Estates - As enacted, states that the Uniform Partition Heirs Property Act does not apply to sales of land to pay the debts of an estate; revises the method for determining a decedent’s gross estate for purposes of calculating a surviving spouse's elective share. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 31 and Title 34.

HB 2451 clarifies that Tennessee's Uniform Partition Heirs Property Act does not apply when land is sold from an estate to pay debts, affecting estate administrators and property sellers. It revises how courts calculate a decedent's gross estate for determining a surviving spouse's elective share (their legal right to claim a portion of the estate), requiring courts to use federal estate tax rules (26 U.S.C. § 2031(a)) but excluding assets that wouldn't count toward state inheritance tax under prior law. The bill also specifies that life estates or trusts benefiting a surviving spouse must be valued using actuarial methods. The changes take effect July 1, 2026.