NC and SC Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm

Working with veterans and their families to help them get all the benefits they are eligible for teaches you a lot about the challenges our brave men and women in uniform face here on the home front. Unless you are a veteran, or the family member of a veteran, or have really gotten to know a few veterans, the struggle is difficult to grasp. A new documentary about a veteran living in North Carolina is helping to shed some light on the subject and bring awareness to it.

From the way people reacted in response to the news that veterans in California were being asked to repay benefits that they had received in error, you might get the impression that our military is a highly efficient bureaucracy that rarely makes mistakes. Unfortunately, those of us that have experience navigating the military benefits system know that is far from true. Our military is excellent at many things, but accurate bookkeeping is not one of its strengths.

Why is everyone talking about military bonuses out in California?

It seems that there were a couple of things that went wrong out in California. First, veterans were given reenlistment bonuses that they were not actually eligible for.

Several years ago, an estate planning attorney I had met at a conference called looking for some advice. One of his clients had recently passed away very unexpectedly, and he was scrambling to help his client’s widow take control of her late husband’s business. Things weren’t going well.

The widow was, understandably, overcome with grief, but she was doing the best she could. Unfortunately, she didn’t even know which keys opened the front door, let alone how to run the business on a day to day basis.

With all that has been going on in the world over the past month, it was easy to miss the fact that an interesting new lawsuit has been filed against the state of South Carolina. The fact that the state is getting sued is not news. That happens all the time. What is different about this case is that it is about whether or not an innovative new company is able to do business in South Carolina.

Opternative is a Chicago-based company that allows consumers to get a prescription for glasses or contacts over the internet.

An All Too Real Horror Story

Spoiler Alert: The following includes information about this season of the popular TV show American Horror Story: Roanoke.

One of the central plots in Season 6 is recapping the actions of a pair of nurses (now ghosts) who opened an assisted living facility in North Carolina (Roanoke like the lost colony, not like the current city in case you were wondering) so they could kill people whose initials spell out their favorite word, M-U-R-D-E-R.

What many people don’t realize, is that this scary story is based on a real life horror story. Catherine May Wood and Gwendolyn Gail Graham, the “Lethal Lovers,” were convicted of second and first degree murder respectively after several people under their care at a nursing home in Michigan died suspiciously. According to a New York Times article recounting the ladies’ 1988 arrests, says it was rumored that the killers were attempting to spell out the word “MURDER,” just like the ghosts in American Horror Story.
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If you care for someone with special needs, you know your loved one is someone special. It should come as no surprise that a loved one who needs special attention and care from you during your lifetime also requires a different treatment than others included in your estate plan.

Leaving money to someone who has a disability is a wonderful thing to do, but if not done properly, it can end up making them worse off.
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There’s no doubt about it, we live in a digital world. Perhaps there is no better example of this than what happened during Hurricane Matthew. It was almost humorous to see young people try and figure out how to live unplugged for a while, but there were plenty of serious moments as well. Facebook activated its “safety check” feature which allowed people in the storm’s path to digitally signal they were doing alright, and a guy from Hope Mills, North Carolina was rescued because his brother down in Texas happened to see a picture of his flooded house, which was taken by a drone, on Twitter.

Although the digital world has become an important aspect of our live, it is not something many people think about when they craft their Read more . . .

The probate process in North Carolina can seem like a confounding mix of statutes, regulations and jurisdiction-specific nuances enough to make anyone’s head spin. While we of course recommend working with an experienced North Carolina estate administration attorney through the process, the following addresses some of the most commonly-asked questions during consultations:

What happens if my loved one died without a Will?

Dying without a Last Will and Testament means the estate will pass through probate under the laws of “intestacy.” In essence, intestacy works as a statute-driven plan for the distribution of the deceased’s property, creating a de facto estate plan for the administrator to work under.

Q: Can I qualify for Medicaid assistance to keep my medically fragile child at home instead of in a hospital or residential care setting?

When people think of Medicaid planning, they often picture low-income individuals over 65 who need medical assistance or nursing home care. But Medicaid’s medical assistance benefits are not just for the elderly; they are for the disabled, blind, or low-income families and children who qualify for the joint federal-state program. And in one particular NC waiver program some very sick children can qualify for Medicaid help regardless of their family’s income.

Known as the “SCUPAA,” South Carolina’s recently-enacted Uniform Power of Attorney Act brings it to a point of cohesiveness with 21 other states, all of which have enacted a nearly-identical act to help streamline the power of attorney creation and execution process. On June 9^th, 2016, Governor Hailey signed the act into law following bi-partisan support of the bill in the legislature. The act will provide South Carolinians with a simple, straightforward way to ensure their property and finances are managed properly past the point of mental incapacity – an issue with which many family members have grappled over the years.

How can a guardianship help protect my adult child who is unable to care for him or herself?

A South Carolina mother is struggling to regain guardianship over her daughter, who is intellectually disabled and unable to live independently.  The daughter had been sexually assaulted years prior, leading to a landmark Supreme Court ruling.  In the case, the Supreme Court held that the group home in which the woman was living had a duty to exercise reasonable care in supervising its residents.
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