Practice Areas

At Frazier Law, everything we do begins with a simple idea. Your estate plan should reflect who you are, what you value, and how you want to care for the people and causes that matter most. From our office in Nashville, we help individuals, families, and business owners throughout Middle Tennessee build thoughtful plans that are practical today and flexible enough for tomorrow.

Estate planning is not just a set of documents. It is an ongoing relationship and a carefully designed strategy that touches many parts of your life at once. We represent young families drafting their first wills, long-established business owners with complex tax concerns, retirees preparing for long-term care, and loved ones who are grieving and trying to navigate probate. Wherever you are in life, our goal is to give you clarity, reduce unnecessary stress, and help you move forward with confidence.

Estate Planning

Estate planning is the foundation of our practice. It is also the foundation of your long-term financial and personal strategy. A well-crafted estate plan answers crucial questions for your family so that they are not forced to guess your intentions during a difficult time.

In Nashville and throughout Middle Tennessee, estate planning often begins with a conversation about your family structure, your assets, and your goals. We want to know what keeps you up at night. Maybe you are worried about an adult child who struggles with money, a loved one with special needs, or the possibility of long-term care expenses consuming your savings. Perhaps you are concerned about what would happen to your young children if something happened to you, or how to be fair to children from a prior marriage. Each of these concerns calls for a different planning strategy.

A comprehensive estate plan typically includes a will or trust, powers of attorney, and advance directives that address medical decisions if you are unable to speak for yourself. For many clients in Middle Tennessee, the right combination of documents will depend on whether they own real estate in multiple states, have a closely held business, anticipate an inheritance, or expect their estate to grow significantly over time.

Tailored Plans, Not Templates

No two families in Nashville look exactly alike, and no two estate plans should look identical either. We take time to understand your personal and financial picture before recommending any specific tools, such as revocable living trusts, beneficiary designations, or lifetime gifting strategies.

We also emphasize education. We want you to understand why a particular provision is included in your plan, how it will function if you become incapacitated, and what your loved ones will be asked to do later. The more you understand today, the fewer surprises your family will face in the future.

Planning for Incapacity and Life Events

Estate planning is about more than what happens after you pass away. It also prepares you and your family for the possibility of illness, disability, or other unexpected changes. We regularly help clients in Middle Tennessee create clear instructions for who will manage their finances, make medical decisions, and communicate with doctors if they cannot do so themselves.

Life rarely stands still. Marriages, divorces, relocations, births, business successes, and health changes all affect your plan. We encourage clients to review their estate planning documents regularly and to view Frazier Law as an ongoing resource, not just a one-time stop.

Wills and Trusts

Wills and trusts are some of the most familiar tools in estate planning, but how they work in practice can be surprisingly complex. Our task is to help you choose the right combination for your situation and then draft documents that are clear, enforceable, and aligned with your Tennessee goals.

Wills for Nashville and Middle Tennessee Families

Your will sets out how you want your assets distributed after your death, and it also names the person who will serve as your personal representative or executor. For parents of minor children, it can also include a nomination of a guardian. This single decision can be one of the most important choices you make for your family.

In Tennessee, a will must meet specific legal requirements to be valid. We draft wills that comply with those requirements and that are written in plain language. Within those documents, we can address specific gifts, charitable bequests, and the division of family heirlooms, all tailored to your wishes.

Trusts as Planning Tools

Trusts can serve many purposes. Some clients use revocable living trusts as their main estate planning vehicle, which can streamline the administration of their estate and help avoid probate for certain assets. Others need specialized trusts to protect a loved one who receives government benefits, to hold life insurance proceeds, or to provide for children from a prior marriage.

We help Nashville and Middle Tennessee clients evaluate whether a trust is appropriate and, if so, what type of trust best fits their goals. We also spend time discussing what it means to serve as a trustee, how distributions should be handled, and what level of discretion you want your trustee to have.

Trust planning is not just for the very wealthy. Even modest estates can benefit from the structure and clarity that a well-drafted trust can provide.

Guardianship or Conservatorship

Questions of who will care for a vulnerable family member are among the hardest that any family faces. In Tennessee, guardianship generally relates to minors, while conservatorship is often used for adults who need assistance managing their personal or financial affairs. The terminology can be confusing, but the underlying issue is deeply human. Someone needs help, and someone is stepping up to provide it.

Planning for Minor Children

For parents of young children in Nashville or the surrounding communities, guardianship planning often starts in the will. By naming a preferred guardian, you give the court clear guidance and reduce the risk of conflict among relatives. You can also coordinate your guardianship decisions with your trust planning, so that the person who raises your child is not necessarily the same person who manages the money for their benefit, unless that is what you want.

We help parents think through difficult questions. Should siblings stay together even if that means choosing a guardian who lives far away? How will your values about education, religion, or extracurricular activities be carried forward? These conversations are not always easy, but they are important.

Supporting Vulnerable Adults

For adults who are no longer able to handle their own financial or personal affairs, Tennessee law provides court-supervised processes to appoint a conservator. These proceedings can be emotional and complicated. At Frazier Law, we guide families through each step, from evaluating whether a conservatorship is truly necessary to presenting evidence to the court.

Whenever possible, we encourage clients to plan ahead through powers of attorney and advance directives that reduce the need for a formal conservatorship. But when court involvement is unavoidable, we work to make the process as respectful and efficient as possible, always keeping the vulnerable person’s best interests and dignity at the center.

Tax Strategy and Business Continuity

Estate planning intersects with tax planning and business planning in powerful ways. While federal estate tax laws change over time, thoughtful planning can help reduce unnecessary tax exposure and support a smooth transition of your business or professional practice.

Coordinating Estate and Tax Planning

For many families in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, the most significant tax issues are related to income taxes, capital gains, and, in some cases, federal estate or gift tax exposure. We review your asset structure and discuss how your estate plan can be coordinated with your tax strategy, including beneficiary designations, lifetime gifting, charitable giving, and the use of certain types of trusts.

We focus on practical steps. For example, we may discuss how to title assets between spouses, how to structure inheritances for children who live in different states, or how to manage retirement accounts in a tax-sensitive way. Our goal is not to make you a tax expert, but to ensure your estate plan works with your tax picture rather than against it.

Business Ownership and Continuity

Middle Tennessee is home to many closely held businesses, professional practices, and family-owned enterprises. For business owners, estate planning should include a clear succession plan. Without one, your death or disability can create uncertainty among employees, partners, and family members.

We help business owners design continuity strategies that may include buy-sell agreements, key-person provisions, management transition plans, and trust or entity structures to keep the business running while protecting your family. These discussions often involve both legal and practical questions. Who is ready to lead the company? How will your interest be valued? What role do non-working family members play in ownership?

A well-prepared business continuity plan can protect the value you have built, provide stability for your employees, and reduce the risk of conflict among heirs.

Probate

When someone passes away, their estate must be administered, and their debts and assets must be addressed. In Tennessee, this process is often handled through the probate courts. For families who are already dealing with grief, the legal process can feel overwhelming. Our role is to guide you through it, answer your questions, and handle the legal details so that you can focus on your family.

Guiding Families Through Tennessee Probate

Probate involves validating the will, appointing a personal representative or executor, notifying interested parties, identifying and valuing assets, paying creditors, and distributing the remaining assets to the beneficiaries. The specifics depend on whether there is a valid will, the size and complexity of the estate, and the types of assets involved.

We assist executors and personal representatives in Nashville and across Middle Tennessee with each stage of the process. That can include preparing and filing court documents, communicating with heirs, addressing creditor claims, and helping to resolve disputes. When real estate, out-of-state property, or closely held business interests are part of the estate, we work to coordinate all moving pieces.

Minimizing Stress and Conflict

Even in close families, probate can reveal long-standing tensions or misunderstandings. Questions about the fairness of distributions, the handling of personal property, or the executor’s actions can quickly become contentious. We work to reduce conflict by offering clear explanations and practical solutions while keeping the process grounded in Tennessee law.

Many of the strategies used in earlier planning, such as trusts and beneficiary designations, are designed to simplify or avoid certain aspects of probate. Whether you are just beginning your estate planning or you are already in the middle of a probate case, Frazier Law is prepared to help.

Elder Law

Elder law brings together estate planning, long-term care planning, health care decision making, and family support. As you or your loved ones age, new questions arise. How will we pay for possible long-term care? Who will help manage finances if memory declines? What protections exist against financial exploitation or abuse?

Planning for Long-Term Care and Aging

Long-term care planning is not simply about nursing homes. It includes the possibility of in-home care, assisted living, and other forms of support. We talk with Middle Tennessee clients about how these services are typically paid for, how to preserve assets for a spouse who remains at home, and how to design an estate plan that remains flexible as needs change.

We also focus on legal tools that give trusted family members or friends the authority they need. Carefully drafted financial and health care powers of attorney, as well as advance directives, can reduce the likelihood that a court-ordered conservatorship will be necessary later.

Protecting Vulnerable Seniors

Unfortunately, seniors are often targets for scams, financial exploitation, and undue influence. We counsel families on safeguards, such as the appropriate use of joint accounts, oversight of financial transactions, and trust structures that provide oversight. When there are concerns about a loved one being taken advantage of, we can help review the situation and discuss legal options to protect them.

Elder law is as much about preserving dignity and independence as it is about legal documents. We listen closely to the wishes of our older clients and work to develop plans that respect their autonomy while providing families with realistic tools to help when needed.

Speak With a Nashville Estate Planning Attorney

Estate planning touches every part of your life and the lives of the people you care about. Whether you are updating a long-standing plan, starting from scratch, or dealing with a recent loss, you deserve guidance that is both technically sound and grounded in real-world experience.

From estate planning and trusts to guardianship, tax strategy, probate, and elder law, Frazier Law stands ready to assist individuals and families throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee. We take the time to listen, to explain your options in clear language, and to craft plans that reflect your values.

If you are ready to begin the conversation or if you have questions about how these practice areas may apply to your situation, reach out to schedule a time to talk. A thoughtful plan today can provide clarity, stability, and peace of mind for the years ahead.