When Bond Required

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Administration of Estates
  4. Executors and Administrators
  5. Bonds
  6. When Bond Required

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    1. The clerk shall not require a bond of the personal representative before issuing letters testamentary or letters of administration if:
      1. The decedent by will excuses the personal representative from making bond;
      2. The personal representative and the sole beneficiary of the estate are the same person and the court approves;
      3. All of the beneficiaries are adults, who are not under a disability that would preclude them from acting, and all beneficiaries consent to the personal representative serving without bond by filing a sworn statement, or a statement under penalty of perjury, with the court and the court approves; or
      4. The personal representative is a bank that is excused from the requirements of bond by § 45-2-1005.
    2. If the preceding exemptions from making bond do not apply, the clerk, before issuing the letters, shall take from the personal representative a bond payable to the state, with two (2) or more sufficient sureties or one (1) corporate surety, in an amount determined by the court. If bond is required, the bond shall not be less than the value of the estate of the decedent subject to administration nor more than double the value of the estate and the court may increase or decrease the amount at any time by order.
  2. Any interested person may petition the court to suggest and show that the personal representative is wasting, or likely to waste, the estate. In this event, the court may require bond in an amount it deems advisable.

Code 1858, § 2222 (deriv. Acts 1715, ch. 48, § 5; 1813, ch. 120, § 4); Shan., § 3957; Acts 1923, ch. 48, § 1; Shan. Supp., § 3957a1; mod. Code 1932, § 8169; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 30-201; Acts 1985, ch. 140, § 6; 2016, ch. 809, § 6.

Amendments. The 2016 amendment rewrote (a)(1)(C) which read: “(C) All of the beneficiaries of the estate are adults and all of them consent in writing to the personal representative's serving without bond and the court approves; or”.

Effective Dates. Acts 2016, ch. 809, § 8. April 14, 2016.

Cross-References. Administrator appointed upon resignation of representatives to give bond, §30-1-112.

Bond of appointee in chancery court, §30-1-306.

Fiduciary bond or oath excused, §45-2-1005.

Jurisdiction of chancery courts of probate and related matters, title 16, chapter 16, part 2.

Textbooks. Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (4th ed., Phillips and Robinson), §§ 33, 35, 526, 581, 584, 585, 968.

Law Reviews.

Non-Tax Aspects of Estate Planning (Ronald Lee Gilman), 2 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 41 (1972).

Selection and Removal of Fiduciaries (Robert L. McMurray), 26 No. 3, Tenn. B.J. 22 (1990).


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