Under the common law, a trustee can maintain an action in law or equity against a third person to remedy an injury with respect to trust property as if he held the property free of the trust; generally, beneficiaries of the trust cannot. See, e.g., Third Nat'l Co. v. Commerce Union Bank, 181 Tenn. 509, 512, 181 S.W.2d 759, 760 (1944); Louisville Nashville Terminal Co. v. Lellyett, 114 Tenn. 368, 85 S.W. 881, 885 (1905); Coleson v. Blanton, 4 Tenn. (3 Hayw.) 152 (1816) (per curiam). See also RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TRUSTS §§ 280-82; BOGERT § 869.