2020 Tennessee Code
Title 32 - Wills
Chapter 4 - Contest
§ 32-4-101. Certificate That Will Is Contested — Contestant's Bond
- If the validity of any last will or testament, written or nuncupative, is contested, then the court having probate jurisdiction over that last will or testament must enter an order sustaining or denying the contestant's right to contest the will. If the right to contest the will is sustained, then the court must:
- Require the contestant to enter into bond, with surety, in the penal sum of five hundred dollars ($500), payable to the executor mentioned in the will, conditioned for the faithful prosecution of the suit, and in case of failure in the suit, to pay all costs that may accrue on the suit; and
- Cause a certificate of the contest and the original will to be filed with the appropriate court for trial.
- As used in this section, the term “the appropriate court for trial” means the court elected by the contestant, in the notice of contest, to conduct a trial upon the validity of the will.
Code 1858, § 2173 (deriv. Acts 1835-1836, ch. 5, § 9; 1835-1836, ch. 18, § 2); Shan., § 3905; Code 1932, § 8103; Acts 1980, ch. 765, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 32-401; Acts 2002, ch. 631, § 1.
Cross-References. Circuit court jurisdiction, §16-10-103.
Fees of clerks of courts administering probate matters, §§8-21-401,8-21-701,8-21-702.
Jurisdiction of chancery courts of probate and related matters, title 16, ch. 16, part 2.
Textbooks. Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (4th ed., Phillips and Robinson), §§ 346, 350.
Tennessee Forms (Robinson, Ramsey and Harwell), Nos. 4-1405, 4-1502, 4-1503.
Tennessee Jurisprudence, 18 Tenn. Juris., Mandamus, § 9; 25 Tenn. Juris., Wills, §§ 51, 59, 62, 67, 68, 82.
Law Reviews.
Civil Procedure — Flowers v. Dyer County: The Death of the Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, 23 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 409 (1993).
Decedents' Estates, Trusts and Future Interests — 1961 Tennessee Survey (Herman L. Trautman), 14 Vand. L. Rev. 1253 (1961).
Decedents' Estates, Trusts and Future Interests — 1964 Tennessee Survey (Herman L. Trautman), 18 Vand. L. Rev. 1185 (1965).
Estate, Gift and Trust Law-Joint and Mutual Wills-Proper Jurisdictional Vehicles for Contract-Based Mutual Wills Claims, 80 Tenn. L. Rev. 883 (2013).
“The Law of Joint Wills, A Recent Development” (William L. Harbison), 24 No. 3, Tenn. B.J. 24 (1988).
The Tennessee Court System — Probate Courts, 8 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 461 (1978).
