---
type: "Bill"
title: "Probate Law - As enacted, enacts the \"Small Estate Affidavit Limited Letter of Authority Act,\" which is a rewrite of \"The Small Estates Act.\" - Amends TCA Section 8-21-401; Section 30-4-103; Section 30-4-104 and Section 30-4-101."
description: "Probate Law - As enacted, enacts the \"Small Estate Affidavit Limited Letter of Authority Act,\" which is a rewrite of \"The Small Estates Act.\" - Amends TCA Section 8-21-401; Section 30-4-103; Section 30-4-104 and Section 30-4-101."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 888"
citation: "Tennessee SB 888 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Probate Law"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Garrett", "Stevens"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 49
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-02-10"
last_action: "2022-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8e886ce9-0ac1-4f3c-af63-b9ba979f2ffb"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0888&GA=112"
source_hash: "ad4a262f6fc983ab586423d90700f8e8c1c651df01d54bcf731f2cfed11aef6a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 888 (112) — Probate Law - As enacted, enacts the "Small Estate Affidavit Limited Letter of Authority Act," which is a rewrite of "The Small Estates Act." - Amends TCA Section 8-21-401; Section 30-4-103; Section 30-4-104 and Section 30-4-101.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Amendment HA0175** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0175.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0486** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0486.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0888.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 2/24/2022 Passed — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CHILDREN & FAMILY AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 3/24/2021 — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/12/2021 4/8/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/31/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0 2/15/2022 Passed — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/12/2021 Passed (1) — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: MESSAGE CALENDAR CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT # 1 3/3/2022 Passed — **92–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Garrett — primary (person)
- Stevens — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-10** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-11** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-22** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-02-22** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-24** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-25** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-01** Assigned to s/c Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-17** Placed on s/c cal Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/24/2021
- **2021-03-17** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-24** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 3/31/2021
- **2021-03-24** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-31** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/6/2021
- **2021-03-31** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-06** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/7/2021
- **2021-04-06** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/7/2021
- **2021-04-07** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/13/2021
- **2021-04-07** Reset on Final calendar of Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-04-07** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/8/2021
- **2021-04-08** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/12/2021
- **2021-04-12** Passed H., as am., Ayes 95, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-12** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0175) `amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-13** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-13** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2021-04-14** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/20/2021
- **2021-04-14** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/20/2021
- **2021-04-14** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-14** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-04-20** Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-19** Sponsor change.
- **2022-02-09** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/15/2022
- **2022-02-15** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2022-02-22** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 2/24/2022
- **2022-02-22** Refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2022-02-22** Recalled from Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee
- **2022-02-24** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2022-02-24** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2022-02-24** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0486)
- **2022-02-24** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2022-02-28** H. Placed on Message Calendar for 3/3/22
- **2022-03-03** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2022-03-03** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-03** H. concurred in S. am. no. 1 Ayes 92, Nays 0 PNV 0 HB1362
- **2022-03-09** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-03-09** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-03-11** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2022-03-18** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-03-30** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 665
- **2022-03-30** Effective date(s) 07/01/2022
- **2022-03-30** Pub. Ch. 665

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8e886ce9-0ac1-4f3c-af63-b9ba979f2ffb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).