Estate Planning for Young Families

Services Offered

If you have minor children or if you are expecting your first child, add a basic Will and related documents to your list of things to do. Your Will allows you to name guardians who will care for your minor children if both you and your spouse are deceased. Equally important, you can provide a trust within your Will to manage assets for your kids until they reach an appropriate age. In the absence of such a trust, the Court will require the creation of a guardianship to manage the assets; this requires cumbersome reporting and unnecessary Court fees and the guardianship terminates at age 18, providing the child with all the money at that early age. A trust allows you to delay the ultimate distribution to ensure that the child reaches a more appropriate maturity level before taking control of a large amount of assets (e.g. 25 or 30 years old). In addition to your Will, you will need a Financial Power of Attorney and Health Power of Attorney to name someone to make decisions for you if you become incapacitated.

My process for working with young families is very straightforward. We usually start with a phone conference, video conference or office meeting. I will gather information about your family and your assets and we will discuss the basic documents I recommend and the decisions you will need to make. The most important decision for you to consider is which individuals will serve in the different fiduciary roles such as guardian trustee etc. Next I will prepare draft documents and email them to you for review. We can discuss questions or changes you have through email or phone conference. Finally we will set a time to sign the final documents in one of my office locations or possibly in your office or advisors office, whatever is most convenient.

I truly want to be a counselor at law — not simply a contract attorney limited to a particular niche.

My Practice Areas

My principal areas of practice include Wills, Trust and Estate Planning, Estate Administration, and Business and Transactions. I also handle certain Commercial Real Estate transactions. For any matters that I don't handle directly, such as Litigation, I have contract and referral arrangements with other attorneys and firms to help service those needs. My goal is to serve as an integral resource for my clients in all of their legal needs. I truly want to be a counselor at law -- not simply a contract attorney limited to a particular niche.

Estate Planning

 I am in the business of helping clients protect their families and preserve their assets. If you have Wills and related documents that you signed years ago, I can review your documents and advise you of how best to update everything

Young Family Estate Planning

If you have minor children or if you are expecting your first child, add a basic Will and related documents to your list of things to do. Your Will allows you to name guardians who will care for your minor children if both you and your spouse are deceased.

Estate Administration

When family and friends are faced with the death of a loved one, the prospect of dealing with an estate administration can be overwhelming. I help clients work through the entire process including court filings, tax filings and transfer of assets.

Business & Transactions

Approximately half of my practice is centered around work with businesses. Through over 16 years of work in a mid-sized law firm I gained considerable experience in a wide range of legal issues and transactions facing businesses of all sizes.

Commercial Real Estate

I have plenty of experience dealing with commercial loans and related transactions. I can assist clients in buying or selling or refinancing commercial real estate, investing in a development project, preparation and review of leases and many other transactions

Litigation & Disputes

If you are unfortunate enough to have been served with a lawsuit, then I can help you understand the basic issues and what you need to do to respond and I can  recommend someone to assist you.

Call Me

Mailing Address

PO Box 850

Hillsborough, NC 27278