Firm Information

The Hart Law Group, P.C. is a North Carolina Professional Corporation formed by Mary Hart in 2006. Our firm focuses its practice in the areas of estate and trust planning and administration; probate; civil litigation; business and contract law; residential and commercial real estate closings, transactions, and contracts; property disputes; guardianships; medicaid planning; 1031 tax-deferred exchanges; self-directed IRAs; domestic partnership planning; IRS tax matters, and family law including custody matters and collaborative divorce.

This blog and our website have been developed to provide you information in the matters you are currently facing and to help you through your process. Please browse through these postings, get to know a little about us and make use of the tools we have available here and on our main website.

Thank you for your interest in our firm and we look forward to meeting you.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I thought keeping my Will updated was sufficient...

"Bob and I were vigilant about ensuring that our Will and Trust documents were up to date.  Being a blended family, we knew the importance of clearly designating our wishes for transferring family assets should something happen to one of us.  We were certain we had done everything right, until Bob suddenly passed away and I found out differently. As it turned out, the large life insurance policy Bob had through his employer of 30 years still had his ex-wife listed as beneficiary. This designation took precedence over what we had carefully constructed in our Will."

 Many people incorrectly assume that because they have updated their Will, their final wishes are in place. As a general exception to this belief, beneficiaries designated on financial accounts override the Will.

 Best Practice: periodically review beneficiary listings on your financial accounts to ensure they are in accordance with wishes and those expressed in your Will. 

 Typical financial accounts that have beneficiary designations include:

  • Life Insurance Policies
  • Annuities
  • Bank Accounts  (these can be co-owned, Payable on Death (POD), Transfer on Death (TOD)).
  • Retirement accounts, such as 401ks, IRAs.
  • Pension plans
  • Stocks, Bonds (including Savings Bonds), Money Market Certificates
  • Certificates of Deposit (CDs)


 Estate Manager PRO (https://hartlawgroup.myestatemanager.com/), a FREE RESOURCE available via our website, helps you plan, prepare for, and manage life transitions.  You will find best practices (https://hartlawgroup.myestatemanager.com/#step/organize-beneficiary-designations/97) and professionals - when needed, to help you. 


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