Tennessee Conservatorship Court by County

Why the Right Court Matters

Tennessee's conservatorship jurisdiction is fragmented in a way that confuses families, and filing in the wrong court wastes time and money. A petition filed in the wrong jurisdiction will be dismissed or transferred — adding weeks to an already variable process.

Under T.C.A. § 34-3-101, a conservatorship petition must be filed in a court exercising probate jurisdiction in the county where the respondent — the person you're seeking to protect — physically resides. Not where the petitioner lives, not where the attorney practices, not where the family home is unless the respondent lives there too.

The Two-Track System

Tennessee has 95 counties and 32 judicial districts. The probate system operates on two tracks:

Dedicated Probate Courts (2 Counties)

Shelby County (Memphis) and Davidson County (Nashville) are the only counties with legislatively created, standalone Probate Courts presided over by dedicated probate judges.

• Shelby County Probate Court: Handles all conservatorship and guardianship matters for residents of Memphis and surrounding Shelby County. The court has its own clerk's office, filing procedures, and forms
• Davidson County Probate Court: Handles the same for Nashville and Davidson County. The 2026 filing fee for a conservatorship petition is $334.50

These courts handle a high volume of conservatorship cases and generally have established procedures, standardized forms, and staff familiar with the process. For families in Memphis or Nashville, the filing path is relatively well-defined.

Chancery Court (93 Counties)

In every other Tennessee county — from rural counties with populations under 10,000 to suburban counties surrounding the metro areas — conservatorship petitions are filed in the county's Chancery Court.

Chancery Courts are courts of equity. They handle conservatorships alongside property disputes, trust administration, divorce cases, and other civil matters. The Chancellor (judge) presides, and the Clerk and Master administers the files, issues Letters of Conservatorship, schedules hearings, and manages the post-appointment reporting calendar.

This is where the variability starts. Each Chancery Court has its own:

• Filing fee schedule — base state cost of $275 under T.C.A. § 8-21-401(c)(1), plus county-specific litigation taxes and clerk fees
• Forms and procedures — some counties provide standardized petition forms; others expect custom attorney-drafted petitions
• Hearing schedules — busy urban Chancery Courts may have weeks-long wait times; rural courts may schedule hearings within days
• Post-appointment expectations — accounting intervals, status report formats, and property management plan requirements vary

The Forms Problem

Tennessee has no statewide standardized form for an adult conservatorship petition. This catches families off guard — they search online for "Tennessee conservatorship forms" and find a patchwork of county-specific documents, outdated templates, and commercial form-filling services.

The reality:

Some counties provide reference forms. Hamilton County's Clerk and Master, for example, maintains a public directory with downloadable petition forms, consent-to-serve forms, and inventory worksheets. Davidson County Probate Court provides its own packet.

Some counties explicitly do not provide forms. Claiborne County's Chancery Court, for example, requires attorney-drafted petitions and does not offer standardized templates.

Commercial form platforms (pdfFiller, DocHub, LegalZoom) offer Tennessee conservatorship templates, but these carry significant risk. A petition must comply with the specific requirements of T.C.A. § 34-3-104 — and a template that omits the mandatory background check disclosure, the least-restrictive-alternative analysis, or the property management plan will be rejected or require supplemental filing.

How to Find Your Court

Step 1: Identify the county of residence

The respondent's physical residence determines jurisdiction. If they live in a group home in Knox County, the petition is filed in Knox County Chancery Court — not in the county where the parents live.

Step 2: Determine whether the county has a Probate Court or uses Chancery Court

• Shelby County → Shelby County Probate Court
• Davidson County → Davidson County Probate Court
• All other counties → Chancery Court for that county

Step 3: Contact the Clerk and Master (or Probate Court clerk)

Call the clerk's office directly. Ask:

1. What is the total filing fee for a conservatorship petition?
2. Does the court provide standardized forms, or do you need an attorney-drafted petition?
3. What is the typical timeline from filing to hearing?
4. What format does the court require for the sworn medical report?
5. Does the court have a list of approved GAL attorneys?

The clerk's office can answer all of these questions. This five-minute phone call prevents the most common filing errors.

The Clerk and Master's Role After Filing

In Chancery Court counties, the Clerk and Master is your primary administrative contact throughout the conservatorship. They:

• Accept and file the petition
• Issue notice to required parties
• Coordinate with the Chancellor to schedule hearings
• Issue Letters of Conservatorship after the order is entered
• Track the conservator's compliance with filing deadlines — property inventory (due within 90 days), annual status reports, and financial accountings
• Issue citations for non-compliance

Think of the Clerk and Master as the case manager for the court file. When you have questions about forms, deadlines, or reporting requirements after the conservatorship is established, the Clerk and Master's office is where you call.

Pro Se vs. Attorney Filing

Families filing without an attorney (pro se) face additional complexity in counties that don't provide standardized forms. The petition must be sworn (signed under oath) and must include every element required by T.C.A. § 34-3-104:

• Respondent's identifying information
• Description of the disability
• Petitioner and proposed conservator's identifying information and criminal history
• List of relatives for statutory notice
• Least-restrictive-alternative analysis
• Property inventory, income, expenses, and proposed management plan

A pro se petition that omits any of these elements will be sent back for correction or rejected. For families considering filing without an attorney, Hamilton County's publicly available forms provide a useful structural model even if you're filing in a different county — they show the sections and information the petition must contain.

The Tennessee Adult Guardianship & Alternatives Guide includes the complete petition preparation checklist organized by the statutory requirements of T.C.A. § 34-3-104, plus a county-by-county reference framework for identifying the correct court and understanding local filing expectations.

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