Revocable Living Trusts in Tennessee

Tennessee has adopted the Tennessee Uniform Trust Code (Tenn. Code Ann. Title 35, Chapter 15). A trust is created only if the settlor has capacity, indicates an intention to create the trust, the trust has a definite beneficiary (or is a charitable, animal-care or noncharitable-purpose trust), the trustee has duties to perform, and the same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary. For trusts created by instruments signed on or after July 1, 2004, the settlor may revoke or amend the trust unless its terms expressly make it irrevocable. Property transferred to the trustee passes under the trust terms at death without probate; property left in the decedent's own name may still require probate or the small estate procedure.

Non-probate transfers available in Tennessee: (1) No transfer-on-death deed for real estate (a 2026 bill was not enacted); real estate can pass outside probate by a survivorship deed or tenancy by the entirety, or through a trust. (2) Bank deposits held 'in trust for' a named beneficiary pass to the beneficiary at the owner's death (Tenn. Code Ann. § 45-2-704). (3) Transfer-on-death registration of securities (Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-12-101 et seq.). (4) Small estate procedure with limited letters for probate personal property of $50,000 or less (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 30-4-101 to 30-4-105). (5) A surviving spouse can retitle a vehicle at no cost within the first year (Department of Revenue). (6) Revocable living trust (Tennessee Uniform Trust Code).