Death, Taxes and NFL Football - Steve McNair Dies Without a Will

Retired NFL quarterback Steve McNair, who was shot and killed in Nashville on July 4 in a murder suicide, did not have a Last Will and Testament according to the Emergency Petition for Letters of Administration filed on July 15 by McNair's widow, Jonula "Mechelle" McNair, in the Davidson County Probate Court. The Emergency Petition states the following:

1. A thorough search has been made for a will and one does not exist.
2. McNair was survived by wife Mechelle and two minor sons, Tyler James McNair and Trenton Jon McNair.
3. McNair "was the purported father" of two other minor children, Steven L. McNair, Jr. and Steven O'Brian Koran McNair, but Mechelle McNair "lacks sufficient information at this time to confirm they are heirs of the Decedent."
4. McNair and wife Mechelle owned real estate located in Tennessee as "tenants by the entirety," which under Tennessee law passed to Mechelle by right of survivorship and outside of the probate proceeding.
5. The total value of McNair's estate is currently unknown, but "the estimated value of the Estate for Tennessee inheritance tax purposes is in excess of the maximum single exemption for Tennessee inheritance tax purposes." (In other words, the estimated value of the estate exceeds $1,000,000.)
6. McNair owned livestock located in Mississippi that "requires immediate administration or such property could be exposed to certain peril that would greatly diminish its value and the value of the Decedent's Estate."

Judge Randy Kennedy appointed Mechelle McNair as Administrator of the estate and she has 60 days to file the estate inventory, which is a list of all of the probate assets owned by McNair and their estimated fair market value on the date of his death. Bond has been reserved pending the filing of the inventory.

• What is Probate?
• What Are Probate Assets?
• What Does Tenants by the Entirety Mean?
• What Happens Without a Will?
• Steve McNair's Estate - And You Thought Settling Michael Jackson's Estate Will Be a Thriller
• Steve McNair's Estate - Who Will Get What?
• Steve McNair's Probate Estate Valued Near $20 Million
• A New Twist in the Probate of Steve McNair's Estate - Teenager is Not His Daughter