§ 30-2-702 — Distributees who cannot be located, infants or persons adjudicated incompetent - Procedure for payment of shares

(a) Whenever the personal representative of the estate of any deceased person in this state is ready to make a final report and settlement, and is prevented or precluded from making final settlement, because there is no personal representative of the estate of a deceased distributee to receive the share due that distributee or one (1) or more payees or distributees cannot be located or for any reason refuses to receive the share due that distributee, the personal representative shall pay or deliver the share due any such distributee to the state treasurer, to be handled in accordance with title 66, chapter 29, part 1, relating to unclaimed property, and show the payment or delivery in the report. (b) (1) In cases involving payees or distributees who are infants or persons adjudicated incompetent and without guardian or conservator authorized to receive the property, the personal representative, before making final settlement, shall file a petition in the court in which the estate is being administered setting out this fact and pray for the appointment of a guardian or conservator, unless petition is made pursuant to § 34-1-104 . (2) The court shall appoint a guardian or conservator, if practicable, or if impracticable, order the property belonging to such infant or person adjudicated incompetent paid or delivered into the state treasury, unless distribution is ordered pursuant to § 34-1-104 . (3) The payment or delivery shall be shown in the report and settlement of the personal representative, exhibiting the receipt of the guardian or state treasurer, as the case may be. (c) If the personal representative of the estate of a deceased person is unable to locate a distributee and that distributee's share of the estate is either personal property of nominal value or a monetary legacy of nominal value, the personal representative may request instructions from the court concerning the amount, if any, which should be spent in locating the distributee and whether the amount spent in locating the distributee should be a general expense of the estate or a charge against the lost distributee's share and the disposition of the property if the distributee cannot be found, which disposition may include the authority to sell any tangible personal property.

Legislative History

Acts 1945, ch. 126, § 1; mod. C. Supp. 1950, § 8196.9 (Williams, § 8334.1); Acts 1963, ch. 158, § 1; 1974, ch. 438, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 30-1302; Acts 1986, ch. 539, § 1; 1987, ch. 322, §§ 10-12; 1988, ch. 854, § 9; 1999, ch. 491, § 6; 2011, ch. 47, §§ 22, 23.