What an estate plan does
Christine puts the goal in one line: give what you have, to who you want, the way you want it. A plan does that with a few signed documents. It also names who can act for you if you’re alive but can’t handle things yourself.
If you die without a will in North Carolina, state law decides who gets your house. When the house is in your name alone and you have children, your spouse may receive only a half or a third share (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 29-14). The rest passes to your children. A will lets you opt out of North Carolina’s plan.
South Carolina has its own order for who inherits when there’s no will (S.C. Code § 62-2-101 and the sections that follow). It isn’t the same as North Carolina’s. A South Carolina plan is written to South Carolina’s rules by a South Carolina attorney, not copied from a North Carolina form.
If you have young children, your will is also where you say who you want to raise them if both parents die, and who manages money you leave them. North Carolina law lets a parent recommend a guardian in a will (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 35A-1225). In South Carolina, the probate court doesn’t decide a child’s custody, but it can oversee property a child owns (S.C. Code § 62-5-201).
A plan matters while you’re alive, too. If an illness or an accident leaves you unable to sign or decide, someone still has to pay your bills and talk with your doctors. Without the right documents, your family may need a court’s permission first.
The five documents most plans use
A plan is usually built from some or all of five documents. Not everyone needs all five, and we won’t push a trust when a will does the job.
- Will: says who receives your property and who handles your estate. It goes through probate, the court process that settles someone’s estate. See wills.
- Revocable trust: a trust you can change during your life. Property you move into it can pass without probate. See trusts.
- Financial power of attorney: names who can act for you on money matters if you can’t. In North Carolina it must be signed and acknowledged before a notary (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 32C-1-105).
- Health care power of attorney: names who makes medical decisions for you when you can’t.
- Living will: states your wishes about life-prolonging treatment at the end of life.
In both states, a will is signed in front of two witnesses (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-3.3; S.C. Code § 62-2-502). A South Carolina power of attorney must be signed, witnessed like a will, and acknowledged (S.C. Code § 62-8-105).
Accounts with a named beneficiary
Some of what you own never passes through your will. Life insurance, retirement accounts and many bank accounts go to the person named on the account’s beneficiary form. If a form is out of date, the account can go to the wrong person, or fall back into your estate, whatever your will says. We look at those forms as part of your plan and help you bring them in line with it.
Planning when you own a home
For many families, the house is the biggest thing they own. Who receives it can depend on how the deed is titled, not only on your will. That’s why we start by reading the deed.
Should you put your house in a trust? A trust can keep the house out of probate, but only if the deed is actually moved into the trust. That means preparing and recording a new deed.
For some families that extra step is worth it. For others, a well-written will does the job with fewer steps. Once we’ve seen your deed and know your family, we’ll tell you which fits. The goal is the same either way: when the time comes, your family can keep or sell the house without first having to sort out who owns it.
If you’ve already inherited a house, or the deed is still in a parent’s name, that’s a different job. See inherited property and deeds. We prepare the deeds.
Your estate planning attorney in Charlotte, NC or Summerville, SC
Your plan is handled by the attorney licensed in your state. Christine Hart prepares North Carolina plans from our Charlotte office at 122 N. McDowell Street. Justin Montgomery and Tiffany Lumpkin prepare South Carolina plans from our Summerville office at 201 Sigma Drive.
Some families have ties to both states. You might live in Charlotte and own land near Summerville, or have a parent on the other side of the line. Tell us about both places at the start. Each state’s documents are prepared by that state’s attorney, and one firm keeps the whole plan consistent.
If a parent’s long-term care is part of the picture, our page on Medicaid and long-term care planning explains how we help families plan for the cost of that care.
How much does estate planning cost in NC and SC?
The cost depends on what your plan includes, and you’ll know it before any work begins. Estate planning here is a flat fee, set out in a written fee or scope letter that lists what your plan covers. Costs paid to others, such as the fee to record a new deed, are separate and listed in the same letter.
A flat fee means the price doesn’t grow with the hours spent, as long as the work stays within the letter. Other work, such as Medicaid and long-term care planning or a deed, is priced once the attorney understands what’s involved. That fee also comes to you in writing first.
How it works, step by step
- First meeting. A paid meeting with the attorney licensed in your state, at the office, by phone or by video. You explain your family, your property and what you want.
- Design meeting. We walk through the choices in your plan: who receives what, who’s in charge, and what happens to the house.
- Drafts. You read every document before signing and ask about anything that isn’t clear.
- Signing ceremony. You sign with the witnesses and a notary present. This step usually happens in person.
It helps to bring:
- Any will, trust or power of attorney you already have.
- The deed or a recent tax bill for each property you own, in either state.
- A rough list of accounts, retirement plans and life insurance, with the beneficiaries you named.
- Names and contact details for the people you want to put in charge.
Missing a document? Come anyway. We’ll work from what you bring.
Keeping your original will safe
The court generally needs your signed original will, not a copy, so where you keep it matters.
In North Carolina, you can deposit your original will with the Clerk of Superior Court in your county for safekeeping (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-11).
In South Carolina, whoever holds your will after you die has thirty days from learning of the death to deliver it. It goes to the probate court, or to the person named to handle your estate (S.C. Code § 62-2-901). Tell that person where your original is kept.
Already have a plan?
If you already have a will, we start there. We look at what has changed since it was signed.
Here’s an illustrative composite, not a real client. A Charlotte couple signed wills in 2012. Since then they’ve had a second child and bought a lake lot just over the line in South Carolina. The friend they named to handle their estate has moved to Oregon. Nothing in their wills changed. Their life did, and the South Carolina lot brings a second state’s rules into the plan.
Review your plan after a marriage or a divorce, a new child or grandchild, or a death in the family. A move across the state line or new property is another reason. A review doesn’t always mean starting over. Often it means changing only what no longer fits.
Estate planner or estate attorney: what’s the difference?
An estate planning attorney is licensed to give legal advice and to prepare your will, trust and powers of attorney. “Estate planner” isn’t a license. Financial planners and advisors use the title, and they can help with investments and the beneficiaries on your accounts. For documents that will be used in North or South Carolina, choose an attorney licensed in that state.
Questions people ask
Is estate planning worth it?
If you own a home, have children, or want a specific person making decisions for you, a plan puts those choices in writing. Without one, your state’s law fills the gaps, and your family may need a court’s help to act for you. We’ll show you what your state’s default would do, and you decide from there.
Is a will or a trust better in NC?
Neither is better for everyone. A will is often enough when everything you own is in North Carolina. A trust can be worth the extra steps if you also own real estate in another state, such as South Carolina. Without one, that property may need its own court process in the state where it sits (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-26-1; S.C. Code § 62-4-207). See trusts for how a trust is set up.
How do I pick a lawyer for estate planning?
Ask who will actually draft your documents, and whether that attorney is licensed in the state where you live and where your property sits. Ask how the fee is set and whether you’ll get it in writing. A good answer to both should come before you’re asked to commit.
Who has more power, a beneficiary or an executor?
They have different jobs. The executor (South Carolina’s courts say personal representative) manages the estate: gathering property, paying debts and handing out what’s left. The beneficiaries are the people who receive it. The executor must follow the will and act in the beneficiaries’ interest, and the court can step in if they don’t.
What is the 5 by 5 rule in estate planning?
It’s a trust provision named after a federal tax rule. A trust can let a beneficiary withdraw a limited amount each year, up to a cap set by that federal rule. If the beneficiary lets that right lapse unused, the lapse isn’t treated as a gift up to the cap (26 U.S.C. § 2514(e)). It matters mainly in trusts written to reduce estate or gift tax. Whether yours should include one depends on what you want the trust to do.
How much does a power of attorney cost in NC?
A power of attorney is one of the estate planning documents. When we prepare it as part of your plan, it’s covered by the plan’s flat fee. If you need only a power of attorney, the attorney sets the fee once they know what you need, and you’ll have it in writing before work starts.
Book a first meeting
For a North Carolina plan, meet Christine Hart at McDowell Street. For a South Carolina plan, meet Justin Montgomery or Tiffany Lumpkin at Sigma Drive. Either meeting can also be by phone or video. Call 980-243-4470 or request a time online, and tell us which state your plan is for.
One flat fee, agreed in writing. You read every document before you sign.
A will can only be signed while you’re able to make your own decisions (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-1; S.C. Code § 62-2-501). That’s why we suggest planning before a health change, not after.
If someone has already died and you’re settling their estate, start with probate instead. Probate is a flat fee, too.
Want to hear from people who’ve worked with us? Read client reviews.
Responsible attorneys: Christine Hart (North Carolina), 122 N. McDowell Street, Charlotte, NC 28204. Justin Montgomery and Tiffany Lumpkin (South Carolina), 201 Sigma Drive, Suite 300, Summerville, SC 29486.