Estate Planning

When thinking about the tools they can use to express their end-of-life wishes, some people may wave off the idea of using a trust. However, this estate planning tool is not just for the substantially wealthy. Living trusts can help any Massachusetts resident...

Many Massachusetts residents have pets that they consider part of their family. Some may love their pets as much as their children, and others may only have pets to dote on. Whatever the case, most pet owners do not want anything negative to happen to their...

If you are like others here in Boston, or elsewhere for that matter, you may believe that you should save inheritances for after your death. When you begin your estate planning process, you consider the gifts you want to give to those you love. While that is a goal of...

According to studies conducted by the Pew Research Center, overall divorce rates have gone down in the United States. Despite this, studies show that the rate of divorce for couples over the age of 50 has almost doubled since 1990. These divorces typically present...

The rich and famous have access to the best lawyers in the country, so it always comes as a surprise when celebrities end up having error-ridden estate plans. Here are two recent examples of this: When Robin Williams passed away in August, he left behind three...

If you have already have an estate plan in place, that’s great. It means you have taken the time out of your busy life to plan for something we would all rather not think about: our eventual death. However, if it has been a few years since you put your estate...

In an action that affects Massachusetts residents and citizens all across the country, Congress passed the American Tax Relief Act of 2012. Included in that law are provisions for transfer taxes or taxes on an estate. Under the new tax law, credit shelter trusts will...

In the first part of this post, we noted how easy it can be to overlook even the most basic estate planning steps. Even for a lawyer, such as the character of Matthew Crawley on "Downton Abbey," getting a proper will in place proved to be not at all straightforward....

“Walking the talk” is a current phrase for an age-old reality. It is all too easy, in the abstract, to say people should take a given action. It is often more difficult, however, to actually follow through and do so. Sometimes this is simply due to human psychology,...

In the first part of this post on the basics of estate planning, we focused on the documents that people should put in place to provide structure and guidance for health care decisions. That guidance and structure is crucial in situations when someone is no longer...