ESTATE PLANNING: BUSINESS, FAMILY & PERSONAL

Visit us for tips to make and keep your estate planning, wills, trusts, real estate, and business succession planning up-to-date. Topics on everything from delegating health care and financial decision-making authority during disability and other family/medical-related issues, to current state and federal tax laws that should be considered when forming or managing a family business.

EVEN A PRINCE NEEDS A WILL

It has been widely reported that popular musician Prince died in late April without a Will or any estate planning documents--why should this matter to a Tennessee resident? The simple answer, if you die without a Will or other valid estate planning document, all important decisions are taken out of ...

Revocation of a Will

If you don’t like your Will, how do you revoke it? Tennessee law provides the answer. There are three ways to intentionally revoke a Will: The maker of the Will, the ‘testator’, creates another Will that revokes the prior Will; The testator creates a “document of revocation,” that has to ...

DON’T GIVE IT ALL AWAY

On many occasions I hear from clients and potential clients that they have given certain assets to their children based on advice from someone with claimed experience/expertise in estate planning; on many occasions, the reasons given are to protect the parent’s assets and to save money. But transferring assets to ...

MEDICAL DIRECTIVES for End of Life Decisions

While end of life decisions may be a topic most people want to avoid, having these conversations with your family members can actually do more good than harm. Having a signed Medical Directive [Health Care Power of Attorney or Advance Directive] can hopefully avoid situations like the much publicized Terry ...

Don’t Forget Your Beneficiary Designations

Some valuable pieces of an individual’s estate do not pass pursuant to their estate planning documents, and this portion of one’s overall Estate “Plan” is often overlooked. These assets typically include: Life Insurance proceeds, Retirement Plans Accounts, IRAs, and most all other accounts held at financial institutions. This major portion ...

CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUSTS: What are they & Why should you consider one?

In a previous blog on Revocable Living Trusts [REVOCABLE LIVING TRUSTS- Practical Management & Transfer of Assets, posted July 9, 2015], I mentioned the use of Irrevocable Trusts as a tool for certain tax planning, which included reference to a “Charitable Remainder Trust”. This blog will discuss what a Charitable ...

When Aunt Becky Had No Will …… the Rules of Intestate Succession in Tennessee

Who gets someone’s property when there is no will? I have had several clients approach me about a loved one who has died without a will ….. clients with questions about who gets what property, how real estate is handled, and whether probate will be required to distribute the decedent’s ...

No Contest—Let’s Avoid a Trip to Court…

A lot of clients have approached me after emotional battles in the various Probate Courts of Tennessee and asked how can they prevent their beneficiaries being subject to such Probate Court proceedings? As with most legal questions, there is no simple answer. My first recommendation is to always consider an ...

Will Contests in Tennessee – What should you know?

You strongly suspect that your deceased family member’s will was obtained, by another family member or individual, through “dubious circumstances.” How should you proceed? What is the legal basis to challenge a probated will in Tennessee, and what is the process involved? You should first contact a qualified probate litigation ...

REVOCABLE LIVING TRUSTS – Practical Management & Transfer of Assets

There are many reasons for considering the use of a Revocable Living Trust as part of your estate plan, which involves the creation and funding of a stand-alone trust agreement during your lifetime (a/k/a “inter vivos trust”) instead of creating trusts after your death by including trust provisions in your ...