Jackie founded Carolina Family Estate Planning in 2009 to help people live better lives by planning secure futures.
It took a lot of work to get here, though. In her own words:
After working my heart out through high school, I was the first person in my family to go college. When I got to MIT, I found myself surrounded by students from prestigious prep schools. It didn’t take me long to realize those other students were better prepared for college than I was:
They knew how to make the university work for them—things like asking professors for extra help when they needed it and lining up corporate summer internships during the fall—long before it would even have occurred to me.
Those first couple months of school, I felt like I had worked so hard to get there, only to find myself in over my head. I became painfully aware of the disadvantage of not knowing what I didn’t know.
I found mentors, colleagues, and friends to teach me the ropes, and by the time I got to law school, I had learned how to get ahead. But in the course of my legal studies I recognized a familiar pattern: There are effectively two legal systems—one for those “in the know,” and one for those who don’t know what they don’t know.
Then and there I made myself a promise. I would help other people navigate “the system” by helping other people gain access to the valuable advice and assistance that well-heeled families have always had at their disposal.
When you have someone you can rely on for help, you feel a wonderful sense of relief. You feel empowered. You make better decisions. You live a better life.
At Carolina Family Estate Planning, we’ve helped thousands of North Carolina families live better lives by helping them navigate the complexities of Estate Planning, Long-term care Planning, Probate, and Trust Administration. Together, we have discovered that knowledge truly is power.
Jackie is a member of WealthCounsel and ElderCounsel (national organizations of attorneys committed to client-centered estate planning and elder care planning). She has served on the boards of the North Carolina chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Transitions Guiding Lights, the foundation for Transitions LifeCare, and the National Alliance of Attorneys for Alzheimer's Planning. Jackie is also a former council member of the Elder Law and Special Needs section of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Having seen the first-hand impacts of Alzheimer's disease and dementia on her own family, Jackie is passionate about helping families tackle the dementia care journey. In collaborating with elder care attorneys nationally, helped create the National Alliance of Attorneys for Alzheimer's Planning and she created the Alzheimer's Planning Center as a special division of the firm focused on helping families impacted by dementia. Jackie is a Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) and a Certified Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Care Trainer (CADDCT).
Jackie has been named as a Rising Star by North Carolina SuperLawyers for 2016, 2017, and 2018 (“Rising Star” denotes attorneys who are under the age of 40). Founding Attorney Jackie Bedard has earned a perfect 10.0 score on Avvo.com in the practice areas of both estate planning and elder law. She also earned a peer review of a perfect 5.0 on Martindale.com.
Jackie was also named “Best Attorney” by popular vote in Cary Magazine’s Maggy Awards in 2017 and 2019 (and was a very close runner up in 2018). Jackie was also named “Best Attorney” by popular vote in The Cary News in 2017 (as far as we’re aware, 2017 was the last year that The Cary News conducted this contest).
Jackie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated law school magna cum laude in the top 7% of her class at the University of Richmond, School of Law.
Jackie resides in Cary with her husband, Dan, and their dog, Nala. Jackie also enjoys CrossFit, reading, cooking, music, and more.
Contact info:
919-899-2901