Our Services
Estate Planning
Do I Need an Estate Planning Attorney
Triangle Estate Lawyers, an estate planning and probate law firm in Raleigh, North Carolina helps clients protect their loved ones and their hard-earned assets using custom-tailored estate plans and asset protection strategies.
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How Can an Estate Planning Attorney Help?
Everyone over the age of eighteen needs some type of estate plan in place. An estate planning attorney can help you determine the type of estate plan you need and create the necessary documents that will meet your overall planning goals. Part of estate planning involves determining who will act in your place to make financial and healthcare decisions should you become incapacitated. It also involves determining what happens to your assets and minor children if you die. An estate plan can save your family a lot of money and in many cases ensure that assets are transferred to your named beneficiaries without going through the probate process.
What Is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is much more than creating a will. It involves planning for how your assets will transfer to named beneficiaries after you die, but it is not only planning for death- it covers disability planning as well. If you become incapacitated because of an accident or a sudden illness – the estate planning documents ensure that someone manages your assets until you can manage them yourself. You should have an estate plan, regardless of your age, especially if you own property and/or have a family. Many clients find it advantageous to include one or more trusts in their estate plan. A comprehensive estate plan includes additional documents such as a living will, healthcare power of attorney, and durable financial power of attorney.
Who Needs an Estate Plan?
As soon as you turn eighteen, you need to create an estate plan. At this stage you will likely name your parents as agents under your power of attorney documents and grant them access to your medical records should you become incapacitated. Later, if you marry, increase your net worth and start a family, you can modify your estate plan accordingly. If you die intestate – without a will – your assets must go through the probate process regardless of value. Going through the probate process depletes your estate value – leaving less for your beneficiaries.
What is Included in an Estate Plan?
Our Basic Will Package Includes:
- Last Will & Testament: This document dictates how your assets are distributed after your death. It also names a guardian for your minor children.
- Durable Financial Power of Attorney: This document allows someone to make legal and financial decisions in your best interest should you become incapacitated. Most people do not imagine getting critically ill or being subject to a traumatic that leaves them incapacitated, but disability planning is imperative. You can customize the financial power of attorney to give the agent you choose as much or as little power as you want. You can even have separate powers of attorney for different accounts and/or financial transactions.
- Healthcare Power of Attorney: Should you become incapacitated and unable to make your own healthcare decisions, the healthcare power of attorney names one or more people to make those decisions for you.
- Living Will: A living will provides instructions to your family and doctors based on your wishes when in need of continued life support. A living will advises your healthcare agent in the decision-making process in certain dire situations, such as authorizing or refusing a feeding tube, resuscitation efforts and more.
We also offer our Revocable Living Trust Package which includes all of the documents in the Basic Will Package, but also includes a revocable living trust:
- Trusts: There are a lot of different types of trusts available – often called the alphabet soup of estate planning – SLAT, GRAT, SRT, CRT, etc. Your estate planning attorney will help you determine which type of trust is best for you and your family. Some trusts are revocable, which means that you can change them during your lifetime. Others are irrevocable, which means that you cannot change them without taking legal action. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types and your estate planning attorney can explain these in detail.
Do I Need an Estate Planning Attorney or Can I Do It Myself?
We do not advise anyone to download estate planning documents and execute them without any type of attorney involvement. While we understand budgetary concerns, there are some serious unintended consequences that often occur with DIY estate planning. If your will does not meet the legal standards set by North Carolina statutes and the probate court rejects it, your estate will have to go through estate administration as an intestate estate– it is as if you never made a will at all. Only a knowledgeable estate planning attorney can ensure proper creation and execution of your wishes. Contact an estate planning attorney to create a new estate plan or to update an estate plan that you already have in place.
What Does an Estate Planning Do?
An estate planning attorney will conduct a thorough interview of you and/or your spouse or domestic partner. The interview will bring to light any special circumstances that you may not have considered. You will describe to the estate planning attorney your goals, your family dynamics and your current financial overview. The estate planning attorney will suggest the best type of plan to accomplish your goals and then set about drafting the documents. You will receive draft documents through a secure email and be given ample time to ask questions and make revision requests. Once you are satisfied with the documents, we will schedule an office visit for a Final Signing Meeting. At this meeting, we will have qualified witnesses and notaries attend to ensure proper execution of the documents. Your estate planning attorney will participate in every stage of the process and be available to answer questions, make suggestions and keep the process moving.
Do I Need a Trust?
Wills and trusts serve different purposes and many clients find it beneficial to move up to our Revocable Living Trust Package. During the intake interview, your estate planning attorney can explain the difference between a will and a trust and what it would mean for your overall estate plan.
How Much Does an Estate Plan Cost?
Pricing for Basic Will Package and Revocable Living Trust Package
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One Step Ahead
Our Process
01
Schedule an appointment
Book appointments by phone or email for remote or in-person visits at our three locations, with free parking at our downtown Raleigh office.
02
Signing Meetings
Signings typically occur in our Raleigh office but can be accommodated upon request. Meetings include witnesses and a notary for your convenience.
03
Intake
Complete forms online before your appointment; post-interview, the attorney will draft and send documents for your review.
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