Estate Planning Attorney Tennessee
The first sentence of your
estate plan.
A will is the single document that decides what your family does first. We help you write it the way you would speak it.
By Knight Lancaster, JD, CPA · Last reviewed May 2026
Estate planning in Tennessee is three quieter conversations: the will that reads first, the trust that does the work, and the elder-law plan that spares the family a panicked decision.
If you started looking after something happened to someone close, an aunt who died without a plan, a friend's father who can no longer sign his own name, you are already doing the protective work. Estate planning in Tennessee is the deliberate work of arranging the assets, the documents, the deeds, and the beneficiary forms so that what you have built passes the way you intended. It is the plan first, and the paperwork second: the will that holds in probate, the trust that owns the assets, and the powers that prevent a chancery court conservatorship.
Done well, it is also the tax conversation running in parallel. The basis step-up at death, the gifting strategy that fits your bracket, the TennCare lookback used as a tool rather than feared as a trap. We read both halves at once because the seam between counsel and CPA is where most plans quietly fail.
What we draft.
Wills
The document that reads first.
A will for your specific family, not a template, coordinated with every account and deed so the document and the file cabinet agree.
Trusts
The document that does the work.
Revocable and irrevocable trust planning for probate avoidance, incapacity, and the tax and title work that makes a home easier to pass on.
Elder law
The plan that spares the family a panicked decision.
Medicaid planning, the five-year lookback, and incapacity documents, written before the diagnosis turns the conversation into a crisis.
Pre-planning, or planning at the crisis.
| Pre-planning, five years out | Crisis planning, after the diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| Probate court | Avoided when the trust is properly funded | Required, six to eighteen months under TCA Title 30 |
| Public record | Private | Yes — probate filings are open to the public |
| Incapacity coverage | Successor trustee acts immediately | None — chancery conservatorship may be needed |
| Names a guardian for minor children | Yes — in the will or the pour-over will that funds the trust | Yes, but often decided in a hurry |
"The point is not just to qualify for Medicaid. The point is to protect the equity in your home from being used to pay Medicaid liability claims."
The conversation worth bringing to your spouse.
What to say at the kitchen island
"If something happened to you tomorrow, would I have any idea what to do?"
What a will quietly answers
The estate plan includes a will or trust, but it also includes the plan, so that the people you love know what to do.
What to say at the kitchen island
"I do not want our children to be at the mercy of whichever judge is on the bench that day."
What a will quietly answers
A will names the guardian you choose. Tennessee courts almost always defer to that choice.
What to say at the kitchen island
"We have done well. I want it to land where we planned."
What a will quietly answers
Specific bequests, residual shares, and contingencies live in the document, not in someone's memory.
Every estate planning choice has a money side. The kind of trust you create changes how much your children actually inherit. The way you title a home changes whether your family pays tax on it later. The timing of a gift can save the family thousands or cost them just as much. As a CPA, Knight sees the money side and the legal side at the same time, so the plan he writes is the one that leaves your family the most. Tennessee bar admitted, dually licensed as a Certified Public Accountant, recognized in Best Lawyers in America.
A will that holds up in Tennessee probate, drafted by an attorney and CPA recognized in Best Lawyers in America.
Wills, answered.
Yes. Tennessee intestacy passes some assets to a surviving spouse, but not always all of them, and never with the specifics most families want recorded. The will is also where guardianship of minor children is named, which intestacy cannot do.
Estate Planning, the umbrella
Estate planning at Lancaster Law spans three silos.
Reviewed by Knight Lancaster, JD, CPA, MBA
Knight Lancaster is the founder of Lancaster Law, P.C. and The Lancaster CPA Firm, P.C. He is one of a small number of attorneys in Tennessee who is also a licensed CPA, giving him a dual perspective on estate planning and the tax consequences that drive it. Knight has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch (Corporate Law), in 2023 and 2024, and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Attorney-CPAs. He earned his JD and MBA from Belmont University (he was the first graduate of Belmont's joint JD/MBA program) and a BS in Accounting from the University of Tennessee.
Read Knight's full bio|Book My Planning Call
This article is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice specific to your situation, contact Lancaster Law directly.
Tennessee Bar
Practicing since 2019
Triple credential
JD · CPA · MBA
Peer-reviewed
Best Lawyers, Ones to Watch, 2023 + 2024
National board
American Academy of Attorney-CPAs, Director
Estate planning across Tennessee.
Nashville
1316 Adams St
Nashville, TN 37208
By appointment · 615.649.4660
Franklin
725 Cool Springs Blvd, Suite 600
Franklin, TN 37067
By appointment · 615.649.4660
Knoxville
800 S Gay Street, Suite 700
Knoxville, TN 37929
By appointment · 865.448.7246
Chattanooga
200 W MLK Blvd, Suite 1000
Chattanooga, TN 37402
By appointment · 423.799.2865
Jackson
118 N Liberty Street
Jackson, TN 38301
By appointment · 731.318.4980
Clarksville
1860 Wilma Rudolph Blvd
Clarksville, TN 37040
By appointment · 931.575.6115
Memphis
1661 International Drive
Memphis, TN 38120
By appointment · 901.350.4730
Plan your TN estate with us.