Blog Posts in 2018

• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 3-Dec-2018

  Grandparents Seeking Guardianship in Tennessee

  Are you a grandparent who is seeking legal custody or guardianship of your grandchild? If so, this post is intended to give you a brief overview of what those entail. If you are given legal custody of your grandchild, he or she will live with you and ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 5-Nov-2018

  Creating an Estate Plan When You're Elderly or Ill

  Not everyone runs to an estate planning attorney’s office to draw up their estate planning documents, but everyone should. The problem is it can be hard for some people to think about dying or what will happen to their loved ones after their ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 4-Oct-2018

  FAQs About Probate in Nashville

  When clients come to my firm, a lot of times it’s their first experience with probate. They don’t know much about it and sometimes, they don’t know anything at all. If your loved one died and you were surprised to learn that their ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 5-Sep-2018

  Avoiding Probate with a Revocable Living Trust

  Even if you’re only slightly familiar with “ estate planning,” you’ve almost certainly heard about wills and revocable living trusts. You may not however, understand the differences between a will and a trust or the full ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 8-Aug-2018

  4 Reasons Why Beneficiaries Are Important

  Where you’re standing right now, you probably have a number of accounts with beneficiary designations. But, when was the last time you took a fresh look at those beneficiaries? If you hurriedly scribbled down your spouse or children decades ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 17-Jul-2018

  Admitting a Will to Probate

  In Tennessee, if you are at least eighteen and of sound mind, you can create a will as long as you create the will in accordance with state law. In order for a will to be authenticated, it must be proven to the court that it was created per the ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 13-Jun-2018

  Estate Planning: Not Just for the Wealthy

  A lot of people mistakenly believe that estate planning is only for millionaires and billionaires. The truth is that everyone should have a basic estate plan, regardless of their income or assets. When you have an estate plan, it minimizes the ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 9-May-2018

  What Are My Responsibilities as a Renter?

  Renting is quite different than home ownership because renters are not usually responsible for home repairs. For example, if a roof is leaking, it’s the landlord’s responsibility to repair the leak. Or, if there are tree roots clogging ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 6-Apr-2018

  "What do I bring to my first meeting with the attorney?"

  I get this question all the time. The answer depends on how quickly you are going to want to get filed. Of course, it never hurts to bring everything your attorney will need to get your documents completed. The more documents you have, the better ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 5-Apr-2018

  What is a Deathbed Will?

  When someone is facing imminent death, he or she may decide to draft a will, or tear up their old will and sign a new one – this is often referred to as a “deathbed will.” Unfortunately, when someone is weeks, days, or even hours ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 6-Mar-2018

  Should Digital Assets Be in Your Estate Plan?

  What’s going to happen to your social media accounts when you pass away? Your Facebook? Your LinkedIn? Your Instagram? What about all the songs you downloaded and paid for from Pandora, Amazon Music or iTunes? If you’re like most people, ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 6-Feb-2018

  Shielding Yourself from Lawsuits

  As you’re probably well-aware, we live in a sue happy society, one where people seem to turn to seek damages at every turn. In the United States, millions of civil cases are filed every year in our courts. For certain professionals and license ...

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• Posted By David Whittaker, Attorney at Law 9-Jan-2018

  Best Way to Revoke a Will

  In life, the one thing that is a constant beyond death and taxes is change. So, if you created a will and now it no longer reflects your wishes, please know that it’s perfectly normal for people to draft more than one will within their ...

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