Since 1958, Hatch, Little & Bunn, LLP has been helping businesses and individuals throughout the Triangle area of North Carolina to develop effective estate planning strategies that protect their interests and goals - now and in the future.

From simple wills to complex family business succession plans, the key to successful estate planning is a clear understanding of our clients' goals. Our successful reputation is based on our ability to ensure that our clients have the tools necessary to make informed, objective decisions as they develop their legacy plan. Effective estate planning often requires integrated services and our clients benefit from the multiple perspectives offered by our attorneys who practice Administrative Law, Bankruptcy & Collections, Taxes, Business Law, Criminal Law, Real Estate, Taxation and Estate Planning. If you are in the process of making a legal change in your personal life, or if you are considering one, please contact an attorney at Hatch, Little & Bunn, LLP. We take our role of counselors, confidants and advisors seriously.

Every person who is eighteen years or older should have a Will to ensure that their estate passes to their heirs efficiently and without adding stress to an already traumatic time. Your estate is composed of all real property such as land and buildings, as well as personal property including bank accounts, homes, insurance, jewelry, stocks, bonds, cars and other personal effects. These assets must be passed to someone upon your death, and a Will enables you to specify to whom, when and in what amounts your estate will pass. Hatch, Little & Bunn, LLP provides a wide array of services relating to personal estate planning, including development and advice on wills, probate avoidance techniques, living trusts, irrevocable property or life insurance trusts, lifetime gifting, family partnerships and limited liability companies, valuation discount strategies, charitable remainder trusts and other charitable gifting strategies. The firm is fully equipped to advise executors, administrators and trustees on how to best to manage estates and trusts.

The firm provides counsel on and prepares:

• Simple wills,
• Living wills,
• Health care power of attorney,
• Financial power of attorney,
• Wills with trusts for the benefit of minor children and disabled or incapacitated persons, and
  
• Wills with provisions for the custody and care of minor children, tax shelter trusts, and charitable trusts.
  

An attorney from our estate department will review your tax and personal needs to determine the type of document and estate plan is right for you. As part of the process, our firm also prepares all forms of powers of attorney and advance directives for healthcare (living wills). We develop effective estate planning strategies and facilitate the probate process by:

• Preparing and filing of the Will and other required documents,
• Assessing the decedents' assets,
• Identifying liabilities,
• Determination of potential creditors,
• Reconciliation of all personal representative (executor) transactions, and
• Distribution of the assets.

Beneficiaries and other interested parties may dispute how the way assets of an estate are distributed, and our attorneys have the skill to resolve these situations. Estates that involve business and family require an attorney who understands trusts, estates and liability dispute resolution. In any stage of your estate planning process, contact the attorneys at Hatch, Little & Bunn, LLP at (919) 856-3940, or contact us via our online form, to ensure that your loved ones and assets are protected.

Click here for frequently asked questions about Wills.

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