Virginia S. Carter
Trusts and Estates Attorney
T 910.794.4834
F 910.794.4877
E vscarter@wardandsmith.com
O Wilmington, NC
Practice Areas:
Business Succession Planning, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Trusts and Estates
Virginia counsels clients on all components of a complete estate plan, including wills, revocable living trusts, durable powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, and living wills. She also advises individuals, families, and closely-held business owners on business succession planning, irrevocable trust planning, charitable trusts, and other strategies to mitigate estate tax. Virginia also provides guidance to executors and trustees navigating the administration of estates and trusts. Virginia’s experience also includes a wide range of business law matters and corporate transactional work.
Honors and Distinctions
- “Best Lawyer,” The Best Lawyers in America®, 2022-2025
- “Lawyer of the Year,” Best Lawyers®, 2025
- “Rising Star,” North Carolina Super Lawyers, 2018-2020
Please see the following websites for an explanation of the membership standards for the following recognitions: www.bestlawyers.com; businessnc.com/special-sections/legal-elite/; and www.superlawyers.com/north-carolina.
- J.D., with high honors, Duke University School of Law, 2009. Order of the Coif.
- B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Washington and Lee University, 2004.
- The Clark James Foundation — Board of Directors, Secretary
- New Hanover County Community Foundation — Board of Directors
- Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce — Leadership Wilmington, Class of 2015
- North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys
- North Carolina Bar Association — Section: Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law
- New Hanover County Bar Association — Member, Board of Directors; President, 2016-17
- New Hanover County Estate Planning Council
- Porters Neck Village – Board of Directors, 2015-2021, and Member, Strategic Planning Committee
- North Carolina, 2013
- New York, 2010
- All state courts in North Carolina
Each family is different. I enjoy working with clients and their advisors to develop and refine their planning goals and tailor an estate plan for their individual circumstances. I handle everything from the simplest estate plans for individuals and young families to complex plans for high-net-worth individuals with business and estate tax needs. I believe that a good plan, executed well, is an amazing gift to your people. It can save time, and reduce costs and stress at a time that is inherently stressful. In addition, our firm is uniquely positioned to provide excellent assistance to entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors due to the depth of our corporate, real estate, employment law, and intellectual property practices, and I enjoy the opportunity to work with my partners to achieve the best results for our client. Outside of work, you will find me reminding my kids how lucky they are to live so close to Wrightsville Beach.
Representative Experience
- Working with closely-held business owners on succession planning
- Planning for blended families with QTIPs, postmarital agreements, and other strategies
- Helping clients develop gifting strategies to mitigate estate tax, including spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs), and irrevocable trusts for children, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning
- Counseling clients on planning with IRAs, 401ks, and other retirement assets to reduce income taxes and maximize asset protection of these assets
- Helping clients accomplish tax and charitable goals through charitable trust and gift planning
- Assisting clients and their adult children in planning for incapacity or special needs
- Counseling and assisting clients with judicial and nonjudicial options to modify irrevocable trusts to better align with current goals
- Advising both fiduciaries and beneficiaries of estates and trusts in all aspects of estate and trust administration
- Filing estate tax returns to preserve portability or in taxable estate situations
