Estate Planning

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 such a job and that can become painfully clear over the course of the probate process. When a personal representative fails in their job responsibilities, the probate process can slow or come to a screeching halt, among other negative impacts. In such a situation, is there anything to be done?

There are a number of problems an irresponsible personal representative may cause for an estate in probate.

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 laws in place that dictate what will become of a person’s assets should they pass away without a valid will.
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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 all, such a windfall can be difficult to manage even for those of us with strong money management skills and spending restraint. What will happen to your legacy in the hands of your heirs that struggle with financial immaturity? Or are in a relationship where they have relinquished any control over their financial matters? Or maybe they struggle with addiction issues? Or perhaps they are simply too young to effectively manage a lump sum inheritance? If your heirs struggle with their financial matters, should you leave them an inheritance and risk them spending it quickly away? Well, a spendthrift trust can allow you to provide your heirs with an inheritance, but protect it from creditors and poor spending habits.
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If you have begun your estate planning journey, you have probably thought about or addressed the distribution of your biggest assets. It is likely that you have planned for those things that have either great financial worth, great significant worth, or both. What about everything else? Think of the things we accumulate over the years.
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There is no doubt about it, estate planning has a lot of moving parts. As you work your way through the many facets of estate planning, be sure to keep reminding yourself who you are doing this for. Yes, estate planning will provide you with many vital protections.
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Over the past few pandemic years, Americans have had to confront some uncomfortable ideas about what they knew or thought they knew about their health and safety. Unfortunately, sudden illness does strike. The unforeseen, as well as the foreseen, does happen. Despite the tough realities we have all grappled with in recent years, a shocking number of Americans still do not have an estate plan in place.

According to a recent study conducted by Caring.

Another school year has come and gone. Some of you may be preparing to send your kid off to college in the fall. The newly available freedom in the future for them can be exciting and, especially as a parent, a little scary. As you prepare yourself and your college kid logistically, mentally, and emotionally for this big transition ahead, consider preparing things legally as well. After all, most students entering college for the first time this fall will be 18 and that means they are now legal adults.
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Medicaid provides health care coverage for qualifying low-income residents in the U.S. While it is a federally mandated program, Medicaid is operated at the state level. With a comprehensive application process and stringent eligibility requirements, it can be frustrating to gain access to Medicaid benefits. This is unfortunate, especially when you consider how many people need access to the program for covering things like doctor visits and nursing home care.
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A living trust as a legal construct in which assets can be stored for distribution at some point and under certain specified conditions to the trust beneficiaries. The trust is managed by the trustee according to the terms set forth in the trust document and for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Many people establish a living trust in order to avoid the probate process. Probate is the public, court-supervised process of administering a decedent’ estate. It can be time consuming and costly.
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To establish a trust, the trustor, the creator of the trust, transfers assets into the trust and appoints a trustee to manage the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Trusts can be established for a number of reasons, including probate avoidance, and have many benefits. If you are looking to include a trust in your estate plan, you will need to choose a trustee to manage that trust.
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Taxes are rarely anyone’s favorite subject. With tax season just wrapping up, you may have had your fill of the topic for a while. Regardless, however, taxes remain an important thing to confront. This may be especially true in the Read more . . .