It often pays off for people to have some sort of estate plan in place. Even if they are of modest wealth, there are still some concrete steps they can take to make sure their assets are passed on to their loved ones. Moreover, younger parents who have children at home will want to use an estate plan to appoint a guardian for their children should the parents pass away.
For some residents of this state, however, estate planning promises to be a more complicated process. For instance, many owners of small, closely-held businesses will have to determine whether and how their business will continue to operate when they die or are incapacitated.
Likewise, many people, whether because they have a lot of wealth or because they have a special family situation, may require the use of a specialized trust as part of their estate plan. Lawyers must craft and fund these trusts carefully, because not doing so can mean that the trust will not be able to serve its intended purpose.
Finally, even those of relatively modest means may need to come up with a process to qualify for important government benefits like Medicaid. Otherwise, for many people, growing older means a painful choice between getting the care they need and seeing their entire legacy go toward pay nursing home costs.
In addition to creating relatively basic estate plans, our office can help North Carolina residents deal with many complex estate issues that are often difficult to resolve without professional legal help.