I would appreciate some help finding a lawyer in North Carolina / Asheboro/Greensboro area

[SheilaT]

5. Then that kind of a simple will

where the first to die leaves all to the survivor, then when the second die things are divided equally among the four daughters, should be no more than a couple of hours of law firm time. And almost everything will actually be done by a paralegal. You should be able to find out with a phone call exactly what they will charge. When you go in, have everything in writing as to what you want done.

If all they have is some cash in a bank account, have at least one of the sisters also on the account, either right now as someone who can sign checks, or as one who is paid on death. I'm happily assuming that Sister can be trusted to distribute fairly. It is my understanding that life insurance policies pass outside of the estate, so the only thing to be concerned with there is that the beneficiaries are exactly as desired. If there are things like cars, they could be retitled at this point. Unless that "some cash" is an amount large enough to trigger NC inheritance taxes -- and many states start that at a shockingly low level -- you have nothing really to worry about.

Good for you for paying attention to this need for an updated will. Last year my brother-in-law, my sister's husband, died suddenly and completely unexpectedly from a stroke at the age of 63. I was shocked to learn that despite the fact they'd been married for fourteen years and that this was a second marriage for both of them, they did not have wills. People need wills.