King Law can specifically equip you with the resources you need to make estate planning as straightforward as possible. You can meet with our team at your leisure to discuss your needs. Our team can help you establish a trust, modify a trust, write your will, or redraft an existing document, among your other estate planning ambitions.
The Benefits of Estate Planning
Estate planning allows you to exercise a bit of control over life after your passing. With the tools made available to you by estate planning practices, you can let family members know how you want your assets divided and how to share those assets among applicable parties.
This pre-planning can make it easier for your loved ones to avoid property disputes while managing your assets. It also ensures that the belongings, finances, or other forms of property that you control all remain in the hands of your chosen recipients instead of the state.
You don’t have to wait until you’re older to begin estate planning, either. This practice is available to anyone of any age with assets that they want to give to others at some point in the future. In fact, the younger you are when you begin estate planning, the more secure your assets may be upon your passing.
Lincolnton Wills & Trusts Lawyers Plan for Your Future
Wills & trusts lawyers specifically connect you with the tools you need to build a future after your passing. Your will, for example, serves as the general blueprint for the distribution of your property. This document needs to address your plans for all of your applicable property if you want that property to make it into the right hands.
Even if you begin structuring a will on your own time, you need to have your document looked over by a wills & trusts attorney before it can be finalized. Our team can make sure that the wording of your will reflects your best interests and that you get your document notarized by the appropriate parties.
Essential Information to Include in Your Will
When drafting your will, make sure that you include plans for the distribution of you:
- Savings and checking
- Real estate investments
- Stocks and bonds
- Businesses and/or stakes in certain companies
You should also use your will to establish new guardianship for pets, minors, or other parties that you take responsibility for. You can discuss how best to assign guardianship for these parties during a consultation with our team.
Your will should not include distribution plans for property in a living trust or your retirement plan. Similarly, property that you jointly own with another party should not appear in your will, nor should stocks or bonds held by a beneficiary at the time of your passing.
How Trusts Work in North Carolina
A trust works similarly to a will, though it is less wide-reaching in its scope. Specifically, a trust allows you to control the distribution of a specific bundle of resources—property, investments, personal belongings, and so on.
You can name a specific person as a recipient of a trust and thus prevent other members of your family from trying to make a claim on your protected resources. That said, you can also invoke a charity when creating your trust if you want to make charitable donations after your passing. The different types of trusts available during the estate planning process can include:
- Revocable trusts, which you, as the creator, can rescind at any point during your life. These trusts default to their recipients upon your passing.
- Irrevocable trusts, which only the recipient can approve alterations to. Irrevocable trusts are considered the recipient’s assets from the time of their creation.
- Special trusts, which specifically allow recipients with special needs to finance their essential care without violating income rules established by Social Security and similar services.
- Charitable trusts, which allow you to direct the included resources to a charitable organization after your passing.
The entirety of what these forms of trusts offer is difficult to capture in writing. For help determining which type of trust applies in your scenario, contact a wills & trusts attorney to explain the whole process for you.
Schedule a Consultation With a Lincolnton Wills & Trusts Attorney Today
Don’t leave your future in uncertain hands. The sooner you choose to discuss wills and trusts with an experienced wills and trusts attorney, the more effectively you can plan for life’s eventualities. King Law wills & trusts lawyers in Lincolnton are ready to meet with you, assess the value of your assets, and make sure each reaches the appropriate parties.
Do you have questions about wills, trusts, or estate planning? Let our team know. You can schedule a consultation with our team by calling (888) 748-5464 or (888) 748-KING. Additionally, you can reach out to us by filling out our contact form.