by Joel Roettger | May 3, 2018 | Estate Planning, Probate
Tennessee has a statute for that. T.C.A. §§ 32-1-201 and 32-1-202 set forth the exclusive means of revoking a will under Tennessee law. As discussed in a previous post, Section 202 addresses revocation as a result of divorce or annulment. Section 201 lists four other...
by Joel Roettger | Mar 29, 2018 | Estate Planning, Probate
Under Tennessee law, does revocation of a last will and testament automatically reinstate the immediately preceding last will? No: It is well-settled that the mere fact that a decedent destroyed his or her last will does not warrant a finding that the decedent...
by Joel Roettger | Dec 14, 2017 | Estate Planning, Probate
Is a contract to make a will enforceable under Tennessee law? Yes. Tennessee specifically authorizes contracts to: Make a will or devise, Not to revoke a will or devise, and To die intestate However, such contracts can only be established by: Provisions of a will...
by Teresa Klenk | Dec 13, 2017 | Estate Planning, Probate
When a family member dies, the person selected as the executor of the estate is often one of the largest causes of family discord. In some cases, the other family members feel slighted, even if they never wanted to be the executor. In other cases, when family members...
by Joel Roettger | Nov 12, 2017 | Estate Planning, Probate
In a recent case, the Tennessee Court of Appeals found that a settlor failed in her do-it-yourself approach to estate planning. Decedent died in 2015. She left behind two daughters, a son, and two grandchildren. Presumably the grandchildren were the descendants of a...