Adult Guardianship Is a Custody Case

Adult incompetency proceedings, also know as guardianship cases, consist of two parts.  Both parts are court proceedings in Probate Court or before the Clerk of Superior Court in North Carolina.  The Clerk of Superior Court is also the Probate Judge in North Carolina.  There are two major parts of the guardianship case.  The first is... [Read More]

Asset Protection – Do It Right!

I know a very bright and courageous entrepreneur who is trying to do Asset Protection, but they are being taken advantage of.  Unfortunately, this very bright person has bought into the “seminar circuit” and has attended seminars by a national speaker who travels and hits some high points, tells some horror stories about asset protection... [Read More]

Your Living Trust and Dementia or Alzheimer’s

You can plan within your Living Trust to remain in control in the event you become mentally incapacitated by dementia or Alzheimer’s.  You can plan for Mental Disability  in the form of having a panel which would consist of a physician and family members or friends to decide if they need to turn on the... [Read More]

Are Your Assets Titled Correctly?

After you pass on, what you own moves by how it is titled.  If it is titled in your name, it goes to Probate Court, even if you have a Living Trust (aka Revocable Trust). If the asset is in joint names with right of survivorship (like with your spouse), it moves to the survivor... [Read More]

Mike Wallace Died Saturday—He Had Dementia

Most people don’t want to plan for their inevitable death, let alone dementia.  You can plan within your Living Trust for mental incapacity.  You set the panel who decides when it is needed.  You choose the doctor and which trusted loved ones turn on the mental disability provisions.  Who do your assets pay for if... [Read More]

Constantly Update Your Estate Plan

You must update your Estate Plan, including your Trust and Will, constantly.   The reasons you need to update your Estate Plan – Revocable Living Trust, Will, Health Care Powers, etc. – is that three things are always changing:  the law, your relationships, and your assets.   1.   The law is regularly changing by changes in the... [Read More]

A Will Cannot Plan for Mental Disability

A Will is only effective when you die, not before.  It only moves assets that are titled in your name through the Probate Court.  If there is real estate in different counties and different states, you may have multiple Probates to move those pieces of land.  The Will cannot plan for Mental Disability care.  We... [Read More]