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Estate Planning

North Carolina Estate Planning Blog

Consumer-oriented blog on estate planning, probate, tax law, with a focus on North Carolina.
By Gregory Herman-Giddens

Post Frequency: 3.6/day

Last Entry: May 20, 2013 at 07:53:43

Should an Estate Plan be Revised Before or After a Divorce?

Posted on May 20, 2013
We've written about the importance of updating your beneficiaries, but when you're going through a divorce, should you update your estate plan while navigating separation or after the divorce is finalized? If you do not have an estate plan, an excellent time to create one is when your marital status changes...

Retirement Savings Change Based on Income Projections

Posted on May 17, 2013
The Boston College Center for Retirement Research released a study that involved over 15,000 employees who were offered projections of their retirement income based on potential voluntary contributions. The projections changed the way individuals decided to contribute to their savings...

No NC Tax Reform Bill Yet, Here's the Plan

Posted on May 15, 2013
The North Carolina Senate had announced plans to reveal the new NC tax reform bill in early May. However, the press conference instead produced the outline of a measure that the Senate hopes to turn into a bill later in 2013. Citing pending reports of tax collections from April as part of the bill's delay, the legislators provided the proposed tax changes that will combine to about $1 billion in tax cuts...

Creditors Can Still Collect From Foreign Trusts

Posted on May 13, 2013
Foreign trusts, or offshore trusts, are popular asset protection tools as they are notorious for providing superior protection from creditors. However, foreign trusts are not creditor-proof.Creditors face a greater challenge when they must pursue assets in foreign trusts...

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National Elder Law Month: What Does Medicare Cover for Nursing Homes?

Posted on May 08, 2013
As part of National Elder Law Month, our North Carolina elder law attorneys are providing a series of posts to help educate senior citizens and their loved ones who care for them about their legal options. Medicare helps many seniors afford necessary healthcare services...

Top States for Domestic Asset Protection Trusts

Posted on May 07, 2013
Steve Oshin's 2013 Annual Domestic Asset Protection Trust State Rankings were released and show the highest scoring state for DAPTs is Nevada.DAPTs are self-settled trusts that offer spendthrift protections, which shield assets from creditors. Not every state allows these types of trusts, and those that do differ on their requirements...

Distribution Advantages for Spouse IRA Beneficiaries

Posted on May 06, 2013
Designating a spouse as a beneficiary of an IRA not only ensures they will have access to retirement accounts in the event their partner passes away, but it offers them unique advantages to which non-spouse beneficiaries are not entitled.If a spouse is the named beneficiary of an IRA, they have several distribution advantages: Spousal rollover...

North Carolina Voting Restrictions Proposed for Mentally Incompetent

Posted on May 03, 2013
A recent North Carolina Senate proposal for the ballots in November of 2014 is an amendment to remove the right to vote in North Carolina for individuals who have been determined incompetent by a court of any state. If passed into law, Senate Bill 668 will take the right to vote away from many senior citizens and individuals with disabilities who have been adjudicated incompetent by a court...

Kids in College? North Carolina Income Tax Changes for Parents

Posted on May 02, 2013
Parents are allowed to take a federal and state income tax deduction for each dependent child. However, North Carolina proposed Senate Bill 667 (Equalizer Voter Rights) in early April 2013 that will not allow parents to claim their child for state income tax purposes if their child has registered to vote at an address other than where the parent or legal guardian resides...

Disclaiming Inheritances in North Carolina

Posted on May 01, 2013
Why would an individual renounce or disclaim an inheritance in North Carolina? An inheritance may not always be expected and it may not be desirable for the beneficiary. Certain assets, like real estate or personal items, may require complicated or expensive maintenance that the beneficiary does not want to manage...

Ways to Protect an Inheritance from Creditors

Posted on April 30, 2013
Bequeathing assets involves more than naming beneficiaries. Creating a proper estate plan offers individuals and families the ability to protect their assets for loved ones after they're gone. Unexpected claims could drain accounts and threaten properties that were intended to be passed on to beneficiaries...

Google's Digital Asset Management Tool

Posted on April 25, 2013
2013 seems to be the year of digital afterlife planning. Last month the North Carolina Senate approved Bill 279, a bill for the state's first-ever laws addressing digital assets. This month Google took their first step forward in post-death account management of their applications...

Why You Should Update Your Beneficiaries

Posted on April 24, 2013
Neglecting to update beneficiaries, or failing to name them, may leave life insurance and retirement accounts to unintended recipients, create probate expenses, and cause tax problems. Having a Will does not avoid these issues. The best prevention is having updated beneficiary designations...

3 Ways to Gift for College

Posted on April 22, 2013
Family members have the best intentions when they offer money to cover college expenses, but if they neglect to use a wise gifting strategy they could affect the student's eligibility for federal aid. With hundreds of higher education institutions, state and private universities in North Carolina, students have no shortage of options...

Obama's 2013 Budget Proposal to Push Estate Tax Back to 2009 Terms

Posted on April 16, 2013
Although Obama's American Taxpayer Relief Act was said to make permanent changes, lawmakers had also advised that it was just the first step in a series of changes. Now Obama's 2013 budget proposal has several amendments, of which are changes to tax laws that were recently made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Act...

$3M Limit on IRAs in Obama's Proposal

Posted on April 15, 2013
Individual Retirement Accounts are a top retirement choice for individuals who want to enjoy tax-deferred savings. However, Obama's new budget plan includes caps on IRA accounts. Retirement account holders would no longer be able to maintain an IRA balance in excess of $3M...

3 Reasons Why You Don't Need to be a Senior Citizen to Use an Elder Law Attorney

Posted on April 14, 2013
A common misconception is that elder law attorneys are used primarily by senior citizens. Although elder law attorneys can assist with crisis Medicaid planning and present eligibility for Veterans' Benefits, they can also help younger individuals make a plan in advance...

5 Final Hour Tax Filing Errors

Posted on April 12, 2013
Taxpayers make preventable mistakes every year that cause delays with their tax return processing. Knowing what these mistakes are may help you avoid unnecessary delays of your refund. Courtesy of the IRS, our North Carolina tax attorneys have listed five common mistakes taxpayers make when they filing their taxes in the hours or days before April 15th: Entering the wrong routing and account numbers...

5 Tax Scams of 2013

Posted on April 11, 2013
Every year many innocent people fall victim to tax scams. Taxpayers may be taken advantage of by scammers, dishonest tax preparers, or may have their identity stolen by other means. There are more opportunities for criminals to find sensitive information about people now in the Digital Age...

Ways to Protect Your Finances: Financial Literacy Month

Posted on April 09, 2013
April is Autism Awareness Month, Parkinson's Awareness Month, and it is also Financial Literacy Month. These three campaigns may at first appear unrelated to each other, but they are interconnected.The latter campaign was created to help educate consumers about the financial tools available to protect their assets for the future...

Can I Inherit Debt in North Carolina?

Posted on March 29, 2013
North Carolina estate planning discussions usually put an individual's assets under the microscope. What trusts would avoid taxes best? How much should be designated for charitable contributions? Are my advance directives up-to-date? Most people are concerned about preserving inheritances for beneficiaries instead of understanding how inherited debt may affect their loved ones...

Disadvantages of a DIY Will in North Carolina

Posted on March 25, 2013
Everyone wants to save money, but choosing to cut corners on estate planning in North Carolina may end up costing individuals more than they ever expected. The cost of do-it-yourself estate planning may seem attractive at first, however Consumer Reports released a study that shows most of the DIY will programs have unintended consequences...

North Carolina Bill Affecting Digital Assets

Posted on March 20, 2013
Recently we reviewed the challenges of digital estate planning—the ways surviving family members' access to a decedent's online accounts are affected—and how accessibility is determined by individual account policies. With no North Carolina laws governing digital afterlife yet, many families have struggled to gain access to online banking, investments, frequent flyer miles, and more...

3 Estate Planning Baby Steps

Posted on March 11, 2013
When a baby is on the way, it is a perfect time for expectant parents to complete or update their estate plan to ensure their child's future care. Some families do not consider the peace of mind a comprehensive estate plan offers until their baby is born...

Special Needs Planning: When Children Become Adults

Posted on March 06, 2013
Parents of special needs children need to carefully plan for their children's future. Many families turn to special needs trusts to ensure their child will have access to finances after their deaths, without hindering the child's ability to qualify for public benefits, such as Social Security and Medicaid...

Traditional IRAs: 3 Penalty-Free Withdrawals are Allowed Before Retirement

Posted on March 04, 2013
Making withdrawals from retirement accounts before actual retirement is usually a last resort. Individuals fear penalties and taxes—expenses they were not anticipating when they took the financially responsible step to contribute to their retirement...

More Estate Planning Opportunities Forecasted for Roth 401(k)s

Posted on March 01, 2013
A new study reveals more employers will offer Roth 401(k)s to their employees in 2013. About a third of all employers surveyed by Aon, a human resource services provider, have plans to add a Roth contribution option. Since there are no income restrictions for Roth 401(k)s, the rising trend will catch the eye of many employees...

Serving Estate Planning to the Sandwich Generation

Posted on February 27, 2013
The 'Sandwich Generation'—today's 10 million baby boomers who care for both their own children or grandchildren and elderly parents or relatives—may need to take a different approach to estate planning. New research shows approximately 15% of baby boomers contribute financially to care and living expenses for their elderly family members...

Repeal of the North Carolina Estate Tax?

Posted on February 26, 2013
Recently we wrote about North Carolina potentially joining several other states that are repealing state estate tax (or 'death tax'). Last week, the North Carolina House Finance Committee approved repeal of the state's death tax. If the repeal is enacted into law, soon there will no longer be any states in the Southeast that impose a death tax...

Memory Loss, Retirement and Aging

Posted on February 18, 2013
Memory loss comes in many forms. From mild cognitive impairment and dementia, to the severe effects of advancing Alzheimer's, the number of senior citizens affected by memory impairments is only going up. 1 in 5 Americans over the age of 70 are afflicted by some type of memory loss...