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 Watauga County
Probate Court Record
Watauga County Clerk of Superior Court
Watauga County · Superior Court District 35
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Office
842 West King Street, Suite 13, Boone, NC 28607
Website
E-filing
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Watauga County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Watauga County? →Settling an estate in Watauga County →
Estate Law Firms Serving Watauga County
A solo practice on Main Street in North Wilkesboro, focused on Wilkesboro and extending to Boone. Victoria A. Brooks, the firm's founding and sole attorney, works directly with executors, administrators and heirs through estate administration and probate, from the legal assessment of the estate through distribution of assets. She also prepares wills, trusts, powers of attorney and deeds.
A Hendersonville practice limited to estate planning and estate and trust administration, serving clients from across Western North Carolina. Evan Gilreath and Adam Shealy handle probate, trust administration, distribution of assets from estates and trusts, and fiduciary income and estate tax returns. Both are NC Board Certified Specialists in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
A Hendersonville solo office serving families across Western North Carolina. Jack A. Lyda handles estates and probate alongside wills, trusts, living wills, and powers of attorney, and runs a parallel real estate and small-business practice. In practice in the same community since 1982.
A Black Mountain solo office serving Buncombe County and the mountains west of Hickory. Walton Davis, certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in estate planning and probate law, assists executors and trustees through estate and trust administration — court inventories and accountings, estate liabilities, fiduciary tax returns, and distribution to beneficiaries.
An Asheville firm on College Street, formed by a 1986 merger of two local practices. Its estates and trusts team handles domiciliary and ancillary probate, estate, trust and guardianship administration, and estate tax returns and audits; its litigators take caveat proceedings. Partner Mary Robinson Hervig is a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
All 15 North Carolina estate law firms serving Watauga 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.
$12/month
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Free
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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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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Free
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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Pour-Over Will
In North Carolina, a pour-over will is signed before 2N.C.G.S. § 31-3.3Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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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.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
In North Carolina, a will-based plan pays probate 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; a funded revocable trust keeps those assets out of probate and off that fee.
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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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How Much Does Probate Cost?
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. Attorney fees run 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 under a reasonable-compensation standard.
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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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How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in North Carolina: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 90 daysN.C.G.S. §§ 28A-20-1, 28A-20-3, 28A-20-4Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 3 monthsNCGS §§ 28A-14-1, 28A-19-1, 28A-19-3, 28A-19-6, 28A-19-16Verified Oct 19, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 6 months to 9 months.
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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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