Serves Wake County and the Research Triangle from Raleigh, where Maria M. Lynch and Jerome R. Eatman, Jr. founded the firm in 1993. Its attorneys open estates with the Estates Division of the Wake County Clerk of Superior Court and carry executors through inventory, creditor claims and ancillary probate. Lynch is a board-certified estate planning and probate law specialist.
Probate in Durham County
Probate Court Record
Durham County Clerk of Superior Court
Durham County · Superior Court District 16
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-5:00 PM
Office
510 South Dillard Street, Durham, NC 27701
Website
E-filing
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Durham County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Durham County? →Settling an estate in Durham County →
Tax Planning Firms Serving Durham County
Serves Wake County and the Triangle from Towne Village Drive in Cary, practicing since 2001. Founder W. Thomas McCuiston, Jr. is an NC Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law, and the planning work — wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, powers of attorney, special needs trusts — is built around minimizing income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes.
Serves Mecklenburg County from Charlotte, with a second North Carolina office in Raleigh. The trust and estate administration attorneys handle probate of wills, administration of testate and intestate estates and of trusts, post-death tax planning and fiduciary tax returns, and fiduciary litigation among beneficiaries and fiduciaries. The firm is the only Charlotte-based member of the Am Law 200.
A Charlotte firm founded in 1960, now more than 165 attorneys across four offices. Its trusts and estates group represents individual and corporate fiduciaries through estate and trust settlement: court inventories and accountings, estate, gift and fiduciary income tax returns, and post-mortem planning. A separate fiduciary litigation group handles trustee, executor, and beneficiary disputes.
Serves Wake County from downtown Raleigh, where its Trusts and Estates lawyers advise executors, trustees, and beneficiaries on trust and estate administration, fiduciary and tax matters, and controversies before tax authorities. The same team prepares wills and trust instruments. Chambers and Partners gave the practice its highest North Carolina Private Wealth Law ranking in 2026.
Serves Orange County and the Triangle from Chapel Hill, with a practice concentrated on wills, trusts, and estates. The firm settles decedents' estates through the court probate process — distribution of assets, creditor claims, and tax returns — and handles guardianship proceedings. Beth Tillman is a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
All 18 North Carolina tax planning firms serving Durham 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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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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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.
How Much Are Estate & Inheritance Taxes?
North Carolina levies no estate or inheritance taxNo 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; only the federal estate tax applies above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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What Taxes Apply to My Inheritance?
North Carolina imposes no inheritance or estate taxNo 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; probate assets arrive when the estate closes, 6 months to 9 months for a simple estate.
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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in North Carolina take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular ratesN.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-153.7(a) (flat individual rate: "After 2025 3.99%"); (a1) rate-reduction trigger (earliest affected year 2027)Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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When Do I Have to Withdraw an Inherited IRA?
See which federal withdrawal rules apply to an inherited IRA, Roth IRA, or employer plan, the deadline year, and the missed-withdrawal tax.
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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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