The last weeks of the year are busy across Tennessee. Families travel, adult children come home to Murfreesboro, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, and towns in between, and many people finally have a few quiet days to look at paperwork they have been putting off. That makes this a good time to review an estate plan - not because a new calendar year magically changes Tennessee law, but because a plan only works when it still matches your family, your property, and the people you trust to act for you.
If your will or trust was signed years ago, or if your family has changed since then, use this five-part year-end checklist before 2027. Each part includes what to look for, a practical example, and the problem the update is meant to prevent. You may find that everything is still in order. You may also find one missing document, one unfunded trust asset, or one outdated name that would cause real problems later. Finding that problem now, while you can correct it calmly, is far better than leaving your family to find it during a medical emergency or after a death.
Before you start: gather the plan you already have
Put every estate document in one place: your will, any codicils, your trust and amendments, deeds, financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney, advance directive or living will, HIPAA authorization, and beneficiary forms you can access. Add recent statements for major accounts, the deed for your home, and a list of life insurance and retirement accounts. You do not need to solve every question before you begin. The first job is simply to see whether the documents, the titles, and the beneficiary forms tell the same story.
Year-end gathering checklist:
- Will, codicils, trust, and every amendment.
- Deed for your home and any other real estate.
- Financial and health care powers of attorney.
- Advance directive or living will and HIPAA authorization.
- Life insurance and retirement account beneficiary information.
- Bank and investment account statements showing how accounts are titled.
- Business documents if you own an LLC, corporation, or partnership interest.
- Contact information for every person named in a decision-making role.
1. Make sure your will still names the right people
A will does more than say who inherits. It can name the personal representative who should settle your estate and, for parents of young children, the guardian who should raise them if neither parent can. Those people have demanding jobs. The right person five years ago may not be the right person today.
Read the names, not just the property list. Has your personal representative moved away, become ill, or reached a point where the job would be too much? Have you named a successor if that person cannot serve? Do the guardians for your children still share your values, live in a workable place, and have the capacity to take on the role? Has a named person died? Has there been a marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, or falling-out since you signed?
Example: the guardian who moved across the country
A Murfreesboro couple named the wife's sister as guardian when she lived in Smyrna and saw the children every week. She has since moved across the country, remarried, and has two young children of her own. She might still be the right choice, but the couple should talk with her instead of assuming. If she is no longer willing, the will should name a new guardian and a backup. Otherwise, a Tennessee court may have to decide who raises the children without clear written guidance from the parents.
Example: the estate representative who is now overwhelmed
A father named his oldest son as personal representative because the son lived nearby and was good with paperwork. The son now cares for his own spouse and works a job that keeps him traveling. The father may want to keep him in the role, choose another child, or name a different trusted person. What matters is that the choice is deliberate and the person knows what is expected.
Without a valid will, Tennessee intestacy law decides who inherits. A surviving spouse, children, or other relatives may receive interests under the statute, and the court process determines who administers the estate. That result may not match what you would have chosen. Even with a will, an outdated guardian or representative can create delay and disagreement at the worst possible time. If you do not have a will at all, this is the place to start.
2. Check whether your trust is actually funded
A revocable living trust can help property pass to the people you name without the same probate process that may apply to property left in an individual name. It can also give a successor trustee instructions for managing property if you become unable to manage it yourself. But a signed trust is only the first step. The trust generally controls only the property that has been transferred into it, and that transfer process is called funding.
Walk through your major assets one at a time. Has the deed for your home been handled the way your plan requires? Are bank and investment accounts titled or directed consistently with the plan? Have you bought or sold property since the trust was signed? Did a refinance, a bank merger, a move, or a new account leave something outside the trust? Do you have a pour-over will to catch property that was left out?
Why funding mistakes are so common
Funding mistakes rarely come from carelessness. Life simply keeps moving after the signing appointment. A family opens a new savings account in an individual name because the bank paperwork is quick. A couple refinances a house and never checks the deed afterward. Parents buy a rental property or open an account for a grandchild and forget to connect it to the plan. The documents look complete in a drawer, but the titles tell a different story.
Example: the refinanced Murfreesboro home
A couple created and funded a trust, then refinanced their Murfreesboro home two years later. During the refinance, the title paperwork changed. They assumed the home was still in the trust because it had been transferred once. At the year-end review, they compare the current deed with the trust and discover the mismatch. Correcting the problem now is a manageable paperwork task. Discovering it after one spouse dies could mean extra court involvement that the trust was designed to reduce.
A trust review should compare the documents with the actual records. That comparison - trust, deed, account title, beneficiary form - is what shows whether the plan will work the way the family expects.
3. Update powers of attorney and health care documents
Estate planning is not only about death. If you were in the hospital tomorrow, someone might need legal authority to pay bills, deal with a bank, talk with an insurer, handle property, or communicate your health care wishes. The documents that can help while you are alive are different from a will.
A durable financial power of attorney names an agent who can handle financial and legal matters within the authority the document grants. A health care power of attorney and advance directive address medical decisions and end-of-life wishes. A HIPAA authorization can help the people you choose receive health information they need to do their job. Dale Law Group helps Tennessee families with durable financial powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, advance health care directives and living wills, and HIPAA authorizations.
Questions to ask about every agent
- Is the agent still the person you trust most for that specific job?
- Is a successor agent named if the first person cannot act?
- Does your agent know they were named, and do they know where the document is?
- Have phone numbers, addresses, or relationships changed?
- Do your health care documents still reflect the care you would want?
- Would a bank or hospital be able to reach your agent in an emergency?
Example: the college-age child
Many parents are surprised to learn that turning 18 changes what a parent can automatically access or decide for a child. A college student in Knoxville or Nashville who is hospitalized may need a parent to speak with doctors or help with bills and school paperwork. Health care and financial documents signed by the adult child can give a chosen parent clear authority. This is one reason a year-end review should include young adult children, not only grandparents.
Families often discover an incapacity gap when a parent is hospitalized or a spouse has surgery. Signing while you are healthy is far easier than asking a court about guardianship or conservatorship during a crisis.
4. Review beneficiary designations and account titles
Some property does not pass under a will or trust in the way families expect. Beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death directions on other accounts, may control those specific assets. A perfectly updated will cannot fix a beneficiary form that still names the wrong person.
Make a list of every life insurance policy, retirement account, annuity, bank account with a payable-on-death name, investment account with a transfer-on-death direction, and real estate or vehicle title. Then compare that list with your will and trust. Look for a former spouse, a deceased person, a minor child named directly, a missing contingent beneficiary, or a designation that conflicts with a plan for a blended family or a child who needs support over time.
Example: the old life insurance form
A Franklin man updated his will after remarriage so his new spouse and his children from his first marriage would each receive a defined share. He did not check an older life insurance policy, which still named only his former spouse. Depending on the policy and the facts, the form could send the entire benefit in a direction his new will never intended. A beneficiary review does not guarantee one outcome in every case, but it is how a family finds and corrects the mismatch before it becomes a dispute.
A caution about retirement accounts
Do not retitle a retirement account or change its beneficiary based only on a general checklist. IRAs, 401(k) plans, and similar accounts have tax and plan rules that can make a casual change expensive. The year-end goal is to spot mismatches and bring them to your review, not to make every designation name the trust. Sometimes naming the trust is appropriate; sometimes it is not. The type of account, your spouse's rights, your children's ages, and tax considerations all matter.
5. Tell the right people where the plan lives
A careful plan is hard to use if no one can find it. Before the holidays, make sure your personal representative and successor trustee know they were named. They should know where the signed documents are kept, how to reach your lawyer, and what to do first in an emergency. Your financial agent should be able to reach the power of attorney without searching the house. Your health care agent should know how to obtain the directive and whom to call at the hospital.
You do not need to share every financial detail with the whole family. You do need a practical path for the people who will be asked to act. Consider a one-page instruction letter that lists the location of documents, the names and phone numbers of your lawyer, accountant, and financial adviser, the institutions where accounts are held, and any funeral or burial wishes. Store passwords and digital access information securely and separately, with instructions your family can lawfully use when the time comes.
Example: the document no one could find
After a Smyrna father died, his daughter knew he had signed a trust, but she did not know whether the original was at his house, at a bank, or with his lawyer. She spent the first week after his death searching closets and calling institutions while also planning a service and helping her mother. A five-minute conversation during the holidays - where the trust is, who the successor trustee is, and which lawyer holds a copy - would have removed that stress completely.
Special situations that need more than a checklist
Blended families. A plan should say clearly what goes to a spouse, what goes to children from a prior relationship, and when. Trusts, beneficiary forms, and titles must work together, or one document can undo another.
A child or beneficiary with a disability. An inheritance left directly to a person who relies on means-tested benefits can create problems. A special needs trust may be part of the answer, but it must be coordinated with the rest of the plan.
Business owners. If you formed an LLC, corporation, or partnership, ask whether your ownership interest, operating agreement, and buy-sell arrangements match your estate plan. Dale Law Group also helps with business formation. Formation alone does not move a house or accounts out of your personal name.
Long-term care and Medicaid concerns. Do not transfer a house or give away property before the plan is reviewed. Medicaid has a look-back period, and a gift can delay benefits. Questions about Medicaid planning and long-term care planning should be addressed before assets are moved, not after.
A loved one has already died. Updating your own plan is different from settling someone else's estate. Dale Law Group helps with probate administration and trust administration, including collecting property, addressing bills and creditor issues, keeping records, and transferring assets to the right people.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a Tennessee estate plan be reviewed?
Review it after a marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, death, move, or major change in what you own. Even without a major event, a periodic review can catch outdated agents, unfunded trust assets, and beneficiary forms that no longer match the plan.
Is a will enough, or do I need a trust?
For many families a will is the central document. A revocable living trust may be worth discussing when you want property to pass with less court involvement, when privacy matters, or when a beneficiary should receive support over time. Many plans use both a trust and a pour-over will.
What happens if I die without a will in Tennessee?
Tennessee intestacy law decides who inherits. A spouse, children, or other relatives may receive interests under the statute, and a court process determines who administers the estate. The result may differ from the people and shares you would have chosen.
I signed my trust. Why do I still need to do anything?
Signing creates the trust. Funding connects property to it. Review your deeds and account titles to make sure the property you expect the trust to control was actually transferred or directed correctly.
Can I update my plan even if it was written in another state?
Yes, a Tennessee review is a sensible first step after a move. Bring the existing documents so they can be compared with Tennessee signing, probate, and property issues and with your current family circumstances.
What should I bring to an estate plan review?
Bring your will, trust, powers of attorney, health care documents, deeds, and a list of major accounts, insurance policies, retirement accounts, and beneficiaries. Bring questions about any person named in the plan whose role may need to change.
Does Dale Law Group offer a way to learn the basics first?
Yes. Carolyn D. Dale leads a free 45-minute Wills and Trusts Workshop on Zoom for people who want the basics before booking.
Start 2027 with a plan your family can find and use
Dale Law Group, PLLC is based at 2615 Medical Center Parkway Suite 1560 in Murfreesboro and serves clients across the entire state of Tennessee - from Memphis to Knoxville, Chattanooga to Nashville, and every community in between. Founding attorney Carolyn D. Dale explains wills, trusts, and probate in plain English and helps families put their wishes in writing. Call 866-576-5317 to talk about reviewing your Tennessee estate plan before the holidays.