You are not late on anything this roadmap tracks. The next date on it is Creditor Claim Outer Limit - Twelve Months from Death, whose window closes Aug 20, 2027 (set by your state's statute). That is a window for others to come forward, not a filing you owe.
Common first questionDo you even need full probate?
Not every estate needs a full probate case. Many smaller estates qualify for a simpler small-estate affidavit or similar shortcut, depending on what the estate owns and your state's rules. If your list below includes a small-estate or affidavit task, open it: it explains what may qualify. Your probate court can confirm what applies to your situation.
Your roadmap, grouped into chapters. Open any chapter; nothing is hidden.
1. Right now, the first daysYou are herecare, notifications, paperwork0 of 8 done
Your next step
Get a legal pronouncement and arrange for the body
It is the first step still open on your roadmap. Work down from here; the dated ones are called out as they come.
Get a legal pronouncement and arrange for the body
First 24 to 72 Hours
Not started
A medical professional must pronounce the death. If death was expected under hospice, the hospice nurse can pronounce; if unexpected, call 911. Then choose a licensed Tennessee funeral home or cremation provider to transport and care for your loved one.
Secure the home and valuables
First 24 to 72 Hours
Not started
Lock the residence, keep utilities and insurance active, and avoid distributing property until authority and ownership are clear. Real estate in Tennessee generally vests in the heirs or devisees at death, but it still needs to be protected.
Start keeping records on day one
First 24 to 72 Hours
Not started
Every dollar that comes into or goes out of the estate has to be accounted for at the end, often to a court and always to the beneficiaries. Start a single file now: what was spent, on what date, for what, and who paid it. Keep receipts for anything you pay personally, because reimbursement from the estate is normal and depends on being able to show what it was for. Doing this from the first week costs minutes; reconstructing it eight months later from memory and card statements is the part executors describe as the worst of the job.
2. Before the court appoints youthe path, the will, the filing3 of 15 done
Locate the original will and important documents
First 24 to 72 Hours
Not started
The probate court needs the original signed will to admit it to probate. A custodian of a will generally has a legal duty to deliver it to the personal representative or the probate court after death. Also look for codicils, trusts, deeds, vehicle titles, account statements, and life insurance policies.
Read the will all the way through
First Week
Not started
Read it once for what it says and once for what it asks of you. Note who it names as executor and whether an alternate is named, every specific gift, and the residuary clause that says who receives whatever is left after those gifts and the debts. Check for a codicil, a later amendment that can change any of it. If the will refers to a trust, the trust usually holds its own assets and has its own trustee, and that is a separate job from the one you are doing. If the will names someone who has died, or a gift of something the estate no longer owns, note it now rather than at distribution: both have rules, and both are easier to raise early with the court or an attorney.
Agree how personal belongings will be divided
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
This is where families fall out, and it is rarely about money. Start from the documents: a specific gift in the will controls, and some states also recognise a separate signed list of personal items. For everything the will does not name, agree the method before anyone takes anything, because a method everyone accepted in advance survives disagreement far better than a decision made item by item. Families commonly rotate picks, draw lots, or bid against an appraised value and settle the difference in cash. Anything contested is worth appraising rather than arguing over. Nothing should leave the house until the inventory is done.
Deal with the digital accounts and subscriptions
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Email is the master key: password resets for almost everything else run through it, so secure that access first and do not close it early. Cancel the subscriptions billing a card each month, which are easiest to find on the last card statements. Social accounts can usually be memorialized or closed, and each platform has its own process and its own proof requirements. Most states have adopted a version of the fiduciary digital-access law, which gives an executor a route to account records while limiting access to the content of private messages, so expect a provider to ask for the letters and to still say no to some of it.
Determine whether probate is needed - small estate vs. full administration
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
If the value of the decedent's probate property is $50,000 or less, an heir may use Tennessee's Small Estate Probate Act by filing a petition for limited letters of administration (or limited letters testamentary), which generally cannot be filed until 45 days after death and only if no personal representative has been appointed (Tenn. Code Ann. 30-4-102, 30-4-103). Larger or more complex estates require full administration.
File Life Insurance Claims
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Look for coverage in more places than a standalone policy: an employer or union plan, a mortgage or credit card add-on, a fraternal organization, and veterans' coverage. Call each insurer, ask for a claim form, and expect to send a certified death certificate and the policy number. A policy paid to a named beneficiary who is still living goes straight to that person and is not part of the probate estate; it becomes estate money only when the estate is the named beneficiary or no named beneficiary survives. You do not have to wait for probate to open before you file.
Find every account before you close anything
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Accounts nobody knew about are the commonest reason an estate has to be reopened. Collect the mail for at least a month, including the statements that only arrive quarterly. Check the email inbox for paperless statements, which is where most accounts now live. Read the last filed tax return: interest, dividends and retirement distributions on it each name an institution. Look for HSAs, old employer retirement plans, brokerage accounts, safe deposit boxes and prepaid funeral plans. Write down what you find and where it is before you start closing anything, because the balance on the date of death is the figure the inventory and the tax returns are built from.
Keep the home insured, powered and maintained
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Tell the insurer that the house is now unoccupied. Most homeowner policies limit or exclude cover once a property has been empty for a set period, commonly around 30 to 60 days, and a claim on an unreported vacant house can be refused. Ask what the policy needs, which is usually a vacancy endorsement. Keep the utilities on: heat prevents frozen pipes and power keeps sump pumps and alarms running, and a burst pipe in an empty house is the single most expensive thing that happens to estates. Keep the lawn cut and the mail collected, because a visibly empty house attracts attention.
Notify Banks and Financial Institutions
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Contact every bank, credit union, brokerage and retirement plan where the person held an account. Each one will want a certified copy of the death certificate. Ask for the balance as of the date of death in writing: that is the figure the estate inventory and the estate's tax returns are built on. Ask them to stop automatic payments and direct deposits, and stop using any card on the person's account. Who receives each account depends on how it was titled and on any beneficiary named on it, which is a separate question from probate.
Open the estate and obtain letters from the probate court
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
The person named in the will petitions to be appointed executor; if there is no will, an eligible person petitions to be appointed administrator. File in the probate court (Chancery Court through the Clerk & Master, or the county probate court) in the decedent's county. Bring the original will and a certified death certificate. The clerk's statutory fee to open and close a full estate is a flat $230 under Tenn. Code Ann. 8-21-401, plus county litigation taxes and fees (certain charter counties such as Davidson and Knox use the itemized schedule in 8-21-409). The court then issues letters testamentary (with a will) or letters of administration (without a will) confirming your authority to act for the estate.
Small Estate Petition Waiting Period
If it applies·opens Oct 4, 2026Statutory waiting period
Not started
Tennessee allows a petition for limited letters of administration under the Small Estate Probate Act only after at least 45 days have elapsed since the decedent's death, when no personal representative has been appointed and no petition for appointment is pending. (per Tenn. Code Ann. 30-4-103) This step belongs to a simplified route. From the value you gave, this estate looks too large for that route, so it probably does not apply to you. It is worth rechecking if assets turn out to pass outside the estate, which can bring the measured total down.
Ask how Tennessee treats the primary home
Specific to this estate
Done
The property was the person's primary home. Many states treat a primary residence differently from other property, both in how far creditors can reach it and in whether it counts toward the value limit on a simplified route, and a few protect it strongly enough to change the whole shape of a settlement. Before you assume the home is available to pay debts, or that its value rules out a simpler procedure, ask the court or an attorney how the rule works here. It is a question worth asking early, because it can change which route you file under.
Ask whether a spouse-only route is open to you
Specific to this estate
Done
There is a surviving spouse. Many states carry a procedure only a surviving spouse can use, and these can move even substantial assets without a full probate, so it is worth asking about before you commit to the standard route. Ask the Tennessee court, or an attorney, whether a spousal transfer procedure, a family or spousal allowance, or a set-aside is available here and whether this estate fits it. Ask early: choosing the standard route first can make a simpler one harder to reach.
Plan for the standard probate process
Specific to this estate
Done
From the value you gave, this estate sits above the $50,000 limit Tennessee sets for Small Estate Probate Act (limited letters of administration) (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-4-102(9)), so the simplified route probably does not fit and the standard process is the one to plan around. It is still worth checking what the court actually counts: assets passing to a joint owner or a named beneficiary frequently fall outside the measured total, and an estate can land under the limit once those come out. The rest of this roadmap is built for the standard process.
File Affidavit of Beneficiary Notice with the Clerk
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 60 days of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. Within the same sixty-day period, the personal representative must execute and file with the clerk of the court an affidavit that the required copies (of the will, or of the letters of administration in an intestate estate) have been mailed or delivered to the beneficiaries or distributees, with an explanation of efforts to identify and locate any beneficiary or distributee not yet sent copies. Excused with the notice itself when the personal representative is the sole beneficiary or the will was probated in solemn form (§ 30-2-301(b)(4)). A companion affidavit that the bureau of TennCare was notified of the death (§ 71-5-116) is due in the same window under § 30-2-301(b)(5). (per Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-301(b)(3))
3. After you are appointedadministration; several clocks start here0 of 6 done
Some steps here run from the day the probate court appoints you and issues your Letters, not from the date of death. Until then they carry no date; they are still real duties once you are appointed.
Get an EIN and open an estate bank account
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Apply for a free estate EIN from the IRS, then open a bank account in the estate's name (for example, 'Estate of Jane Doe'). Keep estate money completely separate from personal money and keep receipts for every payment and distribution.
Creditor Claim Bar - Four Months from First Publication
Deadline·closes Dec 20, 2026Claim window
Not started
Creditors generally must file claims within four months from the first date of publication of the notice to creditors. Claims filed after the period are generally barred, subject to limited exceptions. (per Tenn. Code Ann. 30-2-307)
Surviving Spouse Elective Share Claim
If it applies·closes May 20, 2027Claim window
Not started
A surviving spouse may claim an elective share of the decedent's net estate on a sliding scale by length of marriage (10% under 3 years, 20% for 3 to under 6 years, 30% for 6 to under 9 years, 40% for 9 years or more). The petition for the elective share must be filed within nine (9) months after the decedent's date of death (Tenn. Code Ann. 31-4-102). (per Tenn. Code Ann. 31-4-101; 31-4-102)
Creditor Claim Outer Limit - Twelve Months from Death
Outer limit·closes Aug 20, 2027Claim window
Not started
In no event may a creditor claim be filed more than twelve months from the decedent's date of death. This outer non-claim limit applies even if notice was published late or never published. (per Tenn. Code Ann. 30-2-307)
File Estate Inventory Unless Waived
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 60 days of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. The personal representative must file an inventory of the estate within sixty days after appointment, unless the inventory is excused by the will or waived by all the residuary distributees and other interested persons. (per Tenn. Code Ann. 30-2-301)
Publish Notice to Creditors
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 30 days of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. After appointment, the personal representative publishes notice to creditors, and the clerk gives notice to known creditors, so creditors can file claims. Publishing promptly starts the four-month claim period running. (per Tenn. Code Ann. 30-2-306)
4. Closing the estatetaxes, distributions, wrap-up0 of 5 done
Estate Income Tax Return (Form 1041)
If it applies·due Apr 15, 2027Estimated
Not started
If the estate earns $600 or more of gross income during administration (or has a nonresident-alien beneficiary), the personal representative must file a federal fiduciary income tax return, Form 1041 (per IRC 6012(a)(3)). For a calendar-year estate the first return is due April 15 of the year after death (per IRC 6072(a)); the estate may instead elect a fiscal year, in which case it is due the 15th day of the 4th month after that year ends. This is separate from the decedent's final Form 1040, and a state fiduciary return may also apply if your state taxes income. Applies if: the estate has $600 or more of gross income during administration, or any beneficiary is a nonresident alien.
Final Individual Income Tax Return
If it applies·due Apr 15, 2027Estimated
Not started
The decedent's final federal Form 1040 is generally due by the normal filing deadline (about April 15) for the year following the year of death. Tennessee has no general state individual income tax (the Hall income tax was repealed effective January 1, 2021).
Federal Estate Tax Return Due if Required
If it applies·due May 20, 2027Verified by statute
Not started
IRS Form 706 is generally due nine months after death if the estate is required to file or if a portability election is needed. A six-month extension to file may be available. (per 26 U.S.C. § 6075)
Keep estate money separate and file required tax returns
Ongoing Administration
Not started
Use the estate account for all estate income and expenses, and keep receipts for every transaction. Review the decedent's final federal Form 1040, federal Form 1041 if the estate earns income, and federal Form 706 only if the estate exceeds the federal exemption. Tennessee has no state estate tax, no state inheritance tax, and no general state income tax.
Send Beneficiary Notice (Copy of Will or Letters) to Legatees, Devisees, and Intestate Distributees
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 60 days of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. Within sixty (60) days after entering on the administration, the personal representative must notify each legatee or devisee under the will that they are a beneficiary: beneficiaries sharing in the residue get a complete copy of the will, and beneficiaries only receiving bequests get a copy of the paragraph or paragraphs containing their bequests. If the residue (or a portion) is distributable to a trustee, the trustee gets a complete copy of the will and carries the Title 35 duty to send copies to the trust beneficiaries. Intestate variant: each residuary distributee of an intestate decedent is sent a copy of the letters of administration instead. Delivery may be by first class mail, electronic mail, or personal delivery. Excused only if the personal representative is the sole beneficiary or the will was admitted to probate in solemn form (Tennessee admission is otherwise ex parte: no notice of the probate proceeding is required, § 30-1-117(b), and the will remains contestable for two years after admission, § 32-4-108). (per Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-301(b)(1)-(2))
Every date on this roadmap16 dated · enter your 2 key dates here for real deadlines
Record your key dates
Two dates set the clock on several deadlines. Enter them once they happen and we will calculate the exact due dates for you, including the creditor claim deadline, which the law measures from when you publish notice.
Nothing is past due.
Sep 19, 2026Agree how personal belongings will be divideddueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Deal with the digital accounts and subscriptionsdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Determine whether probate is needed - small estate vs. full administrationdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026File Life Insurance ClaimsdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Find every account before you close anythingdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Get an EIN and open an estate bank accountdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Keep the home insured, powered and maintaineddueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Notify Banks and Financial InstitutionsdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Open the estate and obtain letters from the probate courtdueEstimated
Oct 4, 2026Small Estate Petition Waiting PeriodopensVerified by statute
Dec 20, 2026Creditor Claim Bar - Four Months from First Publicationwindow end, clock not startedEstimatedMeasured from the day you publish notice to creditors; a projection until then.
Apr 15, 2027Estate Income Tax Return (Form 1041)due, if it appliesEstimated
Apr 15, 2027Final Individual Income Tax Returndue, if it appliesEstimated
May 20, 2027Federal Estate Tax Return Due if Requireddue, if it appliesVerified by statute
May 20, 2027Surviving Spouse Elective Share Claimdue, if it appliesVerified by statute
Aug 20, 2027Creditor Claim Outer Limit - Twelve Months from Deathouter limitVerified by statute
Not dated yet: these start when the probate court appoints you
no date yetFile Affidavit of Beneficiary Notice with the ClerkStarts at your appointment.
no date yetFile Estate Inventory Unless WaivedStarts at your appointment.
no date yetPublish Notice to CreditorsStarts at your appointment.
no date yetSend Beneficiary Notice (Copy of Will or Letters) to Legatees, Devisees, and Intestate DistributeesStarts at your appointment.
