New Year's Resolution: Tackle Your Estate Planning!

Careful estate planning is critical for parents. If you haven’t yet tackled it because life is so busy, now is the time! 

Hatcher Legal, PLLC can help local families with legal needs including: 

• Name Guardians of Minor Children - Most people think that a grandparent would be able to immediately step in as a guardian if you and/or your spouse were ever in an emergent situation, including an accident; however, without properly naming a guardian in your will, the court would likely need to get involved, which could trigger the need for foster care in the interim while the court is sorting out who is properly suited for guardianship. Naming a guardian in your Will/Trust could help to avoid the potential for foster care and allow for your children to be placed with a guardian that you have chosen.  
  
  
• Avoid Probate with a Revocable Living Trust - This legal document allows you to place your assets into a trust for your benefit during your lifetime and then transfer them to designated beneficiaries upon your death. Benefits include:
  • Avoid probate: Assets held in a trust avoid probate because the trust itself doesn’t die with its creator. The trust remains up and running after the death of its grantor, and it can transfer its property to anyone the grantor has provided for in the trust’s formation documents, according to the grantor’s own terms. There’s no need for court oversight or involvement.
  • Avoid guardianship or conservatorship: Revocable living trusts aren’t just about death. They can allow your loved ones to avoid both a costly court-supervised guardianship if you become disabled as well as a costly court-supervised probate proceeding after you die.
  • Privacy: Probate is a public proceeding. Anyone can go to the courthouse and take a look at each and every document filed there, including your will. A revocable living trust can keep your estate plan private.
  • Flexibility: One major advantage of a revocable living trust is that it is revocable. That means you can alter or even void the trust whenever and however you want.
    
    
• Special Needs Trusts - If your child has a disability, a special needs trust can hold funds while allowing them to remain financially eligible for government programs such as social security and Medicaid. 

Careful estate planning helps families protect their assets, reduce exposure to estate taxes, and efficiently transfer assets to a person’s loved ones at the time of their death. If you don't have an estate plan in place, your assets may be distributed based on state laws, which may not align with your wishes or values. 

Hatcher Legal is knowledgeable in all aspects of estate planning and can help you develop the best plan for your circumstances.

Meet Nichole Hatcher, Esq.

Nichole M. Hatcher, Esq. is the founding member of Hatcher Legal, PLLC. Ms. Hatcher received her Juris Doctorate from Howard University in May 2002 and her Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science from Morgan State University in May 1999. She is a  member of the North Carolina and Maryland State Bar Associations, the Durham Chapter of the LINKs, Inc., Jack & Jill of America, Inc.,  Durham & Orange County Women’s Bar Association, and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. She is a North Carolina Certified Mediator. Her former associations include the Leary Bar Association, Business Network International (BNI), Habitat for Humanity, ARC of Baltimore, Monumental Bar Association, Waring Mitchell Bar Association, and Black Woman’s Bar Association.  Hatcher brings more than 20 years of experience into the courtroom. She has practiced before the state, federal, and appellate courts throughout the Fourth Circuit, including handling bench and jury trials.

Hatcher Legal, PLLC
3326 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd Suite 200A
Durham, NC 27707
919.680.4577
www.hatcherlegal.com