Estate Planning

CREATING THE BEST ESTATE PLANS FOR OUR CLIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES TRUSTS, WILLS, POWERS OF ATTORNEY, ADVANCE DIRECTIVES

The most important things you can give to your loved ones aren’t things at all.  Most important is sharing your love, time and wisdom while you have the opportunity.  But how you pass on your assets to loved ones does matter – whether yours is a large or more modest estate.  You can decide now, with proper estate planning, to whom and how your estate will pass.  If you don’t decide now for yourself who gets what and when, then the State of North Carolina will decide that for you later.      

Our Estate Planning Group is led by founding and managing partner M. Scott Boyles.  For decades, we have been advising and helping clients with their Wills, Trusts, and Estates.  We start by listening and learning what is most important to you - for yourself and for your family.  We answer your questions, and we make recommendations for the best options to carry out your wishes.  If you are unsure where to start, we walk with you through the thought and planning processes beginning to end.  All you need to do is recognize the opportunity you have with personalized estate planning to make a lasting impact after you’re gone.  You can save your loved ones time, stress and money; preserve and protect what you leave them; and direct how and under what circumstances you want to leave it.  Proper estate planning is a gift to your family in and of itself.  It is part of your family legacy. 

A properly drafted Estate Plan also provides guidance concerning your personal wishes about your health care, and about handling your affairs in the event that you become incapacitated through illness or injury.  Properly drafted, executed, witnessed and notarized durable powers of attorney and healthcare documents (ie, healthcare powers of attorney, advance care directives, HIPPA authorizations) are a gift to yourself and your family.

Remember, Estate Planning is not only for the elderly or wealthy. Everyone benefits from having in place a well-drafted Estate Plan.  We strongly encourage college graduates, young couples, new mothers and fathers, middle aged couples and singles, empty nesters, business owners, and grandparents to contact us for a consultation on the benefits of an Estate Plan for your particular situation.  Call us at 910-763-6545.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Trusts

A Trust may be appropriate as part of your estate plan due to your specific family situation, or the size and financial structure of your estate. A Trust allows one individual to hold property for the benefit of another. Trusts can be designed to avoid probate, minimizing costs and retaining value; and to protect and preserve your estate for your children or other beneficiaries - from their creditors, divorcing spouses, judgments, or lack of financial acumen or maturity. We take a unique approach to planning based upon each client’s individual needs and desires. We strive to work efficiently with the client to achieve their goals and maximize the various benefits a proper estate plan can have.

Individuals who are aging or who have aging parents may need to make arrangements for future health care and assign responsible parties to manage affairs. We offer a variety of tools to assist in this process, such as Living Wills, Health Care Proxies, and Powers of Attorney.