Tennessee Code Title 30. Administration of Estates § 30-2-404

Before making a decree for the sale of lands, it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the court that the personal estate has been exhausted in the payment of bona fide debts, and that the debts or demands for which the sale is sought are justly due and owing either to creditors or to the personal representative for advances out of the personal representative's own means to pay just demands against the estate.