## Facts

- George C. Vincent bought real property in Deerfield Resort, Tennessee, financing part of the purchase with a mortgage secured by a deed of trust.
- Vincent later deeded the property to himself and his nephew, William J. Vincent, as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
- Vincent alone paid the mortgage until his death in 2001.
- Vincent’s will directed the executor to pay “all my just debts and funeral expenses” and permitted installment payment of “installment debts secured by real estate” if beneficial to the estate.
- The will left all real and personal property to John Oliver and did not mention William, the Deerfield property, or the mortgage.
- After Vincent’s death, title to the Deerfield property passed to William by right of survivorship; the mortgage went into default.
- William sought a declaration that the estate must pay off the mortgage encumbering the Deerfield property.

## Issues

1. Whether the common-law doctrine of exoneration requires an estate to pay a mortgage on real property that passes outside probate by right of survivorship.
2. Whether a will’s general direction to pay “just debts,” with additional language about installment debts secured by real estate, sufficiently shows intent to exonerate a mortgage on non-probate survivorship property.

## Decision

- The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the trial court’s judgment.
- The estate had no obligation to pay off the mortgage on the Deerfield property that passed to William by right of survivorship.
- A general “just debts” clause, even with an installment-debt provision, did not show intent to shift the mortgage burden from the surviving joint tenant to the estate.

## Legal Principles

- Exoneration is a will-construction doctrine focused on testamentary intent and is ordinarily associated with encumbered property passing through probate.
- Non-probate transfers by right of survivorship are not treated as equivalent to property passing by devise or descent for purposes of exoneration.
- A general direction in a will to pay “just debts” is insufficient to require the estate to pay the remaining balance of a mortgage on non-probate survivorship property.
- A clause authorizing installment payment of real-estate-secured debts addresses the method of paying estate obligations and does not, without more specific language, expand the estate’s duty to cover mortgages tied to non-probate assets.
- Absent specific testamentary language identifying the survivorship property or evidencing intent to benefit the surviving joint tenant, the surviving joint tenant takes the property subject to the mortgage.

## Conclusion

The court held that the estate was not required to exonerate the mortgage on real property passing to a surviving joint tenant by right of survivorship, because the will’s general “just debts” language and installment-debt provision did not clearly direct payment of a mortgage attached to non-probate property.


In re Estate of Vincent, 98 S.W.3d 146 (Tenn. 2003)