Serves Iredell County and the western Piedmont from downtown Statesville, the county seat, with a stated service area reaching Alexander, Catawba, Cleveland, Rowan, and Mecklenburg counties. The firm handles probate and estate administration, trust administration, guardianship, and Medicaid planning. It is a family-run firm practicing in Statesville since 1932, and consultations carry a fee.
Probate in Gaston County
Probate Court Record
Gaston County Clerk of Superior Court
Gaston County · Superior Court District 38
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-5:00 PM
Office
325 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Suite 1004, Gastonia, NC 28052
Website
E-filing
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Gaston County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Gaston County? →Settling an estate in Gaston County →
Elder Law Firms Serving Gaston County
Serves Charlotte and Mecklenburg County from East Morehead Street. Its estate administration attorneys lead executors and administrators through probate and through estate, income and generation-skipping tax issues, while a separate fiduciary litigation group takes will caveats and breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims. The firm traces its Charlotte practice to 1912.
Serves Charlotte and Mecklenburg County from a Carnegie Boulevard office. The firm represents executors, administrators, trustees, and corporate fiduciaries through probate and trust administration — inventories and accountings with the Clerk of Superior Court — and litigates will caveats and breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims. Senior partner Jim Hickmon is a Board Certified Specialist.
Serves Charlotte and the surrounding Mecklenburg County area from a Congress Street office. The firm guides executors and trustees through estate and trust administration, including the strict asset accounting North Carolina law requires of a fiduciary, and litigates will and trust contests. R. Anthony Orsbon and Cynthia T. Fenninger are both board-certified specialists.
Headquartered in Raleigh with offices in Asheville, Winterville (Greenville), Morehead City, New Bern, and Wilmington. Its attorneys and paralegals commence, administer, and formally close estate and probate proceedings, whoever prepared the original estate plan, and its litigation group handles will caveats. Six attorneys are Board Certified Specialists in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
All 6 North Carolina elder law firms serving Gaston County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in North Carolina
Free North Carolina forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for North Carolina.
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Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Healthcare Power of Attorney
North Carolina requires 2N.C.G.S. § 32A-25.1Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses and notarizationN.C.G.S. § 32A-25.1Verified Oct 15, 2026View source for a healthcare power of attorney.
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Financial Power of Attorney
North Carolina treats a power of attorney as durable by defaultN.C.G.S. § 32C-1-105Verified Sep 18, 2026View source, and it is signed before a notaryN.C.G.S. § 32C-1-105Verified Sep 18, 2026View source.
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Last Will and Testament
In North Carolina, a will is signed before 2N.C.G.S. § 31-3.3Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyN.C.G.S. § 31-3.3Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.
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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in North Carolina
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in North Carolina: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
An attorney-prepared revocable trust in North Carolina runs $4,330Estimate: 10 hours at $433, Clio's North Carolina Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $6,495Estimate: 15 hours at $433, Clio's North Carolina Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $1,047Estimate: 3 hours at $349, Clio's North Carolina Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,094Estimate: 6 hours at $349, Clio's North Carolina Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
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How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?
In North Carolina, four years at a public university cost about $75,440NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source and the cost of living is 6% below the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 17, 2026View source; no state estate or inheritance tax appliesNo state estate or inheritance tax. The estate tax (Chapter 105, Article 1A — G.S. 105-32.1 through 105-32.8) was repealed outright by S.L. 2013-316, s. 7(a) (HB 998), effective January 1, 2013 for decedents dying on or after that date; the inheritance tax (G.S. 105-2 through 105-32) was repealed by S.L. 1998-212, s. 29A.2(a), effective January 1, 1999.Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
Calculate the Amount
What Are the Estate Laws in My State?
Probate on a $500,000 estate in North Carolina costs an estimated $27,108N.C.G.S. § 28A-13-3(a)(19), § 28A-23-3(a) (attorney fees are a negotiated administration expense; no statutory schedule or percentage)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source and takes 6 months to 9 months for a simple estate, with attorney fees of typically 2%Modeled estimate under N.C.G.S. § 28A-13-3(a)(19), § 28A-23-3(a) (attorney fees are a negotiated administration expense; no statutory schedule or percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.1%Modeled estimate under N.C.G.S. § 28A-13-3(a)(19), § 28A-23-3(a) (attorney fees are a negotiated administration expense; no statutory schedule or percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate. Estates under $20,000N.C.G.S. § 28A-25-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source can use a small-estate procedure instead.
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Do I Need a Revocable Trust?
Probate in North Carolina takes 6 months to 9 months for a simple estate and charges attorney fees of typically 2%Modeled estimate under N.C.G.S. § 28A-13-3(a)(19), § 28A-23-3(a) (attorney fees are a negotiated administration expense; no statutory schedule or percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.1%Modeled estimate under N.C.G.S. § 28A-13-3(a)(19), § 28A-23-3(a) (attorney fees are a negotiated administration expense; no statutory schedule or percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate; assets held in a revocable trust skip both.
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Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?
North Carolina does not revoke an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorceN.C.G.S. § 31-5.4; § 36C-6-606Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.
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