Our Practice Areas
At McMillen Legal, we provide a broad range of legal services to clients in Valdese, NC and throughout the state offering practical and strategic solutions for individuals, families, and businesses across multiple areas of law.
Corporate Law
At McMillen Legal, we provide comprehensive corporate law services designed to help businesses navigate the complexities of formation, governance, compliance, and strategic growth. Our attorneys assist clients with entity formation, drafting and reviewing corporate documents, mergers and acquisitions, and day-to-day operational matters. Our practice works with corporations, limited liability companies and non-profits. We focus on delivering practical solutions that protect your business interests while supporting long-term success. Whether you’re a startup, family-owned business, or established business, we bring the experience and insight needed to guide your company through any legal challenge.
Contract Law
Our contract law practice is dedicated to helping clients create, negotiate, and enforce agreements that safeguard their rights and interests. From drafting contracts and reviewing terms to resolving disputes, we ensure that all agreements are clear, enforceable, and aligned with your goals. By combining meticulous attention to detail with practical legal advice, we help businesses and individuals minimize risk and avoid costly disputes, while providing guidance that supports smooth operations and strong professional relationships.
Elder Law
At McMillen Legal, we help navigate the unique legal needs of older adults and individuals with disabilities, encompassing planning for health and long-term care, estate planning, public benefits like Medicaid, and matters of legal capacity. It’s an interdisciplinary approach that combines legal expertise with an understanding of medical and social concerns to protect a client’s rights and well-being. We help clients navigate complex issues, manage and preserve their assets, and ensure their wishes are carried out as they age or face health challenges.
Key Aspects of our Elder Law Practice
Health and Long-Term Care Planning: This involves counseling clients on making health care decisions, including the use of advance directives, powers of attorney for health care, HIPAA waivers and planning for long-term care costs and placement.
Estate Planning and Administration: We assist with creating wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents to manage assets and distribute them according to the client’s wishes.
Public Benefits: We help clients qualify for and navigate public benefits, such as Medicaid for long-term care, which can significantly offset care costs.
Legal Capacity and Decision-Making: We advise on issues of legal capacity and helping families establish necessary legal documents, such as guardianship, for clients who can no longer make their own decisions.
Special Needs Planning: We serve individuals with disabilities and their families, creating plans to ensure their financial and legal needs are met throughout their lives, which can include first party and third-party supplemental needs trusts along with ABLE accounts.
Housing and Resident Rights: This involves counseling clients on housing options, protecting their rights in long-term care facilities, and resolving issues related to their long-term care billing.
Guardianships
Our guardianship law practice involves representing clients to establish a court-appointed guardian for a person deemed incapacitated, whether a minor or an adult, who cannot manage their own personal and/or financial affairs. This practice includes drafting petitions, presenting evidence in court to demonstrate the necessity of guardianship, and guiding families through the legal process to appoint a guardian who will make decisions about the ward’s well-being, medical care, and finances, all while ensuring the ward’s best interests are served and appropriate court reporting is maintained.
Key Aspects of our Guardianship Law Practice
Assessing Incapacity: We help determine if a person genuinely lacks the capacity to make decisions due to a physical or mental condition.
Filing Petitions: A crucial step is filing a written request with the court to initiate the guardianship process.
Court Representation: We represent clients in court proceedings, advocating for the appointment of a guardian and presenting evidence to support the request.
Establishing a Guardian’s Authority: Our goal is to obtain legal authorization for a guardian to make decisions on behalf of the incapacitated individual.
Defining the Guardian’s Role: This involves defining the scope of the guardian’s responsibilities, which can include:
Personal Decisions: Medical treatment consent, housing, and daily care.
Financial Decisions: Managing bank accounts, paying bills, overseeing assets and generating funds to provide for a person’s care.
Ensuring Fiduciary Duty: The guardian is required to act in the ward’s best interests and has a fiduciary duty to prioritize the ward’s welfare.
Court Oversight and Reporting: Guardians must regularly report to the court on their activities, including financial statements and sometimes medical updates, to demonstrate proper care and financial responsibility.
Exploring Alternatives: Guardianship is an extraordinary measure, and attorneys may explore less restrictive alternatives like a power of attorney for clients who still have the capacity to make some decisions voluntarily.
Who Benefits from Guardianship Law Practice
Families: Seeking guardianship for a loved one who is unable to care for themselves, whether a child turning eighteen with a significant disability, a family member with drug or alcohol dependence, an elderly person with worsening dementia or a family member at risk for or currently being exploited.
Individuals: Creating a plan to ensure their affairs are managed if they become incapacitated in the future.
We also assist with contested guardianships, such as where someone has improperly filed a guardianship proceeding against you or is seeking to assert disputed control over you or a family member.
Estate and Trust Administration
Our estate and trust administration law practice guides executors, trustees and beneficiaries through the legal process of distributing a deceased person’s assets, which includes identifying and valuing assets, paying debts and taxes, and transferring remaining property to the rightful heirs, ensuring compliance with state law and the terms of the deceased’s trust, will or the laws of intestacy. We handle complex legal proceedings, draft necessary documents, advise on legal compliance, and resolve disputes that may arise during the administration process.
Key Functions of an Estate and Trust Administration Law Practice
Guiding the Executor/Trustee: The practice provides legal counsel and support to the personal representative (executor or administrator) appointed to manage the estate or the trustee appointed to manage a trust.
Will Validation: If there was a will, we help validate it through the court process, known as probate.
Asset Management: We assist in identifying, collecting, and valuing all of the deceased person’s assets, such as bank accounts, real estate, and investments.
Debt and Tax Payment: We help identify all outstanding debts and ensure that the estate’s final tax returns are filed correctly and all taxes are paid to federal and state authorities.
Distribution of Assets: After debts and taxes are settled, we ensure the remaining assets are distributed to the beneficiaries or heirs according to the will, state inheritance laws or the trust.
Legal Compliance: We ensure that all actions taken are in compliance with state and federal laws governing trusts, estates and probate.
Estate Disputes: If any challenges arise regarding the will, the validity of heirs, or asset distribution, we can handle many estate-related disputes.
Why Legal Assistance is Needed
Complexity: The process is complex and involves navigating various legal procedures and requirements.
Avoiding Errors: Mistakes can lead to costly errors or delays, so professional guidance is crucial to ensure correct execution.
Support for Families: We provide support and guidance to grieving families during a difficult time, reducing stress and ensuring the estate or trust is handled properly.
Expertise: We have specialized knowledge of estate and trust law, which is essential for a smooth and lawful administration process.
Homeowners Association Law
We provide legal guidance to homeowners associations and community boards, helping them navigate governance, compliance, and dispute resolution. From drafting bylaws and enforcing covenants to resolving conflicts between residents or between the association and vendors, our attorneys provide practical solutions that maintain community harmony while protecting legal interests. By understanding the unique challenges of community association law, we help boards operate effectively and ensure compliance with applicable statutes and regulations.
Estate Planning
Planning for the future is essential, and our estate planning services help clients protect their assets and provide for their loved ones. We assist with wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other estate planning tools tailored to each client’s unique circumstances. Our attorneys work closely with you to ensure your wishes are clearly documented and legally enforceable, while also minimizing tax implications and avoiding potential disputes. With thoughtful, strategic planning, we help clients achieve peace of mind knowing their affairs are in order.
Let’s Work Together
Call Us
Office: (828) 624-1944
Fax: (828) 624-1941
Email Us
Hours
Monday: 9am – 5pm
Tuesday: 9am – 5pm
Wednesday: 9am – 5pm
Thursday: 9am – 5pm
Friday: 9am – 5pm
Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, we close at 12pm on Fridays.