Estate & Financial Planning Articles
Estate Planning
Year-End Gifting for Estate Planning: Maximizing Tax Savings Before the 2017 Tax Act Sunset

Estate planning is a critical component of wealth management, especially for high-net-worth individuals seeking to transfer assets to future generations with minimal tax implications.

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Estate Planning
Decanting Trusts Under North Carolina’s Uniform Trust Decanting Act

The North Carolina Uniform Trust Decanting Act (UTDA) allows trustees to “decant” or transfer assets from an irrevocable trust to a new trust.

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Estate Planning
What Exactly Is a Trust, and Do I Need Different Types of Trusts in My Estate Plan?

A trust is essentially a contract between two people, one who is the grantor of the trust and the other the trustee or beneficiary.

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Estate Planning
What Exactly Is Estate Planning And When Do We Need It?

Estate planning encompasses a wide variety of subject matter, from how your assets may be titled and who is the beneficiary of your insurance to IRAs and 401(k)s, to the creation of business entities, the establishment of buy-sell agreements, the creation of trusts and gifting during your lifetime.

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Estate Administration
What Happens If Somebody Dies With Property But No Will?

It is a common assumption between spouses that at the death of the first spouse to die, the surviving spouse will inherit all the deceased’s property.

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Estate Administration
What Is Probate And When Is Probate Triggered In North Carolina?

Probate is the court-supervised process over which personal assets are transferred out of the individual’s name into the names of their heirs or beneficiaries after death.

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Estate Planning
Modifying Irrevocable Trusts in North Carolina: What You Need to Know

Irrevocable trusts, by design, are meant to remain unchanged. However, life’s unpredictability and evolving legal landscapes can sometimes necessitate alterations.

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Trustee Reporting Duties Under NC Uniform Trust Code

The fiduciary duties of a trustee are fundamental components of trust law, designed to ensure the trustee acts in the best interests of the beneficiaries.

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Estate Administration
Common Disputes and How to Resolve Them

In my experience, there are only two or three things that truly create a hostile relationship and contention within a family during an estate administration process.

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Estate Planning
What Are the Most Important Components That Should Be Part of Everyone’s Estate Plan?

Determining what the objectives are, implementing a plan that meets those objectives in a way that conforms to the laws of the tax code and treasury regulations is important when planning any estate.

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