You may know that a will is a public document once probated since it is published in the Probate Court files. Some of you may know that your revocable living trust gives you some privacy since it is a private agreement. But I bet that you do not know that you may form a “secret trust” under Tennessee law. What does this mean and why would you want one?

What is a secret trust and how does it work? In Tennessee Code Annotated Sec. 35-15-813 it says that “A trustee shall keep the current income or principal beneficiaries of the trust reasonably informed about the trust and its administration.

However, this duty to keep beneficiaries informed does not apply if the terms of the trust provide otherwise or the settlor of the trust, or a trust protector or trust advisor given such the power directs otherwise in a writing delivered to the trustee. Furthermore, the trustee can require a beneficiary eligible to receive such information to keep it confidential.