Charlotte Estate Planning Blog

Many families in North Carolina have experienced firsthand the devastating effects of the nationwide opioid crisis. When people are addicted to opioids, their main focus seemingly is to secure drugs at all costs, even if it means stealing money for the drugs from other family members. The loved ones of people suffering from addiction are often in the position of having to spend money in the hopes of assisting in the addict's rehabilitation while at the same time protecting the family's finances from the addict's urges to obtain drugs.

Estate planning presents a unique challenge for families who have loved ones struggling with addiction. Instead of leaving a substantial sum of money to a loved one addicted to opioids, these individuals may wish to put conditions on their gifts to loved ones from their estate. They may fear that their loved ones may use all of the money to fund their drug habit or even die from an overdose.

In 2019, the youngest members of the baby boom generation in Charlotte will turn 55, an age when many think more about planning for their future. This can include making detailed plans for retirement as well as considering the eventual distribution of assets to loved ones. Indeed, baby boomers are the single wealthiest generation recorded in American history, with over $30 trillion in assets that will be spent or passed down in the several decades to come. Despite their wealth, however, many baby boomers do not have estate plans in place. According to one survey, 42 percent of people in this generation do not even have a basic will.

While some people do have a will or other estate planning documents, they could be outdated or otherwise incorrect. These documents might not include later personal developments like marriage, divorce or the birth of children. In addition, they may not fully reflect changes to the law such as the widely expanded exemption from federal estate taxes. Trusts, wills and powers of attorney all have an important role to play in distributing assets and providing for a person's loved ones. Another tool that many may wish to consider while developing a plan is life insurance.

An estate owner in North Carolina who wishes to disinherit a family member may want to discuss the process with a professional. Simply leaving a person out of a will or even other actions may be insufficient to stop the person from successfully challenging the disinheritance in court.

A successful challenge might be less likely if a trust is used instead of a will to disinherit the person. Wills are often prepared closer to a person's death, and it can be argued that the person was not of sound mind or was unduly influenced by someone else. In contrast, a trust is often prepared years beforehand, and the estate owner might have been managing the trust for some time. This could make a successful claim of incompetence less likely. In some cases, a person might want to leave less to one child than to the others. This partial disinheritance might be accompanied by what is known as a "no contest" clause that threatens disinheritance to anyone who challenges the estate plan.

People in North Carolina might be aware that the death of George H. W. Bush, the former president, occurred just eight months after the death of his wife, Barbara Bush. The two were married for decades. It is not unusual for spouses who are married for a long time and who have a close marriage to both die within a short time period. While it is likely that the Bushes were careful in their estate planning, the death of both spouses in quick succession can cause some issues.

What can happen is that when the first spouse dies, much of that spouse's estate passes to the surviving spouse. The other spouse may die just months, weeks or days later. Some estate plans have a provision in place that if the surviving spouse's death happens within a few days or weeks after the first spouse's death, the two estates do not have to go through probate separately. In the case of longer gaps, there could be a qualified disclaimer in place. This would allow the surviving spouse to let some or all assets pass to the next level of beneficiaries.