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On August 16 we lost an icon. Aretha Franklin was not just a phenomenal singer, she was the undisputed Queen of Soul (and Gospel and Rock and R&B). She was a vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement and her recording of Respect was the unofficial anthem of the women’s rights movement.

We will all miss...

The opioid epidemic is ravishing the nation and North and South Carolina are being hit particularly hard. In response, more and more families in our area are drafting estate plans with trusts that prevent loved ones who have substance abuse issues from fueling their addiction with inherited funds. A good example of how this...

Estate Planning For New Parents It may not be the top thing on your to-do list when you find out you are expecting, but crafting an estate plan is something all new parents should do. It is not one of the fun and exciting parts of parenting, but it is critically...

When former President Benjamin Harrison died in 1901, his two oldest children inherited nothing. Harrison specified that his second wife, Mary Scott Lord Dimmock Harrison, was to inherit everything. Harrison two older children were already married with children of their own, so it wasn’t like he was leaving them destitute, but it...

Each generation lives through a number of events that its members will never forget. The older generation remembers Pearl Harbor and the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The Boomers remember the day JFK was shot and the OJ Simpson murder case. Generation X vividly recalls 9/11. Each of these events defined the...

Taking care of all the “stuff” that a loved one leaves behind is a daunting task. It’s both emotionally draining and physically exhausting. From a legal perspective, the person in charge of sorting through all the stuff that a loved one leaves behind is the estate administrator named in the

Do you have a plan for paying for your long-term care? Most people do not, which limits one’s options and leads to poor choices. That’s why there are so many horror stories out there about seniors losing properties that have been in their family for years because they fell and broke a hip....