(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 16-16-107

  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(1) The county court has original jurisdiction in the following cases:

(A) The probate of wills;
(B) The granting of letters testamentary and of administration, and the repeal and revocation of letters testamentary and of administration;
(C) All controversies in relation to the right of executorship or of administration;
(D) The settlement of accounts of executors and administrators;
(E) The partition and distribution of the estates of decedents; and for these purposes, the power to sell the real and personal property belonging to the estates, if necessary to make the partition and distribution, or if manifestly for the interest of the parties;
(F) To sell real estate for the payment of debts of a decedent as provided in former §§ 30-602 and 30-603;
(G) The appointment and removal of guardians for minors and conservators for persons adjudicated incompetent, and all controversies as to the right of guardianship and conservatorship, and the settlement of guardian and conservator accounts;
(H) The partition, sale or division of land;
(I) The changing of names and the legitimation of children;
(J) The issuance of inquisitions of unsoundness of mind; and
(K) The binding out of apprentices, and all controversies between master and apprentice.
(2) In counties having a county judge, the county judge shall have the powers enumerated in subdivision (a)(1).
(b) Subsection (a) shall only apply in counties having a population, according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent federal census, of:

not less than

not more than

12,800

12,900

27,100

27,200

43,100

43,200

62,300

62,400

182,000

182,100
(c) In counties having a population of not less than thirty-nine thousand fifty (39,050) nor more than thirty-nine thousand one hundred fifty (39,150), according to the 2000 federal census of population or any subsequent federal census, the circuit court clerk, who also serves as the general sessions court clerk, shall serve as the clerk of the court with probate jurisdiction in any such counties.
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