Wills & Estates FAQs

A will is a document that will provide for the legal transfer of your property to the people you want to have it after your death. To control how and to whom your property goes after your death, a will can help you do that.

In North Carolina, a person who dies owning property without a will or other estate planning document will have his or her property distributed under the laws of intestate succession. Intestate succession takes place in North Carolina according to Chapter 29 of the North Carolina General Statutes. This set of laws lays out the schedule of which of your relatives will get a share of your estate and how much they will get.

We get this question a lot in our practice. The short answer is maybe. There are and can be significant differences among the states as to the terminologies used and methods of execution that are required to create a valid will. A document that would be perfectly effective in one state, may not be accepted by the Clerk of Court in Wake County, North Carolina. Our advice to clients is to have their will and any other estate planning documents reviewed by an experienced North Carolina wills and estate planning attorney.

Your estate will be administered in the county of the state where you make your primary residence. If you live here in Wake County, your estate will be settled through the Clerk of Court at the Wake County Courthouse. If you had real property outside of North Carolina, there may need to be an ancillary estate administration in that state to properly transfer ownership of that real estate according to your will.

Each individual must have their own separate document in North Carolina. For many married people making a simple will based plan, a good option is for both get what are known as “reciprocal” wills. Each spouse will craft a will that is something of a mirror image of the other’s will and can work well to effectuate the couple’s joint intentions.

In North Carolina, any person can write their own will. This is known as a “holographic” will. The risks of this are serious. There are strict requirements for what can qualify as a valid holographic will. Any error or variation from these rules could make the will invalid. Beyond that, there are certain terms and phrases that have legal meaning that don’t necessarily match up with how people talk in day to day language. Making an error with the wording of a holographic will can easily defeat the person’s intentions.

At The Doyle Law Offices, P.A., we encourage people who are interested in having a will or other estate planning documents created to contact us through our website or give us a call and make an appointment. At this meeting, you will meet personally with Hank Doyle who will answer all your questions and help you come up with right will or estate plan for you. Typically, at this initial consultation, we will get the necessary information to create the documents you need. Once the will is prepared, we set up a second meeting to review and execute the instrument in our office.

In most instances, the legal fee for a simple will is based upon a flat rate. There are no hourly fees. When you meet with us and determine what your needs are, you will be quoted a flat fee. Of course, this can vary in more complex estate planning situations. We make sure our clients are fully informed and know in advance what the fee will be from the onset of the attorney-client relationship.

At The Doyle Law Offices, P.A., we work hard to handle our client’s needs in a timely fashion. We understand there can be circumstances that require immediate attention. Of course, these are serious and important legal documents that deserve careful preparation. We work with all of our clients to get their wills done as soon as possible and at the convenience of our clients.

Yes. This is an important component of the services that we are happy to offer to our wills and estate planning clients.

Absolutely. A person can change their will at any time so long as they have not been legally determined to have lost the requisite mental capacity to make a will. A will has no legally binding effect on anybody or anything while the person who made the will is still alive.

Once we have completed a client’s will, the original document is given to the client. As important legal documents, wills need to be stored in a secure but accessible place. Our office keeps electronic and physical copies of the wills we prepare, but the original document is what will be required by the Court when a person dies. Presently, there is no official repository of wills at the Courthouse or with the Clerk in Wake County. We typically advise clients to store their wills with their other important papers and let their Executor know where the document is and how they can access it when the time comes.