The notice of trust in Tennessee: there is no filing — how a trust and the estate's creditors meet instead

No filing — and the notices Tennessee does set

No Tennessee statute has the trustee file a notice of the trust with a court, or send one to the personal representative, after the settlor's death. The notices Tennessee does set run the other way or to the family: where the residue of an estate passes to a trustee, the personal representative sends the trustee a complete copy of the will, and the trustee then sends copies to the trust beneficiaries (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-301(b)(2)); the trustee's initial notice goes to the current income beneficiaries, the vested remainder beneficiaries and any nonfiduciary power holder within 60 days after the acceptance and the funding (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(b)); and a trustee who sends a copy of the trust with the statute's notice shortens the window to contest it to 120 days (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-604(a)(2)).

The estate goes first

After the death, the property of a trust that was revocable immediately before it is subject to the settlor's creditors' claims, the costs of administering the estate and the funeral and burial expenses, subject to the settlor's right to direct the source of payment (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-505(a)(6)). A claim barred against the estate is barred against the trust, its trustee and its beneficiaries; and the estate's order of payment applies to the trust to the extent the probate estate is inadequate and the personal representative, a creditor or a taxing authority has perfected its right to collect from the trust ((a)(6)). That order is costs of administration first, then reasonable funeral expenses, then taxes — TennCare's claims among them — and then all other claims filed in time (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-317(a)).

The notice to creditors

Within 30 days after letters testamentary or of administration issue, the clerk publishes notice of the personal representative's qualification for two consecutive weeks in a county newspaper, or posts it where there is none (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-306(a)). The personal representative also mails or delivers a copy to every creditor the representative knows of or can reasonably ascertain, at the creditor's last known address, unless the creditor has already filed, been paid or released its claims ((d)).

The claim periods and the twelve-month bar

A claim arising from the decedent's debt is barred unless filed within the period the published notice prescribes (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-307(a)(1)), with the documentation the statute lists and verified by the creditor's affidavit ((b)). Every claim not filed, or sued on, within twelve months after the death is forever barred (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-310(a)), the same twelve months reaching the state's claims other than taxes ((b)). The burden of showing that a creditor was known or reasonably ascertainable, and so entitled to a mailed notice, is the creditor's (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-307(a)(2)).

TennCare's claim

For a recipient who was 55 or older when assisted, TennCare may recover medical assistance correctly paid from the recipient's estate, after a surviving spouse's death and while no child under 18 or blind or disabled child survives, with the hardship rule the section states (Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-5-116(c)(1)). Before the probate estate of a decedent enrolled in TennCare at death is closed, the personal representative files a release from the bureau (Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-5-116(c)(2)). The bureau's own claim periods depend on when it received the notice to creditors — twelve months from the death or four months from its receipt of the notice, whichever is later, or forty-eight months where it never received one (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-310(c)).

What the family keeps

Some property stands apart from the creditors. The surviving spouse of an intestate decedent, or a spouse who elects against the will, is entitled to exempt property — household tangible personal property and vehicles up to $50,000 in value — in addition to any share (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-101(a)), and to a year's support allowance (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-102(a)), with the homestead set apart by the court's procedure (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-201). The net amount payable under a life insurance policy or annuity contract made for a spouse, child or dependent relative is exempt from the insured's creditors (Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-203), and qualified retirement plans from creditors other than the state (Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-2-105(b)). Each has conditions; whether one applies to your family is a question for a licensed Tennessee attorney.

Transfers creditors can undo

A transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud a creditor — or without reasonably equivalent value while the debtor's remaining assets were unreasonably small or debts were beyond the debtor's ability to pay — is fraudulent as to that creditor (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-3-305(a)). For a transfer to a spendthrift trust, a creditor's action generally runs within two years after the transfer, or six months after a creditor at the time discovers it if later (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-505(g)).

Les textes de loi, mot pour mot

• Notice to creditors of the personal representative's qualification

  Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-306 ↗

  Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

• Claims against the estate; filing; amendment

  Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-307 ↗

  Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

• Limitation on the time for filing claims

  Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-310 ↗

  Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

• Priority of claims; payment; contested or unmatured claims

  Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-317 ↗

  Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

• Creditor's claims against settlor

  Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-505 ↗

  Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

• TennCare: lien on real estate; claim against estate; notices and release

  Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-5-116 ↗

  Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

Questions fréquentes