Lawyer Bio : George A. Ragland

Since graduating from law school in 1968, George has worked almost exclusively in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, trust administration and charitable gift planning. His reputation as an attorney in these areas of law, and as a counselor who takes the time to explain complicated concepts in easy-to-understand terms, has enabled him to attract clients from across the entire state of North Carolina. A banker once said of George, "He gets along with everyone. He relates well. Clients feel at ease with him."

George's clients range from individuals who can't afford to pay an attorney (and whose work George does on a pro bono basis), to those worth more than $200,000,000. He has planned and administered "standard" estates consisting of residences, securities, life insurance, savings and retirement plans, as well as estates containing family business interests of many varieties, airplanes, livestock operations, timberland and shopping centers. George has experience in representing the U.S. citizen and the non-citizen; the married and the unmarried; the childless individual and the parent with children, stepchildren and/or adopted children.

Through the years, clients have sought George's counsel in matters related to premarital agreements, international estate planning, asset protection, fiduciary litigation, estate tax return audits, valuation discounting through use of family limited partnerships or limited liability companies (LLCs), succession planning for family businesses, and the formation of charitable trusts and charitable foundations.

Those close to George know that he likes spending time with his family, listening to jazz, working on his farm and enjoying red wine.