Most states, including North Carolina, have laws in place that establish what your Estate Plan will be. Those Laws may be the opposite of what you actually want. In North Carolina under those laws, in a family with a husband and wife with children, in most scenarios, two thirds (2/3) of the parent’s estate, when one of the parents dies, would go to the children, and one third (1/3) would go to the surviving spouse.
From my experiences, that is not what most families want. Most families want the surviving mom or dad to receive all of the assets, and for it to go to their children only after both parents are deceased. Under the North Carolina version of your Estate Plan two thirds (2/3) of those assets would go to the children, and one third (1/3) would go to the surviving spouse. Therefore, if you do not create your own version of your Estate Plan, the State’s version will be in place. This may lead to disastrous results for the surviving spouse and the children.
Also the State’s version of your Estate Plan does not take into account remarriage by the surviving spouse, Mental Disability of you or your spouse, divorce, squander, or a car wreck lawsuit by one of your children. It also does not take into account Special Needs Planning when you have a mentally or physically challenged or handicapped child.
Create your own Estate Planning with a well-qualified North Carolina Estate Planning Attorney, who limits their law practice to Estate Planning.
At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.