Which office takes the filing in Lebanon, who runs it, what it costs in 2026, 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 Pages still describing the old affidavit are out of date, and the clerk's office will turn you around.
Wilson County runs probate through a Probate Division created by private act, with jurisdiction vested in General Sessions Court. The Clerk and Master is appointed Special Master and serves as a judicial officer for that division, so the same officeholder covers both Chancery and Probate.
What trips people up here is that the two have separate room numbers and separate phone lines inside the same building on South College Street. Probate sits in Room 201 with its own number; Chancery is next door with a different one. Call the probate line, not the chancery line.
| Filing | Cost |
|---|---|
| Estate cases other than small estates | $392.00 |
| Small estates | $367.00 |
| Muniment of title | $367.00 |
| Re-opening an estate | $75.00 |
| Guardianship or conservatorship, with service | $419.00 |
| Guardianship or conservatorship, without service | $367.00 |
| Trust case | $322.00 |
| Filing a claim against an estate | $50.00 |
| Exception to a claim | $100.00 |
| Interim settlements or accountings | $75.00 |
As of January 1, 2026. The estate fee assumes publication in the Wilson Post and bundles the petition to open, the bond, one letter, notice to creditors, notice to the commissioner, the inheritance tax return, the TennCare release, two affidavits, and the order to close. Court costs change by order, so confirm the figure on the day you file.
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 forty-five minutes from the Lebanon courthouse. Send the county and roughly what the estate holds, and I will tell you exactly what to scan and what to leave alone.