Trust Attorney Tennessee
The architecture
of continuity.
A trust is the working document of an estate plan. Drafted carefully, funded patiently, it is what allows a family to grieve without a probate court at the table.
By Knight Lancaster, JD, CPA · Last reviewed May 2026
Drafted, funded, and read in one voice.
If you started looking after a parent's estate stalled in probate, a friend whose family is paying a nursing home from a beach house they meant to keep, an aunt whose revocable trust was never actually funded, you are already doing the protective work. A trust is the document that lets a family grieve without sitting through a public probate file. Drafted with care, it answers the questions before they are asked.
Most trusts do not honor that work. They are signed at a closing and then never funded, the deeds are never re-recorded, the brokerage accounts are never re-titled, and when the call comes the trust is a ceremonial document the family has to take to court anyway.
We start from the other direction, with what your trust will actually have to do, the day it matters. Revocable for the family that needs probate avoidance and incapacity continuity. Irrevocable where asset protection or TennCare sheltering is the work. Funded with discipline, with a follow-up calendar that catches the accounts opened next year and the property bought the year after that.
We coordinate the legal architecture with the tax basis and the eventual estate plan in one continuous reading. The kind of trust changes how much your children actually inherit. The way it is funded changes whether the home keeps its step-up in basis. The trustee you name decides whether the document reads like an instruction or an interpretation when the time comes.
What we draft.
Revocable living trust
The working document of the estate plan.
Probate avoided, incapacity covered by a successor trustee, and the estate kept private. Coordinated with a pour-over will so nothing falls outside the structure.
Asset protection trust
Irrevocable, where it fits.
Asset protection trusts and Medicaid asset protection trusts drafted to TennCare standards, with the step-up in basis preserved and the lookback respected.
Special needs trust
Inheritance that does not disqualify.
Third-party special needs trusts that hold an inheritance for a child or sibling without ending public benefits or shifting the burden onto a sibling.
Trust funding
The half most plans skip.
Deeds re-recorded, brokerage accounts re-titled, beneficiary forms aligned, and a written funding calendar so the trust does what it was drafted to do.
Revocable, or irrevocable.
| Revocable living trust | Irrevocable trust | |
|---|---|---|
| Probate court | Avoided when funded | Avoided when funded |
| Incapacity continuity | Successor trustee acts immediately | Trustee already in control |
| Changeable | Yes, by the grantor at any time | Yes, with exceptions |
| Asset protection from creditors | None during life | Yes, after the lookback runs |
| TennCare estate recovery | Estate recovery still reaches assets | MAPT shelters the home and other assets |
| Step-up in basis at death | Preserved | Preserved with grantor-trust drafting |
"A trust signed but not funded is a ceremonial document. Funded patiently, it is the working architecture of an estate."
The conversation worth bringing to your spouse.
What to say at the kitchen island
"If something happened to one of us, would the other be in probate court before the funeral was over?"
What a trust quietly answers
A funded revocable living trust transfers outside of probate, so the surviving spouse keeps signing authority on the day it matters most.
What to say at the kitchen island
"We have a trust from years ago. Is it actually doing anything?"
What a trust quietly answers
Most older trusts were never fully funded. We re-record the deeds, re-title the accounts, and align the beneficiary forms so the trust controls what it was meant to control.
What to say at the kitchen island
"What about the child who will need help her whole life?"
What a trust quietly answers
A third-party special needs trust holds her share without ending her benefits, and names a trustee who answers to her, not to a sibling who became the default.
Every trust choice has a money side. The kind of trust you create changes how much your children actually inherit. The way you fund a trust changes whether the home keeps its step-up in basis at death. The trustee you name changes the income tax bill on every distribution. 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 does its work in the months no one wants to remember, the one the family carries quietly between them instead of carrying to a courthouse the week after the funeral. 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 trust that reads in one voice when the family cannot.
Trusts, answered.
For many Tennessee families, yes. A will reads first in probate, which is public and runs six to eighteen months minimum under TCA Title 30. A funded revocable trust transfers outside of probate, plans for incapacity, and stays private. Most thoughtful plans use both, the trust as the working document and a pour-over will as a safety net.
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
Trusts 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
Build a trust that holds in Tennessee.