Will 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
A will that says what you would say.
If you started looking after something happened to someone close, an aunt who died without a will, a friend's father whose family is now untangling a probate file in front of strangers, you are already doing the protective work. A will names the executor, directs the inheritance, and gives your family one less thing to argue about. It is the legal voice you leave behind, and the simplest gift you can give the people you love before life decides the timing for you.
Most wills do not honor that work. They are drafted from a template, signed in a hurry, and quietly contradicted by a beneficiary form on a retirement account. We start from the other direction, with what your family will see, the day it matters.
Guardianship for minor children. Specific bequests that mean what you intend. Executors named with care. Coordinated with every account, deed, and beneficiary form so the will and the file cabinet say the same thing.
For Tennesseans, we draft to the state code so the document holds in probate court. For families with property in another state, we coordinate with local counsel in every state involved, so a vacation home in Florida or a rental in North Carolina does not turn into ancillary probate the children have to manage from a distance.
What we draft.
Last will & testament
The document, drafted to last.
A will written for your specific family, not a template, coordinated with every account and deed in your name so the document and the file cabinet agree.
Guardianship
Who raises the children.
Primary and successor guardians, named with care, with a separate trustee to hold and steward the inheritance until the children are ready.
Executors & bequests
Voice carried into instruction.
Executors named with judgment, not by default. Specific bequests written so the family does not have to interpret them later.
Will, or will paired with a trust.
| A will alone | A will paired with a funded revocable trust | |
|---|---|---|
| Probate court | Required, six to eighteen months under TCA Title 30 | Avoided when funded |
| Public record | Yes | No |
| Incapacity coverage | None | Successor trustee acts immediately |
| Names a guardian for minor children | Yes | Yes — through the pour-over will that funds the trust |
"What you leave behind, and how."
What a will does not do, and what to add.
The gap a will leaves
Probate court is unavoidable. Every will-only estate is filed publicly and runs six to eighteen months minimum.
The document that fills it
A funded revocable living trust transfers outside of probate. See the revocable living trust.
The gap a will leaves
A will is silent if you become incapacitated. Your spouse cannot sign for you.
The document that fills it
A durable power of attorney and an advance healthcare directive cover lifetime decisions.
The gap a will leaves
Beneficiaries' own creditors can reach inherited assets the moment they pass.
The document that fills it
Trust language with spendthrift provisions, or a separate asset protection trust for higher-net-worth families.
The conversation worth bringing to your spouse.
What to say at the kitchen island
"If something happened to me tomorrow, would you actually know what I wanted?"
What a will quietly answers
The will writes it down so neither of you has to guess, and so your family does not argue about it later.
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 sounds like you when you are not there to say it, the document the family reads at the table together instead of arguing over what you would have wanted. The work is meant to feel quiet, on the day it has to. Tennessee bar admitted, dually licensed as a Certified Public Accountant, recognized in Best Lawyers in America.
A will the family reads in your voice.
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 (a trust handles this through a pour-over will), 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
Begin your will in Tennessee.