​By Associate Attorney Heather McKaig

Failure to plan is planning to fail: make a resolution to prioritize estate planning in 2025. Estate planning allows you to take control of uncertainty and have peace of mind over difficult and unpredictable situations. Dying without a will in North Carolina means your assets are distributed according to state law and not according to your wishes. Even with a will, the probate process can be confusing, tedious and problematic, particularly with the North Carolina Clerks’ Offices transitioning to “e-Courts” filing and document system.  However, many of the “worst-case” scenarios can be avoided with proper planning. Make 2025 the year you plan for emergency scenarios and protect your business and personal assets for the benefit of your loved ones through estate planning.  

Estate planning allows you to plan for what happens when you pass away, including naming a trusted person to handle your final affairs, naming guardians for minor children, and making sure assets are distributed according to your wishes. In addition to planning for death, our office drafts durable and health care powers of attorneys, where you can name agents to make both financial and medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated and cannot communicate. 

Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today: get an estate plan in place before it is ever needed. If you do become incapacitated or ill, it may be more difficult or impossible to get documents in place, as you must have testamentary capacity to create valid estate planning documents. 

Some of our clients delay estate planning because they do not have any friends or family members they trust to serve in important fiduciary roles. In some circumstances, members of the firm may serve in these roles for the client if the client feels comfortable.  It is better for you to take control and name someone yourself than to have the government appoint someone in an emergency or when you pass away.

Your life is what you make it: make 2025 the year you take control. Please call Jesson & Rains if you have questions about getting your estate plan in order or updating an existing estate plan.  While You Build, We Protect.

By Attorney Kelly Jesson

We are writing to clarify the status of the Corporate Transparency Act since there was a lot of activity over the holidays!  On December 23, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted FinCEN’s emergency motion for a stay of the Texas federal court’s order enjoining the Corporate Transparency Act.  Immediately, FinCEN came out with a press release outlining the due dates for Beneficial Owner Report filings.  Social media and inboxes were filled with warnings and panic.

However, after an emergency rehearing en banc on December 26 (these lawyers and judges took no holiday leave apparently!), the Fifth Circuit again entered an order allowing for the injunction to continue while the case is litigated.

What does this mean for you?  Until there is an official ruling on the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act, no Beneficial Owner Reports are required to be filed.