Marshall H. Peterson
Marshall H. Peterson, Esq.
Estate Planning; Trust, Probate, and Estate Administration and Litigation
Marshall H. Peterson’s three decades of experience as a recognized leader in the Knoxville legal community make him an asset to clients looking for representation related to trusts and estates. Marshall’s experience spans the range from the traditional family estate to “I won the lottery, what do I do now?”
Since 1995, U.S. News & World Report has recognized Marshall in The Best Lawyers in America(C) in the practice area of Trusts and Estates, including being "Knoxville Lawyer of the Year" in 2016. Since 2018, Marshall has also been recognized in the practice area of Tax Law, including being named "Knoxville Lawyer of the Year" for 2022 and 2024. Starting in 2022, he was also recognized in the practice area of Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law.
Marshall is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and serves on the Practice Committee. He is ACTEC's Tennessee State Chair. ACTEC is an organization of trust and estate lawyers and law professors committed to promoting the highest quality of trust and estate services and to contribute to improvement in the areas of law in which trust and estate lawyers practice. Fellows must be nominated by their peers, and undergo a vetting proccess to validate their expertise and scholarship.
Cityview Magazine has recognized Marshall in multiple practice areas as a Top Attorney of Knoxville: Estate Planning/Trusts in 2020-2024; Income Tax/IRS Resolutions in 2014, 2020-2024; Taxation in 2020-2024; Wills/Probate in 2015 and 2020-2024; and Elder Law in 2021-2024.
Marshall regularly speaks to professional groups on estate planning topics such as income, estate, and gift tax planning, conservation easements, distributions from retirement plans, and GST elections.
About Marshall
Marshall was admitted to practice in Tennessee in 1987, and is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association ("KBA"). He was also admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997 and the U.S. Tax Court in 1999.
Marshall is also a member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law, the Tennessee Bar Association, and is a past president of the Knoxville Estate Planning Council. He was a member of the Uniform Trust Code Study Committee, which promulgated Tennessee’s 2004 revision to the statutory law of trusts; a Fellow of the Knoxville Bar Foundation, an honorary organization which makes grants to organizations providing social services to those in need; a former Board Member of Tennessee Parks & Greenways Foundation (now "Tennessee Green"), a nonprofit organization seeking to preserve and expand Tennessee’s natural treasures; and past President of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid of East Tennessee, which provides pro bono legal services to clients in poverty.
Marshall serves as a Hearing Panel member for the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility for the Supreme Court of Tennessee.
He is also a Master of the Bench in the Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court. He has also received the designations of Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) in 1980 and 1983.
Education
Marshall graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1987, after receiving his B.S. from the University of Tennessee in 1973.
Publications and Articles
Magazines and Journals
- Introducing: Sheri A. Fox, Esq. | DICTA: March 2016
- Demise of DOMA Changes Legal Landscape | DICTA: February 2014
- Griswold, et al., “Big Changes to Tennessee Uniform Trust Code: 10 Things You Should Know”, 49 TENN. BAR J. 20 (December 2013).
- “Tennessee Uniform Trust Code: New Formulation For A Trusty Tool,” 41 TENN. BAR J. 24 (January 2005).
- “Planning Distributions from Qualified Plans,” Tax, Probate & Trust (Tennessee Bar Assoc., March 1994).
Articles and Newsletter Contributions
Reported Cases
- Burke v. Langdon, 190 S.W.3d 660 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005).
- Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. v. Huddleston, 920 S.W.2d 659 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995).
- Simmons v. Russell, 1989 Tenn. App. LEXIS 443 (June 13, 1989).
