PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES
FMS provides a full range of estate planning services to individuals and families and succession planning for small and midsized businesses.
Attorneys practicing in our Private Client Services Group have training and experience in the evaluation and assessment of estate planning needs, including both estate and income tax planning, and planning for the management of estate or business assets during disability.
Estate planning attorneys strive to provide family members with the flexibility necessary to deal with unforeseen family circumstances, including an unexpected death in the family. The estate planning attorneys at FM&S have the necessary knowledge of options available to implement an estate plan, both prior to and following a death in the family, that will provide that flexibility.
For those individuals and businesses in a lawsuit or other legal proceedings involving the control or disposition of estate or business assets, our attorneys also have litigation experience to provide top-notch representation for the protection or preservation of your interests.
What We Do For You
The attorneys in our group provide a full range of estate planning for individuals, families and businesses, which includes the following:
- Wills – With or Without Trust Provisions
- Powers of Attorney – Financial & Healthcare
- Revocable Trusts – Creating & Funding
- Irrevocable Trusts – Insurance Trusts, Charitable Trusts, Asset Protection Trusts
- Special Needs Trusts
- Estate & Income Tax Planning
- Formation of LLC’s & Corporations
- Business Succession Plans
- Operating Agreements for LLC’s
Who We Serve
In addition to planning on the front end, the attorneys in our group provide the following litigation services associated with the protection of you or your loved one’s estate during disability and the administration of wills and trusts following your death:
- Guardianship/Conservatorship Proceedings – Contested & Uncontested
- Probate of Wills – Limited or Small Estates and Full Administration
- Asset Transfers without Probate
- Trust Administration
- State & Federal Tax Compliance (Tax Returns and Other Tax Filings)
- Contested Probate Matters & Will Contests
- Surviving Spouse Claims/Disputes
- Prosecution & Defense of Claims by Executors/ Administrators
Back to all Practice Areas
EXPERIENCED ATTORNEYS
James E. Wagner
Attorney
Richard T. Scrugham, Jr.
Attorney
Kevin A. Dean
Attorney
Related Blogs
MAKING A KILLING FOR AN INHERITANCE
What happens when a beneficiary kills the person from whom they would inherit property? Tennessee has what is sometimes called a “slayer statute” that addresses this issue: Tenn. Code Annotated §31-1-106 Any person who kills, or conspires with another to kill, or procures to be killed, any other person from whom the first named person […]
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 your hand, including: Who receives […]
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 be executed just like a […]
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 children is not that simple […]
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 Sciavo case in Florida and […]
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 of an individual’s estate plan […]
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 Remainder Trust is, how it’s […]
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 estate. Unfortunately, it is quite […]
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 “in terrorem” clause in their […]