Legal Articles & Resource Center
Your Hub for Legal Insights & Tools
At The Walls Law Group, we provide in-depth legal knowledge to help individuals, families, and business owners make informed decisions. This resource center serves as a table of contents for our latest blog articles, legal guides, and interactive tools.
Does your family trust owe North Carolina income tax?
A trust treated in its entirety as a grantor trust files no North Carolina return. For other trusts, a beneficiary living in the state is not by itself enough for North Carolina to tax undistributed income. What usually decides it is where the trustee sits and where the trust is administered.
How to put your house into a revocable trust in North Carolina
A North Carolina revocable trust owns your house only after a deed to the trustee is recorded. What the deed costs, and what it does to the entireties ownership.
Estate planning checklist by life stage: what to do in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond
A decade-by-decade estate planning checklist from your 20s through your 80s, anchored to North Carolina law and the 2026 federal estate tax rules.
Can you cut your spouse out of your will in North Carolina?
In North Carolina, you generally cannot fully disinherit your spouse. A surviving spouse can claim an elective share of 15 to 50 percent of your assets.
Can you make an electronic will in North Carolina?
North Carolina does not let you create a will online. A new 2026 law lets your attorney store your signed paper will electronically so it cannot be lost.
Teaching Your Kids About Inheritance: When and How
Should you tell your children about their inheritance, and how much? A look at the transparency and privacy approaches and how to handle the conversation.
Do I need to update my will when I move to North Carolina?
Moving to North Carolina from another state? Your out-of-state will is usually still valid, but several documents need a NC review. Here is what to check.
What happens to community property when you move to North Carolina?
Moved to North Carolina from a community property state? Your community property does not lose its character at the border. Here is what changes and why.
Do you need to update your estate plan when you move to North Carolina?
Just moved to North Carolina? Most of your estate plan is still valid, but a few documents quietly stop working. Here is what a move actually changes.
Prenups and Estate Plans: How They Work Together (Or Against Each Other)
A prenup and an estate plan can reinforce or quietly contradict each other. Learn how they interact under North Carolina law and why they must be aligned.
Revocable or irrevocable trust: which do you need in North Carolina?
In North Carolina, revocable trusts can be changed and avoid probate, while irrevocable trusts are harder to alter but can protect assets and cut estate tax.
How Long Should You Keep Estate Planning Documents?
After you update your estate plan, what about the old will and trust? Learn what to keep, what to destroy, and why old documents cause real problems later.
Do stepchildren inherit under North Carolina law?
In North Carolina, stepchildren do not inherit through intestate succession unless legally adopted. Learn how NCGS Chapter 29 divides an estate with no will.
Your Wedding Day Estate Planning Checklist
Getting married changes your estate plan whether you update it or not. Here is the North Carolina checklist every newlywed couple should work through together.
The 2026 charitable giving changes high earners in Raleigh need to plan around
Three OBBBA charitable deduction changes take effect in 2026, and they raise the cost of giving for Raleigh high earners. Here is how to plan around them.
Summer Travel? Make Sure Your Family Can Find Your Estate Plan
Where to keep your will, power of attorney, and health care documents in NC, who needs to know, and how to make your plan easy for family to find.
Stepped-Up Basis: What North Carolina High Earners Should Plan For Now
In 2026, most North Carolina high earners owe no federal estate tax. The real issue is stepped-up basis and the income tax your heirs pay. Here is what to plan for.
Estate tax planning: 2026 and beyond
How federal estate tax works in 2026: the $15 million OBBB exemption, portability mechanics, GST exemption, and the planning strategies that actually matter for estates above and below the threshold.
Remarriage after 60: estate planning that protects everyone
Late-life remarriage creates conflicts between a new spouse and adult children. See the prenups, QTIP trusts, and tools that protect everyone in NC.
The document your doctor needs but your lawyer probably didn't give you
A health care power of attorney isn't enough. Learn why your North Carolina estate plan needs a stand-alone HIPAA authorization and what it should include.
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