Most people know they should have a will. Very few actually get around to it. National surveys consistently show that more than half of American adults don’t have any estate planning documents in place, and the numbers skew even higher among younger adults and middle-income families who assume their estates aren’t large enough to worry about. That assumption misses the point. A will isn’t just for wealthy people distributing millions. It’s for anyone who wants a say in what happens to their property, their bank accounts, and their minor children after they die. Chad Turnbow at Turnbow Law in Mt. Juliet helps families across Middle Tennessee create estate plans that actually reflect their wishes, and much of that work starts with a conversation about what happens when there’s no plan at all.
The short answer: Tennessee decides for you. And Tennessee’s default rules may not match what you would have chosen.
Tennessee’s Intestacy Statutes
When someone dies without a valid will, their estate is distributed according to Tennessee’s laws of intestate succession, primarily governed by T.C.A. § 31-2-104. These statutes create a rigid hierarchy of inheritance based on family relationships. The law doesn’t consider your intentions, your relationships, or the specific dynamics of your family. It follows a formula.
If You’re Married With Children
The surviving spouse and children share the estate. Under T.C.A. § 31-2-104(a), if the deceased had a surviving spouse and children (or grandchildren of a deceased child), the spouse receives either one-third of the estate or a child’s share, whichever is greater. The remaining portion is divided equally among the children.
So if you die with a spouse and two children, your spouse receives one-third of your probate estate and each child receives one-third. If you have one child, the spouse and child each take half. The spouse never receives less than one-third regardless of how many children there are.
This sounds reasonable in a straightforward nuclear family. It becomes much less reasonable in blended families, which we’ll get to shortly.
If You’re Married With No Children
The surviving spouse inherits the entire estate. This is the outcome most married couples without children would probably choose anyway, so the default here tends to align with expectations.
If You’re Single With Children
The children inherit everything, divided equally. If a child predeceased you but has their own children (your grandchildren), those grandchildren step into their parent’s share. This is called representation, and it prevents a branch of the family from being cut off because their parent died first.
If You Have No Spouse and No Children
This is where the statutory hierarchy starts reaching further out. The estate passes to your parents if they’re living. If not, it goes to your siblings. If no siblings survive, it moves to nieces and nephews, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles, then first cousins. The statute works its way outward through the family tree until it finds a living relative. If no relative can be found, the estate escheats to the State of Tennessee.
Where Intestacy Creates Real Problems
The intestacy formula works adequately for some families. For many others, it produces outcomes that range from inconvenient to devastating.
Blended Families
Tennessee’s intestacy statute does not distinguish between children from a current marriage and children from a prior relationship. They all share equally. Consider a common scenario: a man remarries, has two children from his first marriage and one from his second. He dies without a will. His current wife receives one-third of the estate. Each of his three children receives two-ninths. His second wife, who may have expected to inherit the family home, now co-owns it with her stepchildren, who may want to sell. There’s no mechanism in the statute to account for the fact that the home was purchased during the second marriage or that the stepchildren have their own mother’s estate to inherit from. The formula doesn’t consider context.
Unmarried Partners
If you’re in a long-term committed relationship but aren’t legally married, Tennessee’s intestacy laws give your partner nothing. Zero. It doesn’t matter if you lived together for twenty years, raised children together, or shared every financial decision. Without a will or other estate planning documents, an unmarried partner has no legal claim to the estate. The property passes to your children, your parents, your siblings, or your cousins before it would ever reach a domestic partner.
This is one of the most common situations where the absence of a will produces a result that directly contradicts what the deceased person would have wanted.
Minor Children
A will is where you name a guardian for your minor children. Without one, the court appoints a guardian based on its own assessment of the child’s best interest, which may or may not align with your preference. If both parents die without a will, extended family members may end up in a custody dispute decided by a judge who never knew either parent. Naming a guardian in a will doesn’t guarantee the court will follow your choice in every circumstance, but it carries significant weight and avoids leaving the decision entirely open.
Probate Delays
Dying without a will doesn’t avoid probate. It typically makes probate longer and more expensive. When there’s no will, the court must appoint an administrator to manage the estate (rather than the executor you would have named), and the administrator may be required to post a surety bond, adding cost. Disputes among heirs about who should serve as administrator, how assets should be valued, or whether certain property was jointly owned can extend proceedings for months or years. A clear, properly executed will streamlines the process considerably.
What a Basic Estate Plan Actually Includes
A will is the foundation, but a functional estate plan usually involves a few additional documents that work together.
A last will and testament directs how your probate assets are distributed and names your executor and, if applicable, a guardian for minor children. A durable power of attorney designates someone to handle your financial affairs if you become incapacitated. A healthcare power of attorney (or healthcare proxy) designates someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if you can’t. A living will (or advance directive) states your wishes regarding end-of-life medical treatment.
These four documents cover the core scenarios: what happens to your property when you die, who manages your affairs if you’re alive but incapacitated, and what kind of medical care you want if you can’t speak for yourself. For some families, a trust may also be appropriate to avoid probate entirely, protect assets for minor beneficiaries, or address tax planning, but the four foundational documents are where most estate plans begin.
How Turnbow Law Approaches Estate Planning
Chad Turnbow works with individuals and families throughout Middle Tennessee to build estate plans that reflect their actual circumstances. The process starts with a consultation to understand your family structure, your assets, your concerns, and your goals. From there, he drafts the documents, walks you through each one so you understand what you’re signing, and ensures everything is properly executed under Tennessee law.
The cost of a basic estate plan is a fraction of what your family will spend on contested probate proceedings or legal disputes that arise when there’s no plan at all. If you’ve been putting this off because you weren’t sure where to start or assumed your estate was too small to matter, the starting point is a conversation.
Contact Turnbow Law at (615) 669-8619 to schedule a consultation. Chad Turnbow will help you understand what Tennessee law would do with your estate as it stands today and build a plan that does what you actually want instead.