If you’re married and haven’t put an estate plan in place, you’re not alone—most couples put it off until “someday.” But estate planning for married couples isn’t just about writing a will. It’s about making sure that if something happens to one of you, the other isn’t left navigating grief and legal confusion at the same time. Done right, estate planning for married couples protects your spouse, your children, and everything you’ve built together in Germantown and the surrounding Shelby County area.
David Waldrop has spent 37 years helping married couples across Tennessee, North Mississippi, and Arkansas put these plans in place. Before he was an attorney, he was a Germantown firefighter—he’s seen firsthand what happens to families when there’s no plan, and what a difference it makes when there is one. That perspective shapes how he approaches every married couple who walks through his door.
Why Married Couples Need a Plan of Their Own
Tennessee law does provide some automatic protections for spouses. Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 31-4-101, a surviving spouse generally has the right to claim an elective share of the deceased spouse’s estate, even if a will tries to leave them out. That’s a helpful backstop—but it’s not a plan. It doesn’t name who raises your kids if you’re both gone, it doesn’t protect a special needs family member, and it doesn’t avoid the time and cost of probate court.
Real estate planning for married couples goes further than what state law guarantees. It’s about making deliberate choices—together—while you’re both healthy and thinking clearly, instead of leaving those decisions to a court or a statute.
What This Actually Looks Like
For most Germantown couples, a solid estate plan includes a few core pieces working together:
A will for each spouse. Even with the elective share protection, a will lets you decide exactly how your property is distributed, name a guardian for minor children, and name someone you trust to settle your affairs.
A revocable living trust. Many married couples in Collierville, Bartlett, and Cordova use a joint or coordinated trust to keep their home and other assets out of probate court, so the surviving spouse can access what’s needed without delay.
Power of attorney documents for each other. This is one piece married couples often assume they already have simply by being married—they don’t. Without it, your spouse may not have legal authority to manage your finances or make medical decisions if you’re incapacitated.
Beneficiary and titling review. Life insurance, retirement accounts, and jointly owned property in Shelby County often pass outside a will entirely. Estate planning for married couples means making sure those designations actually match your wishes, not what was filled out years ago.
For couples with a child or family member with a disability, this plan should also include a special needs trust, so an inheritance doesn’t accidentally disqualify them from needed benefits.
Planning for Aging and Long-Term Care
Estate planning for married couples in Germantown often overlaps with planning for the future, too. If one spouse eventually needs nursing home or long-term care, Medicaid planning can help protect the other spouse’s income and assets from being wiped out by care costs. This is a conversation worth having well before it becomes urgent—the earlier it’s addressed, the more options are available.
Blended Families and Second Marriages
If either spouse has children from a previous relationship, estate planning for married couples gets more nuanced. Without a clear plan, Tennessee’s default rules may not distribute assets the way either of you intends, and they can’t account for stepchildren the way a thoughtfully drafted will or trust can. This is an area where generic templates fall short—every blended family’s situation is different, and the plan should reflect that.
What Happens Without a Plan
If a married couple in Germantown has no estate plan and one spouse passes away, the survivor may end up in probate court, working through Shelby County Probate Court procedures at an already difficult time. Assets may not go where either spouse intended, and decisions about children, property, or care can end up in a judge’s hands instead of yours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not necessarily. Tennessee’s intestacy laws determine how assets are divided when there’s no will, and a surviving spouse doesn’t always receive the entire estate—especially if there are children from a previous relationship. This is one of the main reasons estate planning for married couples shouldn’t be left to state default rules.
Tennessee allows joint wills, but most attorneys, including David Waldrop, generally recommend separate wills for each spouse. Individual wills offer more flexibility if circumstances change and are typically easier to administer during probate.
Not every couple needs a trust, but many benefit from one. A revocable living trust can help a married couple avoid probate court entirely, which means the surviving spouse can access assets faster and with less expense. Whether it’s necessary depends on the size and type of assets involved.
Property owned jointly with rights of survivorship typically passes directly to the surviving spouse, outside of probate. However, other assets—like individual retirement accounts or property owned separately—may still need to go through the estate planning documents you’ve put in place.
A good rule of thumb is to review your plan every three to five years, or sooner after a major life change—a new child, a move to Germantown or elsewhere in Shelby County, a significant change in assets, or the death of a named executor or guardian.
Putting a Plan in Place Together
Estate planning for married couples works best when it’s approached as a joint decision, not something one spouse handles alone. David Waldrop sits down with both spouses, walks through your family’s specific situation—whether that’s a longtime Germantown home, a blended family, or a loved one with special needs—and helps you build a plan that actually reflects what you both want.
The Waldrop Firm offers free consultations for couples ready to start this conversation. Whether you’re just getting started or updating a plan that’s years out of date, having the right documents in place gives both of you the same thing: peace of mind that your family is protected, no matter what comes next.