SERVICES
ESTATE PLANNING is preparation for the future, where you may state how your estate should be distributed following your passing:
Last Will and Testament
Trusts-Revocable and Irrevocable
ADVANCE DIRECTIVES are documents that nominate agents to handle your personal, medical and financial affairs during your lifetime, if you are ever cognitively impaired and cannot speak for yourself:
Continuing (a/k/a "Durable") Power of Attorney
Health Care Power of Attorney
Advanced Directive For a Natural Death ("Living Will")
MEDICAID is a government-regulated and financed program that can help with the costs of long-term care in a skilled nursing facility or in assisted living. It can be very difficult and challenging to obtain eligibility for Medicaid. We can help explain the laws and regulations governing Medicaid in a logical, clear way. We continually monitor changes in Federal and North Carolina law regarding eligibility for such programs. From the extensive Medicaid application to approval by the Department of Social Services, we can professionally assist in the process.
GUARDIANSHIP is a proceeding before a county Clerk of Superior Court, to recognize that someone who is cognitively impaired needs to have their rights protected by someone else, as Guardian. Guardianship can be "of the Person," "of the Estate," or both.
PROBATE (ESTATE ADMINISTRATION) is the Court-supervised process for paying a deceased person's debts and carrying out his or her wishes as contained in their Last Will. Or, probate may mean following the laws of the State for a person who dies without a will. The process begins with the filing of the Last Will and Testament at a county Courthouse's Estates Division, if an Executor has been named in the Will, or with the appointment of an Administrator, if there is no Will. From start to finish, we assist with all legal services necessary to complete the Probate/Estate process.
SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS (also known as "supplemental needs trusts") are established for the benefit of a disabled beneficiary. This process allows the beneficiary to receive gifts, settlements or judgments from lawsuits, inheritances or other funds, and yet not lose his or her eligibility for certain needs-based government programs, such as Medicaid or SSI.
MEMBERSHIPS:
Greensboro Estate Planning Council
Society of Financial Service Professionals
North Carolina Bar Association (Elder Law and Estate Planning & Probate practice sections)
Guilford County Bar Association
National Academy of Elder Law attorneys.
