New Staff

Please welcome several new staff members who have joined our office in the past few months.  As our practice grows, we believe in adding experienced staff to be able to continue to provide excellent customer service to our clients.

Tiffany Hudson joined us in January as our receptionist.  She brings experience assisting clients, and is your first connection with our office.

Tianna Kampka also joined us in January, bringing over 20 years of experience working in estates.

Betsy Harrell joined us in February, bringing banking and closing experience to the real estate department.

We hope you enjoy working with our new staff members.  We feel that they bring experience and professionalism to add to our office and our ability to serve you, our clients.  Of course, Laura S. Bell  and Linda Correal are still here to serve you as well.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.

Elective Share

Most people are not aware that North Carolina enacted a newly revised elective share statute in 2009.  This matters most for those in second marriages or those who wish not to leave everything to their spouses.  Essentially, a surviving spouse can elect against a will and beneficiary designations on on financial accounts, to receive either a half or quarter of all of the deceased spouse's assets.  This comes as a big shock to the named beneficiaries!
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_30/Article_1A.html

IRA Beneficiary Designations

I find that most people do not want to think about their own death, but usually realize they need a will.  However, it is equally important to think about those assets that pass outside of your will, such as retirement accounts.  Designating a beneficiary is really a bit trickier than most people think - such as not naming a minor, or setting up tax planning trusts, but simply naming your spouse.  I recently read a relevant article that highlights some of these issues.
http://trustsandestates.com/news/estate_death_ira_beneficiary/

Welcome to our new Blog!  We will be using this portion of our website to post legal updates, news of interest, and other items for our clients and potential clients.  Please feel free to check back here often.