This case involves the interpretation of a marital dissolution agreement (“MDA”1) in which the father was obligated to establish an irrevocable life insurance trust for his youngest child in an amount equal to the average of the after-tax funds received by his other children from four other trusts. He did not establish the trust before his death in 2021. Before he died, his youngest child sued to force him to create the trust. Ultimately, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the father’s estate and another trust he established, holding that the MDA trust was too vague and indefinite to enforce and that the father’s failure to establish the trust constituted a non-arbitrary disinheritance of the youngest child pursuant to the MDA. This Court, in Dunavant v. The William B. Dunavant, Jr. Revocable Living Trust, No. W2023-01213, 2024 WL 4211156 (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 17, 2024), affirmed the trial court. The Tennessee Supreme Court granted the Rule 11 application for the Living Trust and the Estate, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case to the Court of Appeals “for further consideration in light of Pharma Conference Education v. State, 703 S.W.3d 305 (Tenn. 2024).” We reverse the trial court.

This is an accelerated interlocutory appeal as of right pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B § 2.02. We have determined that the petition must be summarily dismissed due to significant failures to comply with Rule 10B. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.

September 22, 2025 - September 26, 2025.

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the president's birthright citizenship executive order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. The appeal, shared with the Associated Press on Saturday, sets in motion a process at the high court that could lead to a definitive ruling on whether the citizenship restrictions are constitutional. The administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship. In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down the executive order as unconstitutional. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the rulings wrongly confer “the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people,” while opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say the policy violates the Constitution. The case could set up a Supreme Court ruling by early summer.

Federal trial courts across the United States are issuing new orders restricting access to sealed documents following a directive from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOC) in response to recent cyberattacks on the judiciary’s case system. More than 20 courts have posted standing orders stating that while sealed documents may be filed through the Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, they cannot be viewed electronically. The move comes after the judiciary reported “sophisticated and persistent” cyberattacks that targeted sealed filings in espionage and other sensitive cases, with Bloomberg News reporting that Russian government hackers had infiltrated the system for years. The AOC said it is implementing a sealed document security system to address vulnerabilities and strengthen protections. The changes follow earlier restrictions this summer, including a July order from the Eastern District of Virginia requiring sealed documents be filed only in hard copy. A Senate classified briefing on Sept. 9 addressed the breach, which lawmakers said raised concerns about national security and the judiciary’s ability to safeguard sensitive records.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) said significantly fewer individuals being held on state charges are being housed in the downtown Memphis jail, a move officials said could help free up taxpayer dollars. Local Memphis reports that it costs the county roughly $100 per day to hold one person at the jail and the state reimburses just $39 of that amount, leaving the county to cover the rest. According to the sheriff’s office, 113 incarcerated individuals have already been transferred to the Tennessee Department of Corrections and another 92 are scheduled to be moved this week. Officials said the process has been in the works for more than a month.

Crime reduction efforts under the Memphis Safe Task Force will begin this week and provide a “generational opportunity” to improve safety in the city, Gov. Bill Lee told reporters during a press conference in Memphis on Friday. The effort includes the deployment of the National Guard and an infusion of state money, the Daily Memphian reports. The federally led crime reduction effort coordinates 13 federal agencies with a range of state and local law enforcement. Lee said that all 13 agencies will have personnel on the ground in Memphis and the task force will expand in the city in phases over the next weeks and months. The Tennessee National Guard personnel, who will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service, will not make arrests or be armed unless requested by local officials. Tennessee has committed an additional $100 million in state funds explicitly for the task force, which will be coupled with federally funded resources. President Trump announced the Memphis Safe Task Force initiative during a Sept. 15 press conference in the Oval Office.

A Tennessee woman whose parents were killed in floodwaters after Hurricane Helene is suing the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in a wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday. Maureen Obrist alleges her parents would still be alive if the federal utility had given more warning to residents downstream of Nolichucky Dam near Greeneville, which it owns and operates, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Obrist is suing TVA on three counts of negligence, one count of negligent infliction of emotional distress and one count of negligent undertaking related to the utility’s responsibility to coordinate warnings with local and state agencies during emergencies. The lawsuit seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

In this edition of Voices of the YLD, Constance Brown shares her views on the importance of pro bono service. In Finding Purpose Through Service: Why Helping Others Also Helps Us, she encourages readers to consider pro bono work as not just a responsibility of the profession but as an opportunity to help others but as a way to transform yourself. Brown is an anti-blight prosecutor for the city of Memphis. She received her master of business administration from Bellhaven University and her law degree from Mississippi College School of Law. Brown serves on the TBA YLD Board's Long Range Planning Committee and on the Public Service Committee as the representative of the west working on recovery court efforts. If you are interested in submitting a piece for Voices of the YLD, contact Brian Mounce, YLD's Publication Committee chair.

TBA's Young Lawyers Division District Representative Jack Wagster held an Essential Documents for Essential Workers (EDEW) clinic in Dickson County last week. Three attorneys and two paralegals from Eden Firm PLLC and Ramsey Thornton Barrett Osborn PLC provided wills, living wills and powers of attorney to multiple members of the Dickson Fire Department and their families. See a photo from the event.