A Plan to Fit Your Estate
You’ve worked hard for what you have earned. Your estate plan should reflect the testamentary vision you have for your beneficiaries and maximize the value of what gets passed to your heirs and assigns. We take the time to understand our clients, their families, and their desires. We put together a set of instruments including wills, trusts, living wills, powers of attorney, and more to accomplish your intended disposition. Landon White Law Firm gives you peace of mind that your estate is taken care of.
What is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is the deliberate preparation of a plan to transfer assets at death or during your lifetime to who you want to receive certain property and how you want them to receive the property. Questions to consider are what is your estate, who do you want to receive all or part of your estate, when do you want them to receive the property, and how do you want them to receive the property. Estate planning also entails business succession planning, naming a personal representative to manage the estate administration process, recommending a guardian over a minor child, management of assets for a minor or irresponsible beneficiary for a period of time, and avoiding conflict between your loved ones upon your death.
What is your Estate?
An estate is all personal and real property, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and other forms of assets that you own or in which you have an interest. The term “estate” is not restricted to a collection of assets of a certain minimum size.
Who will Receive your Property?
Without an estate plan, your estate would pass to your spouse and/or descendants according to North Carolina’s intestacy statutes. This is usually an imperfect division of a decedent’s assets and does not offer mechanisms to manage those assets for certain beneficiaries.
With an estate plan, you control who receives the assets from your estate. You can designate your spouse, descendants, a charity of your choice, religious institution as beneficiaries. You can choose when they receive certain assets, and how they receive those assets.
When will the Beneficiaries Receive Property from your Estate?
With an estate plan, you can also control when beneficiaries under the plan will receive property from the estate. Under a will, property is usually passed after the testator’s death. Trusts can be set up during a person’s lifetime that can pass title to certain beneficiaries while the person making the gift is still alive. With a trust, you can maintain a degree of control over how that asset is managed for a period of time, such as for a minor until he reaches the age of majority or for an irresponsible beneficiary.
Essential Estate Planning Instruments
- Wills
- Trusts
- Durable Powers of Attorney
- Health Care Powers of Attorney
- Living Wills
- Beneficiary Designations
- Guardianship Designations
- Letters of Intent
What is a Will?
A will is an estate planning instrument that expresses your wishes about the disposition of property after death and directs how your assets should be distributed. A will can make recommendations for guardianship over a minor child and can provide for the management of assets distributed to the minor under the will until the minor reaches the age of majority, which is 18 in North Carolina. The directions of a will supersede the statutory intestacy distribution scheme, which apply when an individual passes without having a will.
Can a Will be Amended?
A codicil is an estate planning instrument that modifies your will without revoking the entire will. Codicils can be useful to make small adjustments, but they still must undergo the same execution formalities as a will. If the modifications are substantial or numerous over time, it may be advantageous to undertake the modifications as a new will.
What is a Trust?
Generally, a trust is an estate planning instrument through which you control who receives your assets, when the beneficiaries receive the assets, and how the assets are managed while in the trust. Title, or ownership, of an asset is given by the person creating the trust, or the settlor, to a trustee who will hold the asset for the benefit of the beneficiaries. There are numerous different types of trusts that can be implemented depending on the goals of the settlor. Inter vivos trusts created during the settlor’s lifetime can be revocable or irrevocable. A trust can be created for the benefit of a surviving spouse, to manage assets for a minor, for a beneficiary who may have a tendency to use the assets irresponsibly if given full control, for a charity, or other beneficiary. Testamentary trusts are created through a will and can accomplish the same goals. Trusts can be very effective estate planning instruments for business planning purposes or tax planning purposes. Upon death, the assets of a trust pass to the beneficiaries outside of probate. One benefit of a trust over a will is that the provisions of a trust can be amended much easier than a will.
What is a Power of Attorney?
A durable power of attorney is an instrument that designates a representative, or agent, to make financial and management decisions on your behalf. The power often becomes effective when you are no longer able to make decisions on your own, but this does not have to be the case. A power of attorney grants very broad authority to your designated agent, and thus the agent should be chosen wisely. Generally, the agent does not have authority to amend a will or trust unless such a power is specifically granted, but an agent may still be able to dispose of assets during your lifetime.
What is a Health Care Power of Attorney?
A health care power of attorney is similar to a general power of attorney but focuses on your health care agent’s authority to make health care decisions on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated and can no longer direct a treating physician yourself. The agent’s authority to make health care decisions is broad, but can be limited in ways and you can give specific instructions for certain circumstances. The health care power of attorney is usually used in conjunction with an advance directive for a natural death, or living will. A health care power of attorney may supersede the end of life decisions provided for in a living will, or vice versa.
What is an Advance Directive for a Natural Death (Living Will)?
An advance directive for a natural death, commonly referred to as a “living will,” is an instrument through which you set your wishes for certain life prolonging measures. You choose when the advance directive takes effect, whether you wish to have life prolonging measures such as nutrition and hydration, and the level of comfort you want your attending physician to provide. Under the advance directive, you can maintain final authority over your end of life decisions, or you can authorize your health care agent to supersede the designations under the advance directive.