representative appointed and no administration opened. It fits where nothing needs an administrator. Whether it suits a given case is a question for the clerk's office.
The statute directs the clerk's office to assist with the small estate petition, and they do. They will tell you which form, which blanks, where to sign, and what it costs.
They will not tell you whether to open a small estate or a full administration, who inherits, what to do about a disputed will, or how to handle real estate. Those are legal questions, and a clerk answering them would be practicing law. That line is where people get stuck, and it is the line this site exists to help you stand on the right side of.
Every path above starts the same way. Someone has to turn a pile of statements, bills, and titles into one list the court and the family can both read. That is the part I do.
$249 flat. Nothing owed until you have seen it.
I am in Murfreesboro, about an hour from Columbia. Send the county and roughly what the estate holds, and I will tell you exactly what to scan and what to leave alone.