Tennessee Chancery and Probate Courts

Tennessee's Chancery Courts are courts of equity.^[3] Tennessee's Chancery Court was created in the first half of the 19th Century, and remains one of the few distinctly separate courts of equity in the United States.^[4] While the Chancery Court and Tennessee's Circuit Court, the court of general civil and criminal jurisdiction,^[3] may share a set of procedural rules in each county, there are some distinct rules applying to the separate courts.^[5][6] Parties in the Chancery Court are entitled to have a jury try issues of material fact.^[7]

In 2015, Tennessee's Supreme Court created a pilot Business Court.^[8] The Davidson County (Nashville) Chancery Court Part III was designated to serve as the Business Court.^[9][10] Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle^[11] was the first Business Court judge into 2017, when Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Joe Binkley^[12] was appointed the new Business Court judge.^[13] In 2019, Davidson County Chancellor Anne C. Martin^[14] was appointed the Business Court judge and remains in that position.^[10] She was appointed as a Business Court Representative to the American Bar Association's Business Law Section in 2023.^[15] Tennessee's Administrative Office of the Courts received a grant from the State Justice Institute to work with the National Center for State Courts to develop a curriculum for expanding business courts in Tennessee and elsewhere.^[16]

The Probate Courts are legislatively created courts with jurisdiction over probating wills, estate administration, conservatorships and guardianships.^[3] Only two counties, Shelby^[17] and Davidson,^[18][19] have Probate Courts.^[20] There are only three probate judges in the state.^[21] Unless properly designated to another court, probate and estate matters will reside in a Tennessee county’s Chancery Court.^[22]

• Courts of Tennessee