Estate Planning

You love your family , and you’ve done everything you can to provide them with the good things in life. Now that your children (or grandchildren) are approaching adulthood, however, you’re worried that maybe they’ve had things a little too easy. Could the wealth that...

When a person dies, they want to know that their wishes will be carried out in the form of the will that they create. Unfortunately, that does not always go according to plan. Some circumstances may warrant challenges to your will. A probate judge may invalidate your...

There are a few different ways that a person can make their wishes known about what happens to their assets when they die. Some choose to establish trusts to hand those assets to the proper people. Others might opt to use the will.  When creating a will, most people...

Estate planning involves a lot of choices. Many people ultimately use "payable on death" (POD) designations for things like their bank accounts, retirement funds, stocks and other investments to make sure that they are directed to the appropriate beneficiary....

Once you create an estate plan, you should sit down with your family members and discuss the contents of it with them. This gives you a chance to explain any decisions you've made -- and it gives your family a chance to ask the questions that concern them. For some,...

Many Tennessee residents may not know whether they really need an estate plan. You may have recently asked yourself this question and now want information that may help you decide whether creating a plan is in your interests. In a general sense, if you are an adult...

As you contemplate the many options you have for estate planning, one option is often given short shrift — the spendthrift trust. Partly because of its name, this type of trust does not always get the respect it deserves as a viable means of passing wealth down to...

Making decisions for yourself is important, but what if a day comes when you can no longer do so? While it might be hard to imagine, this is a possibility you need to plan for. In Tennessee, one of the best ways to do this is to choose a health care proxy. A health...

The idea of the traditional household consisting of two married parents living with children is not necessarily reality for most people in Tennessee. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that only 19% of American households actually resemble this type of family...

When creating an estate plan, many Tennessee residents believe that their assets are the most important part. After all, the main topic that most people are concerned with in regard to settling an estate is who gets the remaining assets. However, in addition to the...