Your Guide to Probate Costs
How much does probate cost in Tennessee?
If you're reading this, you've probably just lost someone. And now, on top of everything else, you're being asked to make decisions about money you never planned to spend.
We know that the probate process can be confusing and hard to navigate. Our goal is to help provide clarity and be a resource for your family during an already difficult time.
The Short Answer
Probate isn't one process with one price. In Tennessee, there are four paths an estate can take, and the right one depends on what your loved one owned, whether or not they had a plan in place, and if anyone is owed money.
Here are the four paths:
- Affidavit of Heirship
- Muniment of Title
- Small Estate Administration
- Full Estate Administration
We’ll explain more on these paths on this page. Separate from our fee, every estate pays court costs and third-party expenses. Those apply no matter who handles the case.
Where the Money Actually Goes
When families hear a number for probate, most of them assume it's all attorney fees. It isn't. The total breaks into three very different buckets, and only one of them is ours.
1. Court Costs and Third-Party Expenses
These are the costs of using the court system. They're set by the county and by outside vendors, not by us.
Depending on the estate, they can include:
- Filing fees charged by the probate court
- Certified copies of the order naming you as personal representative, which banks and title companies require before they'll talk to you
- Publishing the notice to creditors in a local newspaper
- A bond premium, if the court requires one
- Property appraisals, recording fees for any deed, and tax preparation if the estate has to file a return
These vary by county.
2. Our Fee for the Legal Work
This is the part we control, and the part we quote you up front wherever we can.
It covers the work of moving the estate through the court: preparing and filing the petition to open it, getting you appointed, notifying the people who have to be notified, handling creditor claims, preparing the inventory and accounting the court requires, and filing what's needed to close the estate and get assets into the right hands.
3. Executor’s Fees for Administering the Estate
This bucket goes to the person settling the estate, and in many families, that’s you. It’s separate from our fee.
Tennessee law lets the personal representative (the executor named in the will, or the administrator the court appoints when there isn’t a will) be paid “reasonable compensation” from the estate for their time and responsibility. There’s no set percentage. If the will names an amount, or says the executor serves without pay, the will decides. If the will doesn’t say, the fee should fit the work the estate actually required, and the court sets the final amount.
Some family members choose not to take a fee. The fee counts as taxable income, and an inheritance generally doesn’t, so taking one doesn’t always make sense when you’re also inheriting. We’ll walk through it with you before you decide.
4. The Estate's Own Obligations
This bucket isn't a cost of probate at all, but it's money leaving the estate, and families understandably lump it in.
It includes your loved one's final bills, medical expenses, credit card balances, taxes, and the cost of keeping property insured and maintained while the estate is open. These debts existed before anyone filed anything. Probate is just where they get sorted out.
Why Two Probates Rarely Cost the Same
No two estates look alike, so no two probates cost alike. Here are the things that move the number most:
- Whether there's a valid will. Without one, Tennessee's intestacy laws decide who inherits, and we have to establish who those people are.
- What your loved one owned. A checking account and a car is a different job than a house, a rental property, and a small business.
- Whether the family agrees. Cooperation keeps a probate moving. Disagreement adds time. (*Our firm represents non-contested probate matters only. If you are seeking to dispute or contest a Will, or are in need of Probate & Estate Litigation services, unfortunately, that's outside of what we practice here at our firm.)
- What's owed, and to whom. Unpaid medical bills, credit cards, or a disputed claim each add steps.
- Whether anything was titled or designated incorrectly. A beneficiary form never updated after a divorce turns a simple transfer into a problem to solve.
None of these are things you chose. Most were set in motion long before you got here.
The Four Paths
Affidavit of Heirship
Charged by Flat Fee
A sworn document that establishes who your loved one's legal heirs are, so property can pass to them without opening a full estate. It fits families where there's no will, no real debt to settle, and a piece of real estate or a titled asset that needs to move.
Includes identifying and documenting the heirs, preparing the affidavit, and recording with the county register of deeds. Court and recording fees are separate.
Muniment of Title
Charged by Flat Fee
A way of probating a will for the limited purpose of proving ownership, usually so real estate can pass to the people named in the will. No one is appointed to administer an estate, so there's no creditor period, inventory, or accounting. It fits families where real estate is the only asset that requires court oversight.
Includes reviewing the will, preparing and filing the petition, and certified copies of the order. Court filing fees, recording fees, and title work are separate.
Small Estate Administration
Charged by Flat Fee, then Hourly
A shortened version of probate, available when the estate asset fall under Tennessee's small estate threshold of $50,000 and there is no real estate involved. The court is involved, with fewer required filings than a full administration. It fits estates with modest assets, a manageable list of debts, and beneficiaries who are in agreement.
The flat fee covers the small estate affidavit, getting you appointed, and asset listing. Hourly billing begins if you need additional legal guidance after being appointed.
Full Estate Administration
Charged by Flat Fee, then Hourly
The complete court-supervised process, and the path most estates of meaningful size take. You're formally appointed, creditors are notified and given their four month window to come forward, assets are inventoried, debts and taxes are paid, and the court signs off before anything is distributed. It commonly runs 9 to 12 months for a typical estate in Tennessee.
The flat fee covers opening the estate, your appointment, the required notices and publication, the inventory and accounting, and closing. Hourly billing covers work that happens after that point that none of us can predict a year out.
What Adds Hourly Time
We'd rather you know these in advance than find them on an invoice: examples include selling real estate out of the estate, disputed creditor claims, locating an heir nobody has spoken to in years, extra hearings, assets nobody knew about, and the work that it takes to wrap up the estate and have it closed by the probate court.
When we see one of these coming, we do our best to tell you what it's likely to cost before we start it.
Court and Third-Party Costs
Separate from our fee on every path above, and owed to the court rather than to us. In the counties we work in most, they typically total a few hundred dollars. We'll estimate yours during your Estate Administration Review.
Who Pays and When
This is the question people are often too uncomfortable to ask, so we'll answer it first.
Probate costs are generally paid by the estate. The money comes out of what your loved one left, not out of your pocket, and the personal representative is typically reimbursed for costs they advance.
But there's a timing problem, and it's worth naming. At the beginning of a probate, the estate's accounts are frozen. Nobody has authority to touch them until the court appoints someone. That's exactly when the filing fees and the initial legal costs come due.
So in practice, a family member usually pays the first costs personally and is reimbursed once the estate is open and accessible.
What You Can Do to Keep the Cost Down
On the paths that include hourly billing, you have real influence over the final number. A few things help more than anything else:
- Gather documents early. The will, the death certificate, account statements, deeds, titles, insurance policies, and recent tax returns. Every document you bring us is time we don't spend hunting for it.
- Pick one point of contact. When four siblings each call with the same question, we answer it four times. Choose one person to speak for the family and pass information along.
- Respond quickly to requests. A signature that sits for three weeks can push a court deadline, and a missed deadline costs more to fix than to meet.
- Don't distribute anything yet. It's a natural instinct to give a grandchild the car or split the savings account. Do it before the estate is properly settled and the personal representative can end up personally responsible for it.
- Tell us about problems early. A brother who's unhappy, a debt you're unsure about, a property that needs repairs. Small issues raised early cost less than the same issues discovered later. (*Our firm represents non-contested probate matters only. If you are seeking to dispute or contest a Will, or are in need of Probate & Estate Litigation services, unfortunately, that's outside of what we practice here at our firm.)
We publish this list knowing it reduces our own billable hours. We'd rather have your trust.
Our Commitment
As you think about the cost, you're also deciding who you want beside you for the next year of this.
Our practice is limited to estate law. Wills, trusts, estate administration, probate, and Medicaid planning. That's what we do all day, which means the process you're about to go through for the first time is one we walk through constantly.
We quote a flat fee wherever the work allows it, and we tell you plainly when it doesn't. Where we bill hourly, we explain what's likely to trigger it before it happens.
You're not a file. You're someone who lost a parent, or a spouse, or a sibling, and who now has paperwork to do about it. We'll keep you informed, we'll answer your questions in plain language, and we won't rush you through a decision you're not ready to make.
Every probate matter starts with a complimentary 30-minute call with our Probate Paralegal where we walk through the estate, our process, and your next step.
A Couple of Things
We handle non-contested probate only. If someone is challenging the will, or the family is heading toward litigation, that's outside what we practice. We'll say so early and point you toward someone who handles those cases.
You're not required to use the attorney who wrote the will. People often assume they are. You're free to choose who handles the administration, and you should choose someone you're comfortable talking to, because you'll be talking to them for months.
Common Questions About Probate Costs
Yes, in most cases. A will doesn't avoid probate. It tells the court who should inherit and who should manage the estate, but the court still has to be involved to make the transfer official. A trust that was properly funded is what avoids probate.
Want a Real Number for Your Situation?
Ranges are useful. A number based on your loved one's actual estate is better.
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute call with our Probate Paralegal. You'll get your first questions answered and a clear sense of which path the estate is likely to take. There's no cost and no obligation to move forward.
When you're ready, we're here.