How can I ensure my current spouse inherits the house when I pass away? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, the cleanest way is to hold title with your current spouse as tenants by the entirety, which carries automatic survivorship—your spouse becomes sole owner at your death. First, clear title from your deceased…
How does title insurance work when there’s a long-standing gap in the chain of title? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a title insurer may sometimes “insure over” an old gap if the public record supports a clean 30-year root of title and there are no red flags. More often, the underwriter requires…
What steps are needed to fix missing historical deeds from before a specific date? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, you cure a missing deed by first confirming the gap and seeing if it can be fixed with a confirmatory or correction deed, or an affidavit that clarifies ownership. If that is not…
What alternatives exist if original title documents can’t be located? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, you can clear a gap in the chain of title even if you can’t find the original deeds. Common options include: (1) an estate proceeding to identify heirs (and, if needed, a proceeding against unknown heirs), (2)…
What information should be included in a representation letter to support a diminished value claim? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a diminished value representation letter should clearly identify the claim, state that you represent the vehicle owner for the diminished value portion only, and ask the insurer to route all communications through…
Can I negotiate the diminished value settlement directly with the insurance adjuster? – North Carolina Short Answer Yes. In North Carolina you can negotiate a diminished value (DV) claim directly with the adjuster. But if you have an attorney for the DV portion, send a letter of representation to the insurer and route all DV…
What steps can I take if the insurance company ignores or delays my diminished value claim? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, put your diminished value claim in writing, include the claim number, and submit it through the insurer’s official portal or claims email while also sending a copy by certified mail. If…
Can I receive electronic copies of my medical bills via email if I send a written request? – North Carolina Short Answer Yes. In North Carolina, you can request your own medical bills and records and ask that they be sent electronically, including by email. Providers may use a secure portal or encryption, and if…
What should I do if the billing department doesn’t respond to my records request in a timely manner? – North Carolina Short Answer Under federal privacy rules, a healthcare provider must respond to your written request for your medical and billing records within 30 days. They can take one extra 30 days only if they…
Join Us For Our First Coronavirus Quarantine Video Chat Happy Hour! Quarantine and social distancing got you down? Are you feeling the need to socialize again? Well, we’ve got your back! While I imagine the four walls of your house have been incredibly fun to stare at for the past couple of weeks, it’s time…
Leveraging our unique circumstances to answer your questions There are a couple of different ways to go about handling the Coronavirus pandemic and the unique uncharacteristic situations it puts us in — 1) sit in your house and watch Netflix until the end of time 2) eat all of your quarantine snacks in 30 minutes…
Quarantined? Got a legal question? Get some coffee and answers from our experienced team of attorneys during this live Q&A Session U N C E R T A I N T Y– That is really what’s killing us in these difficult times, isn’t it? The whispers of information that we will never truly be able…
COVID-19 Announcement: Emergency Pro Bono Legal Services to Protect At-Risk Individuals You’ve likely heard about the coronavirus on the news or at least have seen it all over the headlines. It’s often hard to determine the severity of situations like these based on what you hear on the news, but what we do know is…
SECURE Act Workshop Audio and Transcript Learn strategies and legal tips from experienced estate planning attorney, Doug Koenig and guest speaker Joel Levy, CPA! This presentation was offered as a free, no-obligation, workshop designed to educate individuals and families about how the SECURE Act has impacted individual retirement accounts. This workshop covered important information about…
Trivia Night Result – “We’re all winners… well maybe not” The beginning of the year is always an extremely hectic time for our firm. That being said, last night we finally took the opportunity to slow down just for a little while and enjoy some time with each other, catching up, laughing, drinking a beer…
Announcement – Pierce Law Group’s Open House You’re not truly family until you’ve gone over to someone’s house… While I’m partly being humorous, I also sense that you know exactly what I’m talking about… Sure, going out to dinner with a friend is nice, and grabbing coffee together is great, but there is something different…
Donating or Gifting Virtual Currency – North Carolina Bitcoin Lawyers If you are thinking of donating cryptocurrency to a charity, there are a few things you should consider. First, the charity you choose must be a 501(c)(3) organization approved by the IRS for tax-deductible donations, and second, you need to see if they accept cryptocurrency…
Fair Market Value – North Carolina Bitcoin Lawyer Determining the fair market value of cryptocurrency can prove to be a difficult task, especially for the ordinary taxpayer. The IRS Notice 2014-21 which classified virtual currency as property for federal tax purposes, specifically stated that taxpayers must report the fair market value of virtual currency as…
How Digital Currencies Are Changing the World – Bitcoin Lawyer The use of cryptocurrencies, and in particular, the technology which was created to implement them, has grown substantially in recent years. There has been a growing trend of acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a useful, legitimate payment mechanism, and the underlying decentralized public ledger technology has…
Overview – Cryptocurrency and United States Tax Law – North Carolina Bitcoin Lawyer In a March 25, 2014 notice, the United States Internal Revenue Services (“I.R.S.) described virtual currencies as “a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value and does not have…
Frequently Asked Questions – North Carolina Bitcoin Lawyer Q: How is cryptocurrency treated by the Internal Revenue Service? A: Cryptocurrencies are currently considered property but the Internal Revenue Service. As such, general accounting and tax principles apply to cryptocurrency mining and transactions. The Interal Revenue Service’s definition of virtual currencies as property means that each…
