Clarity Law Group

Clarity With Your Coffee is a series of hour-long, small group meetings that give attendees the opportunity to discuss special topics in estate planning and elder law with Clarity attorneys Mark Costley and Jonathan Williams.

Click ‘Save My Seat’ Below to register for the Clarity With Your Coffee event that you would like to attend!

Each event will include a brief overview of the day’s topic followed by a question and answer session with our attorneys!

How To Protect The Family Farm From Medicaid

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There is a lot of misinformation in the public about Medicaid rules, particularly regarding real estate. North Carolina’s rules regarding real estate ownership, as well as North Carolina’s rules for Long-Term Care Medicaid present some unique opportunities, as well as some unique pitfalls, for families who anticipate the need for Long-Term Care Medicaid. We will discuss these rules and their implications, with particular focus on family farms and other non-homeplace real property.

Estate Tax Planning For The 2020s

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A change of government in Washington may impact best practices for tax planning in the context of estate planning. At this event, we will discuss what to expect from the Biden Administration and Congress, and how to best prepare for any related uncertainties. We’ll talk estate tax exclusions, capital gains tax changes, and income taxations of IRAs.

 

Trust Planning For A Second Home

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Families often use a second home as a vacation destination for multiple generations of family members. What happens when the owners die? Who will manage the property, and who will control how it is used, or when it is sold? Fortunately, estate planning presents many opportunities to be specific about your wishes, and to get it right. We will discuss these issues at this event.

 

Asset Protection For Your Children’s Inheritance

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One of an estate planning client’s biggest worries is often the possibility that the assets that they will leave to their child will be lost. They worry: what if my child gets divorced, or sued, or has to file for bankruptcy—will their inheritance be lost? At this event, we will discuss tools that estate planners can use to protect their loved ones from these kinds of losses.

 

Is Your Trust Properly Funded?

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You can go to a lot of effort, and spend a lot of money, on a great estate plan involving trusts that will not work as intended if it is not properly funded. This means that assets need to be owned correctly—sometimes owned in trust, sometimes not—and that beneficiary designations must be carefully made so that the estate plan’s goals will be carried out. We will discuss the many aspects of trust funding, including the basics as well as specific issues and choices that often come up in the process of estate planning.

 

Understanding Medicaid Estate Recovery

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Why Medicaid planning doesn’t necessarily end with Medicaid qualification: Estate recovery is the process by which Medicaid seeks reimbursement from the estate of a former Medicaid recipient after death. Without proper planning, a recovery claim can wipe out a family’s assets. Join us to discuss estate recovery, how it works, and what steps can be taken to minimize or eliminate exposure to a recovery claim.

 

Planning For Health Care At The End Of Life

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Understanding the North Carolina Living Will. : The living will gives individuals the opportunity to tell their doctors and their family when they would like to discontinue life-prolonging measures. In this event, we will discuss the North Carolina living will, including the medical events that can trigger its use, the amount of flexibility doctors will have to interpret it, and the role of the Health Care Agent in end-of-life decisions.

 

Protecting My Estate From My Future Former Son (or Daughter) In-Law

April 14, 2021 at 9:30am

Nobody wants their hard-earned savings, which they intend to be part of their legacy to their children, to end up in the pocket of a son- or daughter-in-law in the event of a child’s divorce. In this event we will discuss how this can occur, and what tools are available to prevent it from happening.

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Should Your Real Estate Be In Your Living Trust?

May 12, 2021 at 9:30am

Often real estate represents a large part of a family’s wealth, not to mention a family’s residence and sometimes a family’s vacation destination or a source of income. Therefore, how it is handled in an estate plan can have major effects and deserves special attention in estate planning. We will discuss the rules about real estate in the context of estate planning, and how they inform the decision about whether or not you should deed your real estate into your living trust.

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The Education Of An Attorney with Mark Costley

May 19, 2021 at 9:30AM

What I learned about estate planning from one year of Covid-19 that I didn’t get from thirty years of legal practice! We’ll talk about the surprising ways the Covid-19 crisis and challenges impacted estate planning at Clarity Legal Group.

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Mark Costley

Mark Costley has more than 30 years of legal experience, including twenty years in the Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill areas. After helping hundreds of North Carolinians with estate planning, elder law, asset protection, trust and estate administration and planning for children and adults with special needs, Mark established Clarity Legal Group with a legal team and firm structure designed specifically to support the needs of clients seeking these kinds of services. The firm is organized around the belief that estate planning is part of a life well lived and that helping people fulfill their goals and protect their families is a privilege. Mark graduated from Duke University and Duke University School of Law. He volunteers extensively in the nonprofit community and has served as a Trustee of Duke University, Trustee and Chairman of the Board of the North Carolina Humanities Council, Chairman of the Board of the Servant Center, Inc., Member of the Board of Directors of Carrboro Arts Center and Board Member and President of the Durham Orange Estate Planning Council. In addition to his busy practice, Mark has been a prolific speaker on a variety of legal issues, including estate planning, Living Trusts, estate and trust administration, planning for people with disabilities, Medicaid planning, for IRA distributions, legal ethics and asset protection. He is an avid sports fan, has taught Sunday School, served as a high school swimming official and enjoys reading, travel, tennis, music and politics. He is married to Margaret Costley and has two daughters.

Jonathan Williams

As an elder law and estate planning attorney, Jonathan D. Williams enjoys educating his clients about the law so that they can have the peace of mind of knowing that the planning they undertake now will reduce the burdens of time, effort, and expense that often fall upon family members when proper planning is left incomplete or inadequate. Jonathan has worked with hundreds of North Carolinians and their families, helping his clients manage their legacies through estate planning, long-term care planning (including Medicaid and Veterans’ benefits), estate and trust administration, special needs planning, tax planning, guardianships, and other related areas.

Jonathan is a proud “triple Deacon” with three degrees from Wake Forest University: an undergraduate degree in Math and Physics, a master’s degree in Religion, and a juris doctorate from the Wake Forest University School of Law. During law school, Jonathan worked as a student attorney at the Elder Law Clinic, served on the editorial staff of the Wake Forest Law Review, and was awarded the distinguished E. McGruder Faris Award for Character, Leadership, and Scholarship. He graduated near the top of his class and was consequently named to the Order of the Coif.

Jonathan lives in the Chapel Hill area deliberately off the beaten path, near cows and countryside with his wife and two young children. In addition to his roles as husband, father, and attorney, Jonathan is an avid cyclist and hiker, a voracious reader, a compulsive music collector and novice guitar player (from his bygone summer camp days), and is happiest when he’s with his family, anywhere near a river, or in the woods—or preferably all three. He looks forward to getting to know you and your family and how he can best help you.