Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Tennessee

Trust is only notorized and signed. Is it valid?

My grandmother passed away thinking that her self made trust was valid. She had it notorized and witnessed. She did not contact a lawer for assistance. Her S.S. # is on all related documents. I have been told that it may not be valid. We are looking for a will, which we have not found. If all the people listed in the trust wish to honor the trust, will the courts do so as well? Thank You.


Asked on 1/15/98, 6:45 am

4 Answers from Attorneys

Hugh Wood Wood & Meredith

Is is a valid Trust?

You will need to review the law of TN or NC to determine the answer. However, you have two (2) signatures on a trust. If there is testamentary language in the document, you may ask a local atty about offering the doc as a will. In GA you have enough signatures to est. a valid inter vivos trust. Without reviewing the document, this Q cannot be answered completly.

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Answered on 1/21/98, 8:15 am
Robert Friend Robert H. Friend, Attorney at Law

Validity of a trust

In NC a trust does NOT require witnesses, so it MAY be valid (I'd have to look at it to make sure). However, the real question is, did she actually transfer assets INTO THE TRUST? A trust doesn't control anything that isn't IN it. Now, if all the persons named in the trust are ALSO all of her heirs (under the intestate laws), they may be able to negotiate an agreement as to how the property is to go. And the trust (if it's invalid) may the enough MORAL authority to get the heirs to do just that. You need a lawyer; these questions are probably too technical for a non-lawyer. And, in NC, lawyers' fees for things like this may be a lot cheaper than in many other states (from what I hear about such things).

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Answered on 1/21/98, 2:40 pm
Marshall Snyder Law Office Of Marshall Snyder

Trust Called Into Question

I have not read the trust. Are you sure it is a trust? It may be a holographic (Hand-written)Will.. Therefore, a lawyer needs to be contacted to interpret the document. If the document is a trust but there are areas which are subject to interpretation, it would be a good idea to go to Court with a petition asking the Court to clarify any ambiguities. Just because your grandmother does not apparently have a Will does not mean that her estate cannot be administered in Court through what is known as an intestate administration. Finally, the beneficiaries' agreement concerning the trust does not make it any better a document than the language which your grandmother wrote into the document.

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Answered on 1/21/98, 8:36 pm

Sounds like a valid trust.

But you need to show it to a competent lawyer in your state.

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Answered on 1/24/98, 2:07 am


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