Equality in Dividing Estates

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Descent and Distribution
  4. Advancements
  5. Equality in Dividing Estates

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  1. If an individual dies intestate as to all or a portion of the individual's estate, property the decedent gave during the decedent's lifetime to a child of the decedent is treated as an advancement against the child's intestate share only if:
    1. The decedent declared in a contemporaneous writing, or the child acknowledged in writing, that the gift is an advancement; or
    2. The decedent's contemporaneous writing or the child's written acknowledgment otherwise indicates that the gift is to be taken into account in computing the division and distribution of the decedent's intestate estate.
  2. For purposes of subsection (a), property advanced is valued as of the time the child came into possession or enjoyment of the property or as of the time of the decedent's death, whichever first occurs.
  3. If the recipient of the property fails to survive the decedent, the property is not taken into account in computing the division and distribution of the decedent's intestate estate, unless the decedent's contemporaneous writing provides otherwise.
  4. The further provisions of this chapter concerning collation of property shall apply only if there has been an advancement as determined in accordance with subsection (a).

Code 1858, § 2431 (deriv. Acts 1766, ch. 3, § 1; 1784 (Apr.), ch. 22, § 2; 1829, ch. 36, § 1); Shan., § 4174; Code 1932, § 8402; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 31-701; Acts 1997, ch. 426, § 18.

Compiler's Notes. Acts 1997, ch. 426, § 26 provided that the amendments to this section by that act shall apply to all estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 1998 and to all wills, other documents and proceedings related thereto.

Textbooks. Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (4th ed., Phillips and Robinson), § 819.

Law Reviews.

Concealing Legislative Reform in the Common-Law Tradition: The Advancements Doctrine and the Uniform Probate Code (Mary L. Fellows), 37 Vand. L. Rev. 671 (1984).

The Doctrine of Advancements, 17 Tenn. L. Rev. 254 (1943).

The Doctrine of Advancements in Tennessee (Stephanie W. Harris), 50 Tenn. L. Rev. 763 (1983).


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