What Makes up a Thoughtfully Comprehensive Estate Plan in Tennessee?

Planning for your family’s future is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your loved ones. A thoughtfully crafted estate plan is more than just a will or trust, it’s a personalized blueprint that addresses your unique needs and goals while adhering to Tennessee laws and allowing you to pass on your values to future generations. This article will break down the essential components of a comprehensive estate plan so you can feel confident about your family’s future.

A Will or a Trust: The Foundation of a Solid Estate Plan

 

The foundation of any comprehensive estate plan in Tennessee is a will or a trust. These legal tools allow you to get your wishes down in writing and to choose where you want to leave your money and property when you die. They can also allow you to pass on your values to the generations you leave behind.

• Wills: A will is straightforward and effective for designating who inherits your assets and who will serve as the legal guardian for minor children.  While simple, there is a catch: your family and/or kids will have to go through the probate court process before they can inherit your assets.  This probate court process can be expensive, time consuming, and uncomfortably public, so most people wish to avoid it completely.  You can learn more about probate by clicking HERE.
• Trusts: A primary advantage of using a trust over a will is that trusts avoid probate.  This means that your family and/or kids will inherit your assets without any court involvement meaning that it is cheaper, faster, and easier for them after you die.  In certain situations, they can also help to minimize estate taxes and protect your assets from creditors and lawsuits.

Click here to learn more about Wills vs. Trusts.

Whether you ultimately choose a will or trust based estate plan, that foundational piece is just the beginning of a comprehensive plan.

A Children’s Trust Protects Your Kids

A children’s trust is a separate trust that hold’s your children’s inheritance for them and has more than one strategic use.

If you have young children, a children’s trust is a must-have. It ensures that your children’s inheritance is managed responsibly by someone you trust until they’re mature enough to handle it themselves.

If you have grown children, a children’s trust can be just as powerful. Giving your adult kids an inheritance check with no strings attached can be a pretty scary thing.  They may be very responsible and use their inheritance wisely . . . or they may blow most of it on a wild weekend in Vegas then decide they need a sports car.  A children’s trust is the opposite.  It gives your kids access to their inheritance for things that you approve of, like health and education, but restricts access to things that you may not approve of, like gambling.

As an additional benefit, whatever has not been spent from your kids’ children’s trust cannot be taken from them.  They cannot lose their inheritance to a divorcing spouse, creditors, or by being sued.

Including a children’s trust in your estate plan can truly offer peace of mind knowing your kids’ financial future is secure no matter what.

Disability Planning

When people think about estate plan, they typically think about planning for their death.  But what happens if you become disabled and are unable to manage your own affairs?  The truth is that you are 7 times more likely to become disabled in any given year than to die.  If you do not have a legal plan in place to address this, then it can create an extremely stressful and expensive situation for your family.  Fortunately, we can prevent any nightmare scenarios with a comprehensive estate plan that includes a Durable Power of Attorney and an Advance Directive for Health Care.

• A Durable Power of Attorney: A durable power of attorney allows you to choose someone you trust to make financial and legal decisions and handle those matters if you become disabled and unable to manage them yourself. Without a Power of Attorney, your family might face lengthy court proceedings to gain the authority to manage your affairs.  This is sometimes referred to as “living probate.”

 In Tennessee, a durable power of attorney ensures seamless management of your finances, such as paying bills, managing investments, or even running a business, during times when you’re unable to do so yourself.

• An Advance Directive for Health Care: An advance directive for health care in Tennessee is like a healthcare power of attorney and living will combined.  Like a power of attorney for financial matters, an advance directive allows you to choose someone you trust to make medical decisions for you if you become disable and unable to communicate those wishes yourself.  Additionally, an advance directive allows you to put your own medical wishes in writing if you cannot communicate them. It ensures your wishes regarding life support, resuscitation, and other critical decisions are honored.

Both parts of the advance directive for health care combine to provide a complete framework for addressing health care scenarios if you become disabled.

Ongoing Support from a Dedicated Estate Planning Attorney

Estate planning isn’t a one-and-done process. Life events such as marriage, the birth of a child, or acquiring new real estate may require updates to your plan. Having a dedicated estate planning attorney ensures your plan evolves with you and remains legally sound.

Your attorney can also provide guidance on Tennessee-specific laws, ensuring your estate plan is going to work as intended when it comes time for your family to rely on it.

Ready to Create Your Comprehensive Estate Plan?

Creating an estate plan tailored to your needs is an act of love and responsibility. By addressing every component—from wills and trusts to powers of attorney and health care directives—you can secure your family’s future and achieve true peace of mind.

If you’re ready to start your journey toward a thoughtfully comprehensive estate plan in Tennessee, contact me today. Let’s work together to protect what matters most to you.

I only practice estate planning—I create wills, trusts, and customized legal plans for my clients who want to ensure their kids and families are taken care of and protected after they’re gone and even before.  It’s the only thing I do, and that is very much on purpose.  It’s what I love to do for so many reasons and I’m truly blessed to be able to help people in and around Chattanooga every day.

 

I Get to Help My Clients

I practice estate planning because it’s proactive.  It allows me to help families avoid unnecessary pain, conflict, and financial stress before tragedy strikes.  Instead of reacting to bad situations and putting out expensive fires, I get to work alongside my clients to create legal plans that protect their loved ones and provide peace of mind.

My journey to estate planning wasn’t a straight line.  I started my career in litigation and family law, handling cases like divorces and custody battles.  While I have some fond memories from that time, I also have a lot of difficult ones.  Litigation was 100% reactive.  I was often thrown into situations where I could only respond to bad things that had already happened, and I couldn’t help but think about how it didn’t have to be that way.  One particular case still sticks with me.  It’s the story that led me to dedicate my career to estate planning.

A couple had passed away unexpectedly without naming a legal guardian for their young child.  They left behind plenty of family members who loved their child, but unfortunately, multiple people stepped forward to ask the court for custody.  The mom’s sister and the grandparents on the dad’s side both wanted to raise the child.  What should have been a blessing—having family ready to step up—turned into a truly awful legal battle.

The court had to decide where this child would live and, initially, the child was sent to live with the grandparents.  But just as he was beginning to settle into his new reality, he was ripped from their home and sent to live with the aunt.  The court battle lasted years.  Thousands of dollars were spent, relationships were broken, and the child was caught in the middle, being tossed back and forth while still grieving his parents.

Like most lawsuits, no one really won in that case, but the one who suffered most was the child.  And the most frustrating part?  It was all avoidable.  If the parents had done some basic estate planning, they could have named a guardian, and this nightmare never would have happened.

That case changed everything for me.  I decided that I wanted to help families avoid situations like that one.  I wanted to focus on solutions, not reactions.

Estate planning allows me to do exactly that.  I get to work with clients to ensure their kids and loved ones are taken care of, no matter what.  Instead of watching families tear each other apart in courtrooms, I help prevent those heartbreaking scenarios in the first place.

I recently worked with a client who had an adult special needs child and they were worried about what would happen after they were gone.  If they left too little money, their child might not have enough to live on.  If they left too much, their child could lose access to critical government assistance.  I designed a plan that gave them the best of both worlds and provided their child with access to their rightful inheritance while still preserving their eligibility for government benefits.

When I told my clients the good news, the relief on their faces was something that I will not soon forget.  That’s why I do this work.

When my clients look at their families, I want them to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing they’ve protected the people they love most.  They’ve taken the legal and financial pressure off their loved ones, so if the worst happens, their family can focus on grieving and healing—not on courtroom battles or financial worries.

I love being able to take that burden away from my clients.  I love being proactive.  And I love knowing that the plans I create will make a real, lasting difference for the people they care about most.

 

 I Love Estate Planning Because It’s Nerdy

Growing up as the son of a math professor and a hedge fund accountant, it’s safe to say the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.  Add to that my love for The Lord of the Rings trilogy of books, and it’s no surprise I’ve often been labeled a bit nerdy.  But when it comes to legal practice areas, estate planning is about as “nerdy” as it gets—and that’s one of the reasons I love it. Every case is a puzzle, and solving those puzzles is incredibly rewarding for me.

Estate planning is not something you can ever fully master.  It’s a constantly evolving field that demands ongoing learning and dedication.  No matter how many years you’ve been practicing, there’s always a new situation to tackle that comes with something new to learn.  And for someone like me, that’s part of the appeal.  I enjoy digging into the details, researching, and reading—always working to get just a little bit better and find more creative solutions to help my clients.

 

Having a Sole Focus on Estate Planning is What’s Best for my Clients

I chose to focus solely on estate planning so I can truly serve my clients in the best way possible.  Estate planning requires a level of dedication and knowledge that simply isn’t possible when it’s just one of many practice areas.  Unfortunately, many attorneys dabble in estate planning without fully committing to understanding its complexities.  The unfortunate result is that their clients are left with plans that often don’t meet their needs and sometimes create more problems than they solve.

I’ve had many clients come to me with estate plans they paid for years ago which they don’t fully understand and that certainly don’t provide the best solutions for their families.  These plans are often created by attorneys whose main focus lies elsewhere.  For example, someone might call their personal injury attorney, who did a fantastic job helping them after an accident, and ask for a will.  The attorney agrees, pulls out an old form from their desk or downloads a generic template, fills in the blanks, and calls it a day.

The problem with this approach is that estate planning is much more than just drafting legal documents.  A great estate plan requires thinking through countless contingencies and coming up with solutions to each family’s unique situation.  It’s the estate planning attorney’s job to anticipate every possible scenario, and those skills only come from focused experience and specific knowledge.

Even worse, most clients with these “bare-bones” estate plans weren’t educated on the options available to them in the first place or, worse, on what their estate plan actually does.  For instance, I’ve had clients bring me wills that they assumed would protect their families, only to learn that their loved ones would still face a lengthy and costly court process after they’re gone.

By focusing exclusively on estate planning, I’m able to provide something different: customized, comprehensive plans that truly address my clients’ unique situations and goals.  I take the time to educate my clients so that they can make the best decisions about their families’ futures.  This education also allows my clients to talk to their families about their estate plan in a meaningful way.  Once they are educated and able to make the best decisions, I design creative solutions that fit their needs and goals.

At the end of the day, I know I’m providing my clients with the best possible service and product.  And with that, the peace of mind that comes with having a thoughtful, well-crafted estate plan. That’s why I dedicate my practice entirely to estate planning.

 

If you’re ready to take the next step, contact our offices and schedule a call with me by clicking the link below.

We all work hard to build up what we have, so the idea of losing it to a lawsuit or creditor can be worrying.  The good news is that Tennessee offers some strong asset protection strategies that can help keep your assets safe.  In this post, we’ll break down five asset protection strategies, from basic statutory safeguards to more advanced measures like self-settled asset protection trusts, so you can feel confident that your hard-earned wealth is as secure as possible.

 

What is Asset Protection?

Asset protection is about strategically safeguarding your wealth from threats like lawsuits, creditors, bankruptcy, or divorce.  Unfortunately, many people are misled on this subject—often hearing from a friend or co-worker that simply placing assets in a trust makes them “untouchable.”  While certain trusts can offer some protection, they’re not always practical for everyone.  Let’s explore a few practical strategies and tools that many people may already be using unknowingly, plus one more extreme option involving a specific type of trust.

 

✅Some of Your Assets are Already Protected by Law

The first layer of asset protection involves statutory safeguards that automatically protect certain assets by law.  For example, federal law generally provides significant protection for retirement accounts like 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and IRAs from creditors.  Similarly, Tennessee state-sponsored retirement plans, such as the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS), enjoy protections under state law.  Life insurance policies are also protected and typically pass to beneficiaries free from creditor claims.

A certain amount of equity in your home may also be protected from creditors through something called the Homestead Exception.  Under the Tennessee Homestead Exception, if you were to face financial difficulties and creditors sought to seize your assets, they would generally be unable to take your home and all of your equity.  The amount of equity that is protected depends on your age, whether you own the home jointly with someone like your spouse, and whether you have minor children, with the amount protected ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 at the time of this post.

 

✅Your Marital Home is Protected from Creditors of One Spouse

We are fortunate to live in Tennessee when it comes to asset protection, as our state affords us many protections that other states do not.  One of these protections applies to a marital home.  Under this unique protection, spouses in Tennessee each own their marital home as a single legal entity—meaning both spouses are considered to own 100% of the property as opposed to a 50/50 split.  This structure protects the home from being seized by creditors of only one spouse.

For example, let’s say a husband and wife purchase a home together after they are married and one of them is a doctor.  If the doctor spouse makes a mistake with a patient and gets sued, the home cannot be taken through the lawsuit because the other spouse is not being sued and owns the home completely—it does not matter that the doctor spouse also owns the home completely.  In other words, since the spouse not involved in the lawsuit owns the entire home as well, creditors cannot force its sale.  This makes tenancy by the entirety a powerful tool for protecting your primary residence from individual creditor claims.  An important note here is that this protection ends after the death of a spouse.

 

Insurance is a Simple and Inexpensive Form of Asset Protection

A low-hanging fruit when it comes to asset protection is always insurance.  If someone is worried about exposure (liability), they are well advised to implement insurance policies for their specific concerns.  This means maxing out their home and auto insurance policies for maximum protection from lawsuits if someone injures themselves on their property or in a car accident.

For broader concerns, it is advisable to obtain coverage through an umbrella policy, which extends beyond the limits of your existing auto or home insurance, providing an additional layer of protection against lawsuits and other liabilities.  These umbrella policies offer a broad range of protection from lawsuits caused by many things and can also cover legal expenses.  On the other end of the spectrum, professional liability insurance is a very specific type of coverage that is important for anyone whose career comes with enhanced liability, like doctors and lawyers.

LLCs and Asset Isolation

For those who own income-generating assets like rental properties or a business, it’s important to keep those assets legally separate from your personal wealth.  If you own a personal residence for your family along with a rental property that you lease to tenants, and you own the rental property in your own name without an LLC, you may be exposed to unnecessary risk.  If a tenant sues after being injured at your rental property, all of your personal assets, including your home, could be subject to being seized through the lawsuit.

A better idea is to form an LLC that owns your rental property.  An LLC acts as a shield between the property and your personal assets.  In this case, the suing tenant could not typically pursue your personal family home or any of your other personal assets.  The LLC essentially puts a wall of insulation around the rental property.  (Note: there are other legal entities aside from LLCs, like corporations and limited partnerships, that may be better suited for specific businesses, situations, or assets.)

 

Self-Settled Asset Protection Trusts

The final strategy is a more drastic measure: a self-settled asset protection trust, often referred to as a Tennessee Investment Services Trust.  This trust allows you to shield certain assets from future creditors, but it comes at the cost of significant control.  To implement this type of trust, you must transfer the assets that you want to protect out of your own name and into the name of this trust.  While you can still benefit from the trust’s assets, an independent trustee must manage them, and the trust is irrevocable, meaning you cannot simply take back control and reclaim your assets into your own name.  Due to these restrictions, this strategy is best suited for individuals with substantial assets who have exhausted other options.

An important note here is that this type of trust only provides protection from threats that are not foreseeable at the time of the trust’s creation and only after a waiting period has passed.  For example, if a person finds out they are likely about to be sued and immediately creates this type of trust to avoid liability for that lawsuit, not only would the trust not provide the intended protection but it would also be considered fraudulent.

 

No Plan is Foolproof

These strategies provide some strong steps for protecting your assets, but no plan is entirely foolproof.  Each approach comes with its own limitations and potential exceptions, and the success of your plan depends on how well it’s tailored to your specific needs.  Additionally, both Tennessee and federal laws change over time, which could impact the protections you have in place.  That’s why it’s important to speak with an estate planning attorney who can help you navigate the complexities of estate planning and asset protection and keep your plan up-to-date over time. Contact our offices and schedule a call with me by clicking the link below.

When it comes to estate planning, the availability of cheap, quick, and DIY options can be attractive.  But what many people don’t realize is that these internet templates often lack the nuance and customization needed to fully protect your assets and loved ones.  Estate planning isn’t just about filling out forms, it’s about creating a legal plan specifically tailored to your family and circumstances.  Working with an experienced estate planning attorney not only ensures that your plan is legally sound and strategic, but also provides you with personalized guidance, ongoing support, and the peace of mind that your family is truly protected. In the long run, the risks of a DIY estate plan outweigh any initial savings.

Not Working with an Estate Planning Attorney Creates Risk for Your Family

There are less qualified options than working with an estate planning attorney available for families who may simply not know better.  Unaware of the complexities of estate planning, these families may turn to less qualified options.  In the legal community, these are often referred to as “bare bones” estate plans.  They involve wills and trusts that are often prepared by attorneys who do not focus on estate planning or sometimes even by non-attorneys.  Beware of these documents, as they might not comply with state law, often lack essential personalized planning, such as provisions for guardianship of minor children, asset protection strategies, or tax-saving mechanisms to protect your family, and frequently skip the follow-up work required to ensure the plan works as intended upon your death—often causing your family unnecessary expense, time, and stress.

Even worse, some people attempt to draft their own estate plans using online websites or software.  These are ultimately fill-in-the-blank form plans and are not designed to account for the specific requirements and nuances of state law.  Estate planning laws vary widely between states, and a document that works in one state might not be valid in another.  Additionally, I have personally seen judges outright refuse to accept documents submitted by individuals who created those documents using legal drafting websites like LegalZoom.  While DIY is perfectly fine for crafts or small home projects, I do not recommend going the DIY route for estate planning documents.  The bargain option can cost your family thousands after you’re gone, if it even works at all.

 

An Estate Planning Attorney Will Create a Custom Plan that Actually Works

Given these risks, it’s important to understand the value of working with a professional. A better idea than taking the DIY approach is to work with an attorney who specifically focuses on estate planning.  Estate planning is a unique area of law with many nuances, and having the luxury of a professional providing tailored advice can be the difference that gives you true peace of mind, knowing that you’ve protected your family.  One of the most important things that an estate planning attorney provides is education.  There are many moving parts to a comprehensive estate plan, not just a will or a trust.  This can create confusion when trying to learn the ins and outs by yourself, especially with so much conflicting information online.  A knowledgeable estate planning attorney can cut through the noise to make things simple and understandable.

An experienced estate planning attorney will ask detailed questions about your family and goals, using their experience to provide advice tailored to your unique situation.  No two families are the same, and neither should their estate plans be.  An estate plan for a family with one young child born during the marriage will have drastically different provisions than a plan created for a blended family with grown children.  With this in mind, advice that is personalized to each unique family is incredibly important and not possible from less qualified estate planning options.  Along with personalized advice, an estate planning attorney will lay out all the options available to you, discussing the pros and cons of each, and helping you determine which options may or may not be the best fit.

 

An Estate Planning Attorney Will be There for You and Your Family for Years to Come

Once a qualified estate planning attorney creates a customized estate plan, the service doesn’t end there.  Essential follow-up work, like updating beneficiary designations on investment accounts and life insurance policies and transferring your home and business to your validly created trust, is critical to ensuring your plan works as intended.  These important steps are often overlooked and can create nightmare scenarios if neglected.

Beyond that, estate planning is not a “set it and forget it” process.  As your life changes, so should your plan.  A dedicated estate planning attorney offers ongoing advice, helping your family when it matters most and updating your plan to reflect changes in your circumstances.  Often, people who are named in specific roles in estate plans do not necessarily know what to do after that person passes away and the time comes for them to act.  It is important to have someone who can guide your named individuals through this process—preferably someone familiar with your family and custom legal plan.  Not only is having an estate planning attorney there a benefit to your people after you’re gone, but it also provides support during your lifetime.  A true estate planning attorney takes pride not only in delivering a well-crafted legal plan but also in offering peace of mind that it’s done correctly, that you have someone to call whenever you have questions, and that they’re ready to review and update the plan for you—free of charge—at regular intervals as your family, finances, or goals change over time.

 

Your Family Deserves More than DIY Documents

In the end, estate planning is about much more than just filling out forms; it’s about ensuring your family and assets are properly protected for the long term.  While DIY solutions may seem cheap and convenient, they often fall short of providing the comprehensive protection and peace of mind that working with an experienced estate planning attorney offers.  By choosing professional guidance, you’ll benefit from a customized plan that addresses your unique needs and continues to adapt as your circumstances change.  When it comes to protecting your family, there’s no substitute for the experience and ongoing support of a dedicated estate planning attorney.  Our office is proud of the fact that our sole focus is on estate planning and that we are there for our clients and their families for years to come. Schedule an appointment with me today by clicking the link below.