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Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-1-116

This is the official text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-1-116, part of Tennessee’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of Tennessee, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Substitution of defendant in property action

Official statutory text

(a) At any time before defense made, the defendant may apply to the court to substitute in the defendant's place any person not already a party, who claims the money or property in suit, by filing an affidavit, stating the facts on which the person founds the application, showing that the right in the subject matter in controversy is in the third person; that the affiant has no interest in the suit, and may be exposed to the claim of two (2) or more adverse parties, denying all collusion with the party sought to be substituted, and proffering to pay the money or deliver the property into the custody of the court. (b) If, on notice to the plaintiff and the person sought to be substituted as defendant, sufficient cause is shown, the court may order the substitution and discharge the original defendant from liability to either party, and make such disposition, pending the suit, of the fund or property in controversy, as to secure the money, property or its value to the party who shall prove to be entitled. Code 1858, § 2800 (deriv. Acts 1857-1858, ch. 56, § 1); Shan., §4497; Code 1932, § 8624; impl. am. Acts 1979, ch. 68, § 3; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 20-117.
(a) At any time before defense made, the defendant may apply to the court to substitute in the defendant's place any person not already a party, who claims the money or property in suit, by filing an affidavit, stating the facts on which the person founds the application, showing that the right in the subject matter in controversy is in the third person; that the affiant has no interest in the suit, and may be exposed to the claim of two (2) or more adverse parties, denying all collusion with the party sought to be substituted, and proffering to pay the money or deliver the property into the custody of the court.
(b) If, on notice to the plaintiff and the person sought to be substituted as defendant, sufficient cause is shown, the court may order the substitution and discharge the original defendant from liability to either party, and make such disposition, pending the suit, of the fund or property in controversy, as to secure the money, property or its value to the party who shall prove to be entitled.
Code 1858, § 2800 (deriv. Acts 1857-1858, ch. 56, § 1); Shan., §4497; Code 1932, § 8624; impl. am. Acts 1979, ch. 68, § 3; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 20-117.

Status: in_force

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.