Franklin Estate Planning Lawyer

Are you looking for an estate planning lawyer in Franklin, TN?

At Patterson Bray PLLC, we are trusted estate planning counsel for individuals, families, and business owners throughout Franklin.

If you need to decide who will manage your finances, make your medical decisions, and receive your property, a Franklin, TN estate planning lawyer can put those choices into documents that hospitals, banks, and courts will recognize. A complete plan addresses both incapacity and death.

Our firm has advised Tennessee clients for more than 20 years and has served over 1,000 clients. We prepare plans for young parents, retirees, and owners of closely held companies from our Brentwood and Memphis offices. Reach out to schedule a free consultation and a review of your current plan.

Estate Planning Lawyer Franklin, TN

An estate planning lawyer helps you decide what should happen to your property, your health care, and your minor children if you die or can no longer act for yourself. The lawyer then prepares the documents that carry out those decisions. Because incapacity often arrives before death, an estate planning attorney in Franklin typically prepares health care and financial documents alongside a will or trust.

Persons 65 and older made up 14.7% of Franklin’s population in the most recent Census Bureau estimates. Powers of attorney and advance directives matter at every age, but they’re often the most urgent part of the plan for older residents and their adult children. Those documents are far easier to sign before a medical emergency.

Types of Estate Planning Cases We Handle in Franklin

Estate planning in Franklin ranges from a single will to a multi-entity plan for a family business. Our estate planning attorneys in Franklin, TN handle each of the matters below, and many clients need several of them at once. The right combination depends on your assets, your family, and how much control you want over future distributions.

• Wills. A will names the people who receive your property, the executor who settles your estate, and the guardian who will raise your minor children. We draft wills for simple estates and for clients who need detailed specific gifts, and we coordinate each will with any trust in the plan.
• Trusts. Revocable, irrevocable, and special needs trusts let you control when and how beneficiaries receive assets. A funded trust can also keep property out of court after your death. We prepare the funding documents at the same time as the trust.
• Probate. When a loved one dies, the estate may need court supervision before assets can be transferred. We guide executors and administrators from the first filing to the final distribution. That work includes inventories, creditor notices, and accountings.
• Powers of attorney. A durable financial power of attorney names someone to pay bills and manage accounts if you can’t. Without one, your family may need to seek a court-ordered conservatorship.
• Advance directives. These documents record your treatment wishes and name a health care agent. We prepare them with the rest of your plan so your medical and financial decisions stay consistent. Copies should go to your physicians and your named agent.
• Asset protection planning. Professionals who face malpractice or construction claims often need asset protection strategies. Planning should begin long before a lawsuit or creditor claim appears, and we often coordinate it with LLCs and similar entities.
• Business succession planning. Owners of closely held companies need a plan for who will run the business and who will own it. We coordinate planning for business owners with buy-sell arrangements and entity documents. The plan also addresses what happens if an owner becomes incapacitated.
• Estate and gift tax planning. Larger estates may benefit from lifetime gifts, charitable arrangements, and trust structures that reduce estate tax exposure. We review these options with an eye on both current and future family needs.

Why Choose Patterson Bray PLLC as My Estate Planning Lawyer in Franklin, TN?

A Practice Focused on Wealth, Tax, and Succession

Estate planning is a primary focus of Larry R. Bray, whose work covers wills and trusts, asset protection, charitable giving, business succession, and taxes. He’s presented to estate planning professionals for WealthCounsel, ePlanners, the University of Mississippi’s Mid-South Conference on Estate Planning, and the Teton Institute. Peers have given Larry the highest Martindale-Hubbell AV rating, and he is a member of the Memphis Estate Planning Council. His admission to the United States Tax Court gives clients an estate planning lawyer in Franklin, TN who can address tax, business, and family questions within one plan.

Planning Outcomes From Larry Bray’s Practice

Our firm has served more than 1,000 clients. Larry’s documented planning results show what careful structuring can accomplish for families and business owners:

1. A physician combined asset protection with estate tax planning, settled a lawsuit for a fraction of the original demand, and moved $5 million to heirs free of estate tax.
2. A $10 million company passed to new ownership at an owner’s death without court involvement or added tax cost.
3. A contractor’s $7 million in assets stayed protected when creditors later pursued a claim.

Understanding Estate Planning Cases

What Are Important Aspects of an Estate Planning Case?

Most plans our estate planning lawyers in Franklin prepare succeed or fail on decisions made in the first meetings. The following issues call for particular care.

1. Incapacity planning. Your plan should name the people who will handle your money and medical care during a long illness, not only after death.
2. Minor children. Parents should name a guardian and decide how a child’s inheritance will be managed, as our guidance on planning for dependent children explains.
3. Blended families. Second marriages raise questions about providing for a spouse while preserving assets for children from an earlier relationship, including whether to disinherit a relative.
4. Current documents. Marriages, divorces, births, and moves can make an older plan inaccurate, so we recommend a set schedule to update your estate plan.

Key Estate Planning Documents and What They Do

Each document in a plan governs a different set of decisions.

• A last will and testament directs how probate property is distributed and who serves as executor.
• A revocable living trust holds assets during your life and passes them to beneficiaries without court supervision.
• A durable power of attorney authorizes an agent to handle financial matters if you become incapacitated.
• An advance directive, often completed on the State of Tennessee’s advance directive forms, states your treatment preferences and appoints a health care agent.
• Beneficiary designations control retirement accounts and life insurance, and they take priority over the terms of a will.

What Should You Bring to Your Estate Planning Consultation?

A clear picture of what you own and whom you want to provide for makes the first meeting more productive. We recommend bringing these items.

• A list of your assets with approximate values, including real estate, bank and investment accounts, and retirement plans
• Copies of existing wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other important personal documents
• Names of the people you are considering as executor, trustee, guardian, and agents
• Life insurance policies and current beneficiary forms
• Ownership documents for any business interests

At the consultation, we discuss your goals, identify gaps in any existing plan, and recommend the documents that fit your circumstances. We then summarize the recommended next steps in plain terms.

What Is The Estate Planning Case Timeline?

An estate plan from a Franklin, TN estate planning attorney needs attention long after the documents are signed. A typical engagement follows these stages.

• Consultation and review of assets, family circumstances, and existing documents
• Preparation of draft documents and a meeting to review them
• Formal signing with the required witnesses and notary
• Funding of any trust and updating of beneficiary designations
• Periodic reviews after major life events or changes to federal estate tax rules

Williamson County Probate Court and Local Resources

Williamson County has no separate probate court. Decedents’ estates go before Chancery Court instead, with the four Circuit Judges of the 21st Judicial District presiding. The county’s Circuit Court Judges page notes that those judges keep offices in the Williamson County Judicial Center at 135 Fourth Avenue South in Franklin. A well-structured plan from a Franklin estate planning lawyer can reduce how much of your estate must pass through that court.

Families planning for an aging parent can also turn to the Greater Nashville Regional Council. As the regional aging agency for Williamson County, GNRC offers Medicare counseling, caregiver support, and in-home service referrals.

Reach Out to Patterson Bray PLLC to Schedule a Consultation

The best time to complete an estate plan is while you’re healthy and able to make every decision yourself. Franklin residents can meet with Patterson Bray PLLC at no charge, whether they need a first plan or a second look at older documents. Our phones are answered around the clock, so you can reach us when it’s convenient. Contact us to arrange a meeting.