Creating an estate plan is crucial to protecting your assets and family after you are gone. However, you must also update your will and other estate planning documents as your life changes. Numerous situations call for a review of your estate plan to make certain it...
Estate Planning
Should you make gifts a part of your estate planning strategy?
In developing your estate plan, you will determine what will happen to your assets after you are gone. You may want to consider gifting some of your assets to your heirs while you are living. In 2022, an individual can gift up to $16,000 of property to one person...
What should you know about living wills?
Proper estate planning protects the assets you worked so hard for during your life. Living wills are a crucial part of estate plans and actually protect you while you are still alive. These legally binding documents specify what kind of medical treatment you prefer...
Include these 3 components in a simple estate plan
Some North Carolina residents put off making estate plans because they worry about the cost or time commitment involved. However, doing so may mean more work and less money for your loved ones in the long run, and the decision not to create an estate plan may, too,...
Should I choose a revocable or irrevocable trust?
When most people think about estate planning, they focus on will creation. While wills are essential to the estate planning process, they are not the only tool in your arsenal. According to U.S. News & World Report, trusts are equally beneficial to estate...
What you need to know about a revocable trust
When you consider how you want to disburse your assets, you will probably come across the term revocable trust. This is an instrument to both hold assets and disburses them upon your death. There are several advantages to using a revocable trust. Flexibility This is...
3 questions to ask your prospective health care agents
Even though the human body is resilient, it can also be extremely fragile. Eventually, you may have to cope with a catastrophic injury or serious illness. If your condition makes it difficult or impossible to communicate your medical wishes, you may want to have...
How to choose a health care agent
Someday, a medical condition such as a traumatic brain injury or a neurodegenerative condition may rob you of your ability to make your own decisions regarding your health care. Creating a health care power of attorney now allows you to name someone to make decisions...
How a special needs trust protects your child with a disability
When your child has a disability, it may take more to provide for him or her after your death than it might otherwise. Many individuals with special needs use Medicare, Supplemental Security Income or other types of public benefits. However, if you leave your child...
Is it time to review your estate plan?
Once you make your estate plan, you can set it aside for a few years. But you cannot indefinitely leave it unchecked, sitting and aging without any updates. After all, your life does not stay the same year after year. Your estate plan needs to reflect your life in its...