Estate Planning and The Importance of Privacy
Estate planning involves disclosing sensitive information about assets, beneficiaries, and family dynamics. Privacy safeguards this information from being accessed by unintended parties, protecting individuals and families from potential exploitation or harm. Privacy in estate planning can help prevent conflicts among family members. Discretion regarding asset distribution and inheritance can mitigate jealousy, resentment, or...
Estate Planning and The Importance of Privacy Continue reading…
Asset Protection Strategies That Are Useful In Estate Planning
Asset protection is an important part of comprehensive estate planning. Its primary objective is to protect an individual's assets from potential creditors, lawsuits, and other unforeseen liabilities. Combining estate planning with asset protection ensures not only the distribution of one's assets according to their wishes upon death, but also the preservation of...
Asset Protection Strategies That Are Useful In Estate Planning Continue reading…
Estate Planning Considerations for Blended Families
Estate planning for blended families can be complex, especially given the unique challenges and dynamics involved. A "blended” family typically refers to a family where at least one of the spouses has children from a previous marriage or relationship. We have all heard of situations where one spouse dies in a second...
Estate Planning Considerations for Blended Families Continue reading…
How To Avoid Trust Disputes
Overview of Different Trusts Used in Estate Planning in North and South Carolina
Trusts are used in estate planning to manage and distribute assets according to the grantor's wishes, often with the intent to minimize taxes, protect assets, or control how assets are distributed after death. They are legal arrangements where one person (the...
How To Avoid Trust Disputes Continue reading…
The Importance of Estate Planning as a Parent
Parents, have you put an estate plan in place? Estate planning is important for everyone, but there is an added layer of importance when it comes to parents. To really explain why it is so important for parents to put an estate plan in place, let’s take a look at what parents can accomplish...
The Importance of Estate Planning as a Parent Continue reading…
What Happens When a Personal Representative Doesn’t Do Their Job?
The personal representative of an estate serves an important role as they are tasked with managing the administration of a decedent’s estate. This involves gathering and managing the assets of the estate, notifying creditors, paying valid debts of the estate, and more, all while upholding their fiduciary duties. Not everyone is up to...
What Happens When a Personal Representative Doesn’t Do Their Job? Continue reading…
How Much Does the Executor of an Estate Get Paid in South Carolina?
In South Carolina, an executor is the person appointed in a Last Will and Testament that will be responsible for managing the estate throughout the probate proceedings. The personal representative of an estate is the same role as the executor, but is appointed by the court instead of the Last Will and Testament....
How Much Does the Executor of an Estate Get Paid in South Carolina? Continue reading…
Does All Property of the Deceased Pass Through Probate?
The probate process can be complicated. It can seem like a tangled web of red tape and legal requirements. Unfortunately, those navigating the probate process are often those who have just lost a loved one. Fortunately, however, not all property goes through probate. In fact, when a decedent has put certain planning measures...
Does All Property of the Deceased Pass Through Probate? Continue reading…
No Valid Will? What Happens Next?
If you die without a valid will in place in North Carolina, your assets will not pass according to your wishes but instead will pass according to the terms of the State’s laws of intestate succession. When a person dies without a will, it is said that they died “intestate.” Every state has...
No Valid Will? What Happens Next? Continue reading…
Spendthrift Trusts and Protecting Your Legacy
After we die, we hope that our legacy lives on. This can mean a lot of different things, but many like to leave something to help support their loved ones after they are gone. The thought of leaving a lump sum inheritance to your children or other loved ones, however, can be uncomfortable. After...
Spendthrift Trusts and Protecting Your Legacy Continue reading…