You’ve probably heard horror stories of disgruntled heirs contesting a parent’s Will to try and get their “fair share” of an inheritance. While uncommon, it is particularly concerning when dealing with favoritism, children who have substance abuse or gambling issues, blended families, or illegitimate children. Fortunately, under Massachusetts law there are a few steps you can take to deter unwanted litigation – one of which is called the no contest clause (sometimes referred to as an “in terrorem” clause).

Completing your estate plan is a great accomplishment, but the fun’s not over yet – now you have to decide where to keep the papers for the rest of your life. Generally, you have three options for safekeeping your estate planning documents: Lawyer’s Office Traditionally, lawyers would keep and store their clients documents since they

Independent Trustees are persons and/or entities that are responsible for administering your trust, but are not named as beneficiaries. While some trusts require independent trustees, others use independent trustees to primarily avoid a conflict of interest that may otherwise exist if the Trustee were to also be a beneficiary of the trust.

1. Failing to name contingent beneficiaries Life’s uncertain. We’d like to believe everything will go as planned, but it’s possible that your primary beneficiaries may predecease you. If that happens, you should always have alternate or back-up beneficiaries in place. Also, it’s best to make a habit of reviewing the beneficiaries on your

If the thought of leaving your estate to your spouse makes you nervous then you’ve probably wondered: can you disinherit your spouse? The answer is generally, no – at least not entirely. Under Massachusetts law your spouse is entitled to inherit a portion of your estate (also known as the spousal elective share).

A trust can be established either during a person’s life (a “Living Trust”) or at his or her death by being included in a person’s Will (a “Testamentary Trust”). Both types of trusts have the benefit of allowing the creator of the Trust (sometimes called the donor, grantor, or settlor) to put in place a

A trust can be a useful tool for various scenarios, but is not always necessary and is often oversold to increase attorney’s fees. So the question is: do you actually need a trust? Here are the three most common scenarios where a trust may make sense for you: To Avoid Probate on Out-of-State Property.

Death and money are likely among the top two things you don’t want to talk about around the dinner table. Yet you probably know very well that an estate planning conversation is something you should discuss with your family sooner rather than later. Otherwise, your survivors may misinterpret or fail to follow your intentions, which

Probate is the legal process that occurs after your death in order to settle your estate. The process can vary depending on your situation. For example, in Massachusetts there are four types of probate: (1) Voluntary Administration, (2) Informal Proceedings, (3) Formal Proceedings, and (4) Supervised Administration. While the exact steps vary depending on

Thanks to the new tax bill, very few will be susceptible to the Federal Estate Tax as the Federal exemption amount now sits at $11.2 million (effectively $22.4 million for married couples). Unfortunately, for those of you domiciled in Massachusetts, there’s another tax you have to worry about – the state’s Estate Tax