Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 32-3-111 (2026)
Specifically devised or bequeathed property
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) A specific legatee or devisee has a right to the specifically gifted or devised property in the testator's estate at death or if the property has been disposed of and a contrary intention is not manifest during the testator's lifetime:
- (1) Any balance of the purchase price, together with any security interest, owing from a purchaser to the testator at death by reason of sale of the property;
- (2) Any amount of a condemnation award for the taking of the property unpaid at death;
- (3) Any proceeds unpaid at death on fire or casualty insurance on, or other recovery for injury to, the property; and
- (4) Property owned by the testator at death and acquired as a result of foreclosure, or obtained in lieu of foreclosure, of the security interest for a specifically devised obligation.
- (b) If specifically devised or bequeathed property is sold or mortgaged by a conservator or by an agent acting within the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal, or if a condemnation award, insurance proceeds, or recovery for injury to the property are paid to a conservator or to an agent acting with the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal, the specific devisee has the right to a general pecuniary devise equal to the net sale price, the amount of the unpaid loan, the condemnation award, the insurance proceeds, or the recovery.
- (c) The right of a specific legatee or devisee under subsection (b) is reduced by any right the legatee or devisee has under subsection (a).
- (d) For the purposes of the references in subsection (b) to a conservator, subsection (b) does not apply if after the sale, mortgage, condemnation, casualty, or recovery, it was adjudicated that the testator's incapacity ceased and the testator survived the adjudication by one (1) year.
- (e) For the purposes of the references in subsection (b) to an agent acting within the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal:
- (1) "Incapacitated principal" means a principal who is an incapacitated person;
- (2) No adjudication of the principal's incapacity need occur before death; and
- (3) The acts of an agent within the authority of a durable power of attorney are presumed to be for an incapacitated principal, the presumption rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence of capacity.
Acts 2004, ch. 866, § 3.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4
cases, 2005–2007 · leading case: In Re Est. of Greenamyre, 219 S.W.3d 877 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005).
In Re Est. of Greenamyre, 219 S.W.3d 877 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “[5] This intent is evident from adoption of relevant parts of the Uniform Probate Code, which favor the "intention of the testator" rule instead of the harsh "in specie" rule when a devise or bequest is sold by a conservator for an incapacitated person who cannot approve or…”
Stewart v. Sewell, 215 S.W.3d 815 (Tenn. 2007). “We granted this appeal to clarify the applicability of the rule of ademption by extinction and of Tennessee Code Annotated section 32-3-111 concerning the sale of specifically devised property.”
In Re Est. of Edward Greenamyre - Concurring/Dissenting (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 32-3-111 (Supp. 2005); see also The Uniform Probate Code, Sec.”
George Haskel Stewart v. Demple L. Sewell (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “13 It is codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 32-3-111 . Thus, Tennessee has joined the majority of jurisdictions that have abandoned the in specie doctrine upon which the Hume court relied.”
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