Estate Planning and North Carolina's New eCourts
It wasn’t long ago that if you wanted to peek inside someone’s estate after they passed, you had to trek down to the courthouse and ask the clerk to see a physical file. It was a process that filtered out most who were merely curious.
Enter the new North Carolina eCourts platform—providing digital access to every estate filing from anywhere in the world. With a few taps on their smartphone, anyone can access detailed information about your estate, including a list of assets that were left to your beneficiaries, contact information for your executor and beneficiaries, bank account balances and more.
To better understand how easy it is, try it out for yourself.
The Double-Edged Sword of Transparency
While eCourts aims to enhance efficiency and accessibility, it’s easy to see how it will inadvertently open the door to potential misuse of sensitive information. Scammers will now easily harvest this data in their quest to impersonate heirs or executors, redirect assets, or commit identity theft. It will undoubtedly become a playground for bad actors who thrive on exploiting publicly available information.
Revocable Living Trusts: Your Cloak of Invisibility
To counteract this newfound exposure, consider the strategic use of a Revocable Living Trust. Unlike wills, which become public records upon probate, revocable living trusts operate privately, allowing for the distribution of assets without court involvement.
Benefits of a Revocable Living Trust
Privacy Protection: Trusts are not subject to public probate proceedings, keeping asset details confidential.
Efficient Asset Distribution: Assets held in a trust can be distributed to beneficiaries without the delays associated with probate.
Continuity of Management: In the event of incapacitation, a successor trustee can manage the trust assets without court intervention.
Final Thought
While North Carolina's eCourts system enhances accessibility and efficiency within the judicial process, it also underscores the importance of proactive estate planning to protect personal and financial information.
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