(a) To the extent there is no material conflict of interest between the representative and the person represented or among those being represented with respect to a particular question or dispute:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 35-15-303

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Beneficiary: means a person that has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Person: means an individual. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
  • Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Settlor: means a person, including a testator, who creates, or contributes property to, a trust. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
  • Trust instrument: means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Trustee: includes an original, additional, and successor trustee, and a cotrustee. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
(1) A conservator may represent and bind the estate that the conservator controls;
(2) A guardian may represent and bind the ward if a conservator of the ward’s estate has not been appointed;
(3) An agent having authority to act with respect to the particular question or dispute may represent and bind the principal;
(4) A trustee may represent and bind the beneficiaries of the trust;
(5) When a trust is a beneficiary of another trust, the beneficiary trust may be represented by its trustee or, if the beneficiary trust has not yet been created, has previously terminated, or is otherwise not then in existence, or the trustee is unwilling or unable to represent the trust, the beneficiary trust may be represented by those persons who are qualified beneficiaries or who would be qualified beneficiaries of the beneficiary trust if the beneficiary trust were then in existence;
(6) A personal representative of a decedent‘s estate may represent and bind persons interested in the estate;
(7) A person may represent and bind the person’s minor or unborn descendant if a guardian for the descendant has not been appointed. If a disagreement or material conflict of interest arises between persons seeking to represent the same minor descendant or unborn descendant, representation is determined as follows:

(A) If only one (1) person is a beneficiary of the trust that is the subject of the representation, that person may represent the minor descendant or unborn descendant;
(B) If both persons are beneficiaries of the trust that is the subject of the representation, then the person who is related to the settlor, other than by reason of being married to the other person, may represent the minor descendant or unborn descendant;
(C) Subject to subdivision (a)(7)(D), if neither person is a beneficiary of the trust that is the subject of the representation, then the person who is the settlor of the trust that is the subject of the representation may represent the minor descendant or unborn descendant; or
(D) If neither person is a beneficiary or settlor of the trust that is the subject of the representation, then the person who is related to the settlor, other than by reason of being married to the other person, may represent the minor descendant or unborn descendant;
(8) A person designated by the settlor in the trust instrument or in a writing delivered to the trustee to represent the beneficiaries of the trust may represent and bind the beneficiaries;
(9) A person designated by the beneficiaries of the trust to represent them may represent and bind the beneficiaries; and
(10) A parent or spouse of an incapacitated adult who has assumed responsibility for the adult, may represent and bind the incapacitated adult if no conservator or guardian has been appointed and no agent has authority to act with respect to the matter in question.
(b) As used in subdivision (5), “beneficiary trust” means a trust that is a beneficiary of another trust.
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