In Tennessee, family members and non-family members alike often provide care, perform services or pay for expenses for someone who passes away without compensating the person who provided the care or services or who paid expenses on their behalf. Can a family member or non-family member recover for care, services…
Many breach of contract cases in Tennessee involve written contracts which contain what I refer to as “no oral modification clauses.” Although the language of these types of clauses differs, they usually say something like this: “This Agreement may not be amended, modified, changed or extended except by a written…
Two fairly recent Tennessee undue influence cases prove a point: To win an undue influence case, the plaintiff (or contestant if it is a will contest) must prove more than mere unfairness or favoritism. Both cases involved alleged undue influence with respect to deeds for land. In the first…
In any Tennessee will contest case, there may be a number of relatives of the deceased who will benefit from the will contest case if the Will at issue is set aside. There might also be non-relative beneficiaries of a previous Will who will benefit if the Will is set…
Tennessee will contest cases, especially will contests where the basis for trying to set aside the will is undue influence, are often all about suspicious circumstances. As Tennessee courts have observed for years, in many cases (I believe most), the only way to prove undue influence is by circumstantial evidence. …
There are Tennessee statutes which protect the proceeds of life insurance policies for surviving spouses and children even when the deceased parent may have owed creditors more money than the policy benefits at the time of his or her death. Not only do the statutes protect the proceeds of life…
In Tennessee, a bank account, certificate of deposit, money market account, or other type of financial account may be maintained as a joint account with a right of survivorship. Such accounts may also be maintained as single owner accounts, but be made payable on death to a named beneficiary. Payable…
Daniel Kahneman’s bestseller, Thinking Fast and Slow, is not only a fascinating read, but also, it contains insights that can be an immense help to clients in making decisions about their cases, choosing lawyers, negotiating settlements, and evaluating the advice of their lawyers. Here is what clients (and trial lawyers)…
The Tennessee Dead Man’s statute can be a major factor in the outcome of probate lawsuits in Tennessee, in some cases. How so? It can prevent the admission of pivotal evidence at trial. The key to understanding the Dead Man’s statute is to understand what it is supposed to prevent. …
Here is a scenario which happens sometimes with Tennessee wills: A person gives a copy, not the original, of his or her Will to someone else for safekeeping. Several years later, the person passes away. No one can find the original of the Will. If the copy of the Will…