Estate Planning

Sound Estate Planning Can Protect Your Family's Future

At the Peebles Law Firm in Winston-Salem, we advise individuals and families throughout the Triad and the Piedmont about the general benefits of estate planning and the specific approaches that can help advance your unique objectives. To learn more about our ability to provide effective advice about wills and trusts that can meet your needs today and in the long run, contact one of our attorneys for a free consultation.

Call 866-674-4072 to learn about wills, trusts and powers of attorney

Most families will benefit from careful and thoughtful preparation of the basic estate planning instruments:

Last will and testament. Your will specifies the distribution of your assets when you die. In the absence of a will, North Carolina law provides basic rules of inheritance that probably don't match your own intentions and preferences.

Durable financial power of attorney. If you're completely incapacitated by illness or accident, who's going to pay your bills and manage your finances? The person you name in your durable financial power of attorney, that's who. This instrument not only protects you and your property, it can also spare your family the need to seek appointment of a legal guardian.

Medical power of attorney. This instrument authorizes someone you trust to work with physicians on your behalf when your consent is necessary for surgery or other medical treatment.

Advance directive to physicians. This instrument can avoid painful divisions in your family by giving specific instructions to medical professionals about terminating or continuing life support in extreme circumstances.

Each of these estate planning instruments requires careful thought and soul-searching about your practical goals for your family and your most closely held values. Our lawyers have the experience necessary to help you work through these important decisions.

Our estate planning practice goes well beyond the basics, too. Your family doesn't have to be rich to consider trusts as a part of your estate plan. These flexible instruments are designed to address specific personal, business and family goals ranging from probate avoidance and asset protection to providing for the security of a disabled or vulnerable relative. Family business owners can also use trusts to plan ahead for the next generation of management.

We offer comprehensive client service for families in all kinds of circumstances and income brackets. We also review existing estate plans to make sure they still serve their original objectives.

To learn more about estate planning in the context of your own needs and goals, contact a lawyer at the Peebles Law Firm in Winston-Salem.