When you have a high-net-worth estate in North Carolina, it’s more important than ever to ensure that you’re planning ahead and making the right decisions when it comes to estate planning. With more wealth comes more potential taxes and other pitfalls of estate planning. But if you make good decisions now, your heirs will reap the benefits of lower taxes and less stress.

Most Important Things to Remember When Estate Planning

If you’re thinking about estate planning, you’ve taken the first step in ensuring that your end-of-life plans are in order. One of the most important things to remember is that you need to choose the right trustee. This person can be a family member, trusted friend, or attorney. You should also minimize taxes as much as possible by understanding the tax system.

You need to plan for the possibility that you’re incapacitated, too. There might come a time when you’re no longer able to make decisions for yourself because of illness, injury, or old age. You need to ensure that your dependents who need extra help, such as a child with an intellectual disability, will have the care that they need. You also need to plan for your care in the event that you can no longer care for yourself or make your wishes known. You can appoint a power-of-attorney to take care of financial matters.

Estate planning with a blended family

If you have a blended family and there’s a significant estate to divvy up, planning can get even more tricky as you decide which assets should be split between family members. Additionally, it’s particularly tricky if each partner comes into the relationship with different levels of assets. You need to take a look at what everyone needs, make a plan for every individual, and continually update according to how your family changes.

Take the time now to ensure that your estate is taken care of so that you can minimize taxes and ensure that your family members are cared for in the future.