Serves Forsyth and Durham counties from offices in Winston-Salem and Durham. The firm guides personal representatives and trustees through estate and trust administration — inventorying assets, settling claims, distributing property, and filing fiduciary income tax returns — and litigates will contests and trust disputes when an administration goes wrong. The intake Needs Assessment call is free.
Probate in Orange County
Probate Court Record
Orange County Clerk of Superior Court
Orange County · Superior Court District 18
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-5:00 PM
Office
106 East Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, NC 27278
Website
E-filing
Filing in person
Appointment required
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Orange County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Orange County? →Settling an estate in Orange County →
Tax Planning Firms Serving Orange County
Serves Durham County and the Triangle from an office between Durham and Chapel Hill. Four attorneys and three estates paralegals handle estate and trust administration: probating the will, filing estate and fiduciary income tax returns, and post-mortem disclaimers and family settlement agreements. The firm has NC Board Certified Specialists in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
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.
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.
A Durham firm founded in 1997 and focused on estate planning and its related disciplines. Attorneys advise executors and beneficiaries through probate court filings, asset transfer and tax returns, and assist trustees with trust administration and modifying or decanting outdated trusts. Each partner is a North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
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.
All 17 North Carolina tax planning firms serving Orange 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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Free
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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