Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I am an SECU employee. The attorneys participating in the Estate Planning Essentials Program are not employees or agents of the Credit Union.
That's true, but SECU doesn't pretend otherwise. According to their website:
"State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) offers the Estate Planning Essentials Program, which allows members to meet with participating attorneys and have estate planning documents prepared at a predetermined price. SECU is committed to providing financial planning services and an estate plan is an important piece of a comprehensive financial plan."
SECU simply facilitates the process for members interested in this service. This, rather than calling a random attorney out of the phonebook. Legal costs can vary widely, for all types of services, and in this case, SECU is doing the vetting and pricing up front, for interested members.
We had our will done through SECU. It was free for us since my husband is an employee. The process was easy and we could ask as many questions as we needed. We met with an attorney at a local SECU branch who is not an employee with SECU, but a local attorney. I later used the same attorney when I was the executor for a family member’s estate. It’s a great service facilitated by SECU. SECU is a non-profit company and they do not profit from this service.
That's true, but SECU doesn't pretend otherwise. According to their website:
"State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) offers the Estate Planning Essentials Program, which allows members to meet with participating attorneys and have estate planning documents prepared at a predetermined price. SECU is committed to providing financial planning services and an estate plan is an important piece of a comprehensive financial plan."
SECU simply facilitates the process for members interested in this service. This, rather than calling a random attorney out of the phonebook. Legal costs can vary widely, for all types of services, and in this case, SECU is doing the vetting and pricing up front, for interested members.
Correct. I just felt like a couple of the other posts in this thread made it sound like SECU was giving legal advice and drawing up documents inside branches.
I was reading about the State Employees Credit Union "Estate Planning Program" and noticed they charge $425 for married couples to create a will. This assumes your situation isn't very complicated and everything can be done in one meeting. Anybody here go through this process with SECU? Were you happy with the process and outcome? We are looking to get our Wills in place as it is something we have put off for far too long. I am not interested in doing it online, but would also like to avoid paying big $$$ if I can. Thanks!
I have been thinking the same thing, although we are not in NC (we're in Florida). We've put off making a will far too long because I didn't want to pay a lawyer to do it, but I'm thinking now, after all the reading I've done and situations, I may well need a lawyer even though we don't have big bucks to pay one, I'll have to dig a hole in the little savings we have. It's hard to understand the terminology, we don't have children so that's a situation also and no close relatives that we care to give anything to. So we want to give whatever we have to charity but that becomes a complicated process also. However, we'll see how this works.
I have been thinking the same thing, although we are not in NC (we're in Florida). We've put off making a will far too long because I didn't want to pay a lawyer to do it, but I'm thinking now, after all the reading I've done and situations, I may well need a lawyer even though we don't have big bucks to pay one, I'll have to dig a hole in the little savings we have. It's hard to understand the terminology, we don't have children so that's a situation also and no close relatives that we care to give anything to. So we want to give whatever we have to charity but that becomes a complicated process also. However, we'll see how this works.
Don't forget making documented arrangements for a living will, advanced directives for medical care, and for someone in line after spouse(s) who has the authority to pull the plug if needed.
Don't forget appointing an executor, and having that person agree to serve in that role. Then, a backup executor, if the executor is unable to perform.
Don't forget making documented arrangements for a living will, advanced directives for medical care, and for someone in line after spouse(s) who has the authority to pull the plug if needed.
Don't forget appointing an executor, and having that person agree to serve in that role. Then, a backup executor, if the executor is unable to perform.
We're not rich, but we did designate beneficiaries for our savings. We're working on the condo to make sure all the i's are dotted, etc.We're not 'young' any more, so the time has come for us to make out a will. The time came earlier but we didn't do it.
In the meantime, now I am wondering about the cars. We have two cars, they're not worth very much, they're old but they work and I'm wondering how would I designate a beneficiary for them?
We're not rich, but we did designate beneficiaries for our savings. We're working on the condo to make sure all the i's are dotted, etc.We're not 'young' any more, so the time has come for us to make out a will. The time came earlier but we didn't do it.
In the meantime, now I am wondering about the cars. We have two cars, they're not worth very much, they're old but they work and I'm wondering how would I designate a beneficiary for them?
The surviving spouse would get the cars but make sure both names are on the titles. You can designate beneficiaries through your will just like any other personal property assets.
We're not rich, but we did designate beneficiaries for our savings. We're working on the condo to make sure all the i's are dotted, etc.We're not 'young' any more, so the time has come for us to make out a will. The time came earlier but we didn't do it.
In the meantime, now I am wondering about the cars. We have two cars, they're not worth very much, they're old but they work and I'm wondering how would I designate a beneficiary for them?
Create a POD Trust, where all of your real and personal assets bypass probate. If your spouse dies before you do, you automatically inherit the marital assets. If you die before your spouse does, you inherit the assets. Once you both die, the Trust bypasses probate and distributes the assets to the entity that you designated in the Trust. Cars are considered to be personal property, and there is no need to name a separate beneficiary.
This is a simplified scenario assuming that you have no kids.
If you are only concerned about condos and cars, this should be a very simple trust to set up.
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