Cary Estate Planning Attorneys

Importance of Making a Will

What happens to your assets if you die without a will in Cary, NC? In that situation, the law would consider that you had “died intestate,” which means there was no valid will at the time of your death that outlined what to do with your assets, properties, and responsibilities. If this happens, the probate court will be tasked with interpreting your estate and distributing your property based on the state’s intestate succession rules.

Typically, the intestate succession rules in North Carolina include:

• If you have no surviving spouse or children, your estate will be divided equally between your surviving parents.
• If you have no surviving spouse or parents but have children, your estate will be divided equally between your children.
• If you have no children but are survived by your spouse and parents, your spouse will be given the first $100,000 of personal property before splitting what remains with your parents.
• If you have no surviving children or parents but are married, your spouse will be given the entirety of your property that could be passed through a will normally.
• If you have surviving children and a surviving spouse, your spouse will receive the first $60,000 of your personal property before splitting what remains with your children.
• If you have surviving children and no spouse, your property will be split evenly among your children.
• If you have no surviving spouse, child, or parent, extended family members may have a granted interest in the probate process to claim parts of your property; if no extended family member comes forward, the state will inherit your property.

Odds are high that you don’t want to follow North Carolina’s intestate succession rules and would rather set your own rules about what to do with your property when you pass away. To avoid relying on North Carolina law exactly, you should create a will as soon as possible. Not only will this take some stress off your shoulders, but it will also make the probate process simpler for your loved ones after you are gone.

Tips for Preserving Your Property, Avoiding Probate & Protecting Your Heirs

A properly made estate plan is likely your best opportunity to plan for the future and make sure your loved ones are taken care of when you can’t be there for them any longer. With the guidance of our Cary estate planning lawyers, you can find ways to preserve your property from estate taxes that would reduce what your heirs can inherit. We can also discuss ways to avoid probate, or at least, minimize the time your loved ones will spend in probate court.

Four common ways to preserve your estate and avoid probate in North Carolina include:

1. Use a revocable living trust to transfer specific pieces of property to the trust while you are still alive.
2. Use joint ownership to transfer property like real estate, automobiles, and even businesses.
3. Name payable-on-death beneficiaries who will inherit a monetary gain when you pass away without the need for a will or trust.
4. Gift property to loved ones and charities to reduce the size of your estate, which may reduce your risk of paying steep estate taxes.

Passing Your Home to Your Family

Currently, in Cary, North Carolina, concerns about a housing crisis are growing. Many people are not sure if there will be affordable housing in the city for new homeowners within the next several years. For that reason, it is more important than ever to make sure that your estate plan includes provisions to pass your family home to your loved ones when you pass away.

Our attorneys can help you pass your family home to your family using various estate planning tools, such as:

• Wills
• Trusts
• Transfer-on-death deeds
• Joint tenants designations

Choosing the Right Cary, NC Estate Planning Lawyer

Estate planning is a personal legal process that will impact your loved ones, possibly for years after you are gone. When you hire a Cary estate planning attorney, you should start by making sure that they understand just how important your estate plan is to you and your family. At Blood Law, PLLC, we take every case to heart because we know what a good estate plan represents and – perhaps worse – how much trouble an incomplete or poorly made estate plan can cause.

During an initial consultation, we invite you to ask us these questions and more:

• How much experience do you have with making an estate plan for an estate like mine?
• Knowing what you know about my estate plan, what would you first suggest I do?
• How will you keep me informed about my estate plan as you prepare it?
• What are your attorney fee rates when working on an estate plan?