Prompt response and good advice.

This law firm is a winner and a keeper! I can personally attest that Culp Elliott & Carpenter provides their clients with a rare combination of both:

(a) unsurpassed legal expertise, experience, and reputation; and

(b) an approachable, down-to-earth, understandable, and respectful client relationship style, which values results over ego.

As a former practicing attorney, I place an extremely high value on this hard-to-find blend of attributes and attitudes.

So did my late father, an "old school," self-made, and unpretentious guy, whose mantra was "what's the bottom line" of an issue. He felt very fortunate in his career, and he wanted the fruits of his life's success to end up in the hands of his family and his community's charities, not with "Uncle Sam." With CEC's help, that's exactly what happened!

Having been represented for decades by a number of Charlotte's largest and oldest "downtown" law firms, Dad wisely selected Culp Elliott & Carpenter over 20 years ago. CEC helped him, over time and through thoughtful, informed, forward-thinking, and adaptive planning and execution, to achieve his estate planning goals.

After Dad's passing, CEC ably handled the administration of his estate. The process was managed extremely efficiently and effectively, despite numerous business, tax, and family complexities. And, the estate tax results were outstanding!

This excellent relationship continues today, with CEC partner Paul Hattenauer handling both my and my wife's estate planning, as well as that of my adult children. Paul is blessed, in abundance, with both extraordinary legal and people skills. In addition to his vast breadth and depth of knowledge in highly complex matters, Paul is a great listener, a clear communicator, a strategic thinker, a practical and results-oriented practitioner, and a genuinely great guy. It is simply a pleasure to work with Paul Hattenauer.

Despite the length of this review, I rarely write reviews. However, I would feel remiss if I did not HIGHLY recommend CEC to those in need of expertise and experience in sophisticated estate planning and administration of complex trusts and estates. Five stars, without a doubt!

Scott Gorelick
Charlotte, NC

Culp Elliott & Carpenter has been our family's estate planning firm from the very start. Paul Hattenhauer, a partner at CEC, took the time to carefully listen to our family's planning needs, explain what our options were (including pros/cons), and then helped us design the various trust and ownership structures to serve those needs. And even though we are among the 'smallest' clients at CEC, Paul and his team have always made an obvious (and much appreciated) effort to ensure that we receive the same high-caliber services - at a very cost-effective rate. CEC is everything that a family would want/expect in their estate-planning firm. Our family will always be clients of CEC.

I hired Culp Elliott & Carpenter in march of 2015 to provide a wide range of services for my organization. They have provided us what i would consider white glove support no matter what the issue we have brought to them. As a multi-national start up we depend on knowledgeable partners to protect us and I can say without a doubt Culp Elliot & Carpenter's team is exactly what my organization was looking for. We have been fortunate to find their firm and I have great confidence in the counsel they have provided. I have, and will continue to, refer my peers to this firm for any number of services that they offer.

I would not recommend this firm to handle your estate. The billing fees are very high and I personally was encouraged to pursue a lawsuit that proved no merit. If you are grieving and not of a clear mind, I would not trust this firm with the fate of your financial well being.