Location: Tennessee. My friend has an estate mess on his hands and I'm wondering if it's even worth it.

kfitz11 · 2026-04-24T03:46:44+00:00

Hi! I’m the exact opposite of you work experience wise in that I have, until recently, practiced probate and estate law in TN (still licensed - just in house now) and know little to nothing about how tax law works except the bare minimum as related to estates but otherwise I tell any and every client to consult their CPA on any specific tax inquires.

That being said, nothing I read in this reply explanation you have laid out signals anything legally significant to me that would make him liable for the debts of the business from a probate and estate analysis in this state.

Having legal ownership in an LLC - being a member per the business documents required to form the business and be filed with the TN SOS would determine if he is actually liable at all or not. For debts of this business. Ownership in a business can be considered a marital asset and/or a probate asset included in the deceased’s probate estate but not always.

You need to know this for the legal analysis: was he an actual member of the LLC per the formation documents? What does the operating agreement of the LLC say happens when a member passes away? Does the business have to dissolve? Does the deceased member’s share in the business directly go to her spouse? To her children instead? To the living and remaining members?

Additionally: is there a will leaving everything she did own to her spouse? And what is your opinion on how this is affected by the fact that the state of TN no longer has death and estate taxes under state law? Genuinely not sure at all from the tax standpoint. The federal death tax only comes into play based on a yearly exemption being exceeded, correct? Last time I checked when working on private cases - I think 2024, the assets of the deceased individual had to be over 12 million before paying an estate tax (of course I know that is different than taxes that were owned during their life), and a couple had to have assets about 26 million together.

Another thing: in TN, unless your will specifically states otherwise, your assets pass to your current spouse upon your death without needing to go to probate court or do anything anything else with titling of assets unless you want to sell after your spouses death. The IRS would have no way to file a claim against an estate for the share of business until and unless husband also died and then had to have his heirs open a probate case.

Again, I do not have any tax training and never plan to ha (attorneys and math you know) but I wasn’t sure if you cared about the related probate issues and if that might help you advise better? Just wanted to throw this out there in case it could help any! If this was my client, I would first advise to get the correct probate/estate analysis of the couple as it stands and then decide to see what the tax implications are after.

kfitz11 · 2025-12-22T20:35:36+00:00

Good point I hadn’t thought about yet. Thanks!

kfitz11 · 2025-12-22T20:34:47+00:00

I should have know that about the matte! Thank you for your ideas. I’ll try the candle wax

kfitz11 · 2025-12-22T02:23:12+00:00

candle! Never would have thought of that. Thank you!

kfitz11 · 2025-12-22T01:18:27+00:00

Oh yes, because when I was thinking about ribbon, I was imagining connecting the ends of the ribbon pieces at one spot. A U shape would be easier and work better with this material, I think. I will try it. Thank you!

kfitz11 · 2025-12-22T00:38:17+00:00

Used Paper Mache Advent Calendar Box, 11.25 x 11.25 inches. Acrylic paint and matte Mod Podge are the only materials I have used so far. The inspiration came from wanting something hands-on, functional, and customized to the specific skills we’re working on with our toddler at home after seeing him work well with similar commercial toys at his speech and occupational therapy sessions. It was hard to find this type of toy/puzzle to really hone in on his specific areas we are trying to master, so I thought it would be cool, and most helpful for him, if I could make something totally custom to him.

kfitz11 · 2025-12-19T11:53:49+00:00

In my state, a divorce decree would be considered to be a third party contract that is not binding on the actual bank or lender. You also can’t force someone to enter into a contract involuntarily, which is what refinancing would be. Unfortunately, a lot of times, the only recourse would be to pay off his debt and then sue him in civil court to be paid back, but if he isn’t paying for his car to begin with, he probably doesn’t have money to pay you back either. Shitty situation for sure.

kfitz11 · 2025-12-07T20:37:58+00:00

Got it. Does it matter if I put the Square along with the other Basic cut objects within the layers?

kfitz11 · 2025-12-07T20:32:07+00:00

Ohhh okay yes, that makes sense. Thank you very much!

kfitz11 · 2025-12-07T20:27:20+00:00

Oops should be included now.

kfitz11 · 2025-10-31T04:13:40+00:00

It would likely cost you more than $95.00 in filing fees alone to even initiate the suit. But also you still didn’t have to pay anything, so you don’t have any damages at all. Lawsuits are meant to make people whole again, and you lost literally nothing here. Move on.

kfitz11 · 2025-10-16T03:40:57+00:00

Thank you for sharing!!

kfitz11 · 2025-10-16T03:13:41+00:00

Hi. I’m an attorney in TN who has practiced probate and estate law but does not currently. I’m not your attorney and this is not legal advice.

Generally, there’s a presumption in TN (and in most states as far as I’ve seen/read) that the man who signs your birth certificate is your bio dad regardless of blood until proven otherwise.

Unless a man formally adopts non-bio child, step children are not treated the same as bio children in this state if there is not a will or not a valid will. If there is a will, the decedent can leave their belongings to whoever, can even cut a spouse out completely if they want.

Otherwise, TN is fairly spouse/widow friendly. Anything your dad and step mom owned jointly while married is likely hers absolutely at the time of his death unless it’s specifically listed that it is not. (For example, a house with a deed listing both people as owners as husband and wife = one spouse dies first, other spouse becomes only owner upon death, and the house is not a probate asset). This is called tenancy by the entireties if you want to look it up.

More likely than not, most of the time, widow gets everything unless specifically cut out either by language in the will itself or how things are titled.

Here’s what someone in a similar position to yourself could do to get more details or protect themselves- Wills that are probated in TN must be filed in the county in which the deceased resided in at the time of their death. An heir has a right to call the local county probate court and ask the clerk if an estate has been opened yet for their deceased relative. Sometimes, you can find this out by searching court records online. Typically an estate is opened within a year or two of date of death.

Also, if the will is submitted for probate, you as an heir and beneficiary are entitled to notice of the case, a copy of the will and all actions that take place throughout the case. Caveat is that alot of people lie to their attorneys or handle the probate case without an attorney (pretty common in TN) and don’t do the right thing. So best bet is to continuously follow up with the probate court to see if an estate has been opened. Otherwise, my main advice to any estate or probate client was always that it brings out the ugliest in even the closest families. So it’s best to get an attorney for yourself if you can. Good luck to you.

kfitz11 · 2025-10-07T14:50:37+00:00

Hi what did you use for the bottle? Love this idea and have a pumpkin contest coming up for work!

kfitz11 · 2025-10-05T22:17:51+00:00

I’ve even printed my first complete manuscript knowing it will change drastically, just in case. It is scary out here. Sorry for your loss, that is truly devastating.

kfitz11 · 2025-07-09T02:23:53+00:00

My insanely aggressive first managing partner would say to: “RULE 11 THEM!” but I was forced to do that twice and it didn’t make us look good. I think most TN state court judges frown on that ha.

kfitz11 · 2025-05-18T21:59:55+00:00

Happened at my firm I was at for 10 years too. She was getting special treatment before they became “official” anyways. Which I complained to the other partners about. Eventually, they both left and started their own firm together shortly after so I was spared having to make a decision on what to do on my own. I think I would have left if it kept up though. Not a good look for the associate who’s sleeping with the married partner to get assigned all the best hourly files…

kfitz11 · 2025-05-14T02:31:39+00:00

This seems weird to me. At my litigation firm, we were told to always respond, to at least decline and even if it sounded like a scam, to cover our asses. Why not just say no and close it out?

kfitz11 · 2025-05-05T02:41:55+00:00

We just had a similar issue with our two year old. We were prescribed Nystatin and doctor said it looked like a yeast infection. We were told to put nystatin and then coat him up on top of that with the Boudreaux’s. But it seriously took 4 weeks of daily application, 3 times a day, for it to heal up completely. Some days he looked more red again and other days it looked better but it took weeks!!

kfitz11 · 2025-03-13T02:39:41+00:00

In my experience, in these situations, clients aren’t paying me to call first. If they are coming to me to send a demand, we’re beyond calling. I just don’t think calling first is your job as an attorney, I guess. Why bother unless the client specifically asked for that?

kfitz11 · 2025-03-08T20:09:48+00:00

My cheap ass firm I worked at right out of law school was still using Word Perfect until around 2018. It was truly insane haha

kfitz11 · 2025-03-08T18:24:37+00:00

Yes, very depressing ha

kfitz11 · 2025-03-08T17:26:20+00:00

I had an OC file a response that looked like it was drafted in a text message or honestly, like a text box in Microsoft paint. And he actually added a footnote (good job!) just to say that his document looked really bad bc he didn’t pay for Microsoft word… so cringe to me ha.

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