Andra Hedrick is seeking to become the next judge for Davidson County Circuit Court Division 7, the county’s only dedicated probate court. Andra has been a full-time estate and probate lawyer for more than two decades. She is a co-author of Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates, a three-volume set of books used by attorneys and judges across Tennessee when they are involved in probate court cases.

When people say “She wrote the book on Tennessee Probate Law,” they are talking about Andra.

Probate court is the place where families go for help when a loved one has died or is unable to make legal decisions due to disability. The judge of the probate court hears cases involving wills, trusts, powers of attorney, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, name changes and emancipations. While many of those matters are uncontested, some can be highly contentious. Andra has handled all types of cases that come to probate court, from the simplest to the most complicated and even jury trials and appeals of probate court decisions.

Over the course of her career, Andra has been a listed attorney in more cases in probate court than all of her opponents combined.

In addition to writing the book on Tennessee Probate Law, Andra is a Professor of Estate Planning at the Nashville School of Law, a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estates Counsel, a past Co-Chair of the Nashville Bar Association’s Probate Court Committee, and a member of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Probate Study Group. She is also a Rule 31 listed mediator and serves as an expert witness in court on the issue of proper probate court procedure.

Andra moved to Nashville in 2000 to join the law firm Gullett, Sanford, Robinson & Martin, where she remains to this day. Andra had previously been an attorney law clerk to Judge David R. Farmer of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, located in Jackson, Tennessee. Prior to that, she served as a student law clerk to Judge Donn Southern of the Shelby County Probate Court in Memphis, Tennessee. This first exposure to probate court – way back in the late 1990’s – is what inspired Andra to become a probate court lawyer and ultimately to seek to be elected as the probate judge for Davidson County.

If elected, Andra will be Davidson County’s first ever female probate judge, and she has pledged to apply her experience and deep understanding of estate and probate law to diligently serve all who come before her with the utmost compassion, respect, and impartiality.

Additional information about the candidate may be found at hedrickforprobatejudge.com.