Tennessee living trusts & estate documents

Living trust law in Tennessee

A revocable living trust holds your home, accounts, and other property during your life — you stay in full control as trustee and can change or revoke it any time — then passes it to your beneficiaries without probate when you're gone. In Tennessee, trusts are governed by the Tennessee Uniform Trust Code, T.C.A. §35-15-101 et seq..

Avoiding probate in Tennessee

Probate in Tennessee is governed by the T.C.A. Titles 30–32 and handled by the Chancery Court, or a separate Probate Court in the counties that have one. Probate is handled in chancery court, or in a dedicated probate or general sessions court in some counties (T.C.A. 16-16-201). Tennessee law allows the estate inventory to be excused by the will or by all residuary beneficiaries (T.C.A. 30-2-301), and detailed court accountings to be waived the same way, leaving an annual status report instead (T.C.A. 30-2-601).

Tennessee's Small Estates Act provides a simplified procedure — limited letters of administration — for personal property of $50,000 or less (T.C.A. §§ 30-4-102, 30-4-103). That simplified procedure is set out in Small Estates Act, T.C.A. §30-4-101. A funded living trust passes outside probate entirely, whatever the size of the estate — which is why Tennessee homeowners in particular set one up.

In Tennessee, creditors generally have 4 months from the first published notice, with a 12-month absolute bar from death to file claims against the estate (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-307) — one reason court probate takes time that a funded trust avoids.

Estate and inheritance tax in Tennessee

Tennessee imposes no estate tax and no inheritance tax, and no state income tax: Tennessee has no estate, inheritance, or wage income tax. The separate federal estate tax reaches only estates above $15 million per person (2026, adjusted yearly), so most families never owe it.

Protecting a surviving spouse in Tennessee

A surviving spouse in Tennessee who is left out of the will can instead claim an elective share scaled to the length of the marriage — 10% to 40% of the net estate under Tenn. Code Ann. § 31-4-101 — a protection the will itself cannot override.

Tennessee also sets aside exempt property up to $50,000 plus a year's support allowance for a surviving spouse and minor children (Tenn. Code Ann. § 30-2-101), protected ahead of most creditors.

Signing your Tennessee documents

1. Sign the living trust. Executed and acknowledged before a notary.
2. Sign the will. Two witnesses; notarized self-proving affidavit included (standalone and pour-over wills).
3. Sign the power of attorney. Sign your Durable Power of Attorney before a Notary Public.
4. Sign the health care documents. Sign your Advance Health Care Directive in the presence of two adult witnesses and before a Notary Public, as the form’s execution block provides.
5. Follow your package instructions. Your package includes page-by-page signing instructions written for Tennessee — follow those as the authoritative guide.

Serving all of Tennessee

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