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 […]
The Anti-Lapse statute is a law that aims to correct the lack of contingency planning in a Will. Prior to the enactment of this statute, a gift to someone in your Will would fail completely if that person predeceased you unless you specifically provided otherwise. Therefore, the Anti-Lapse statute creates an automatic exception to the […]
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 – […]
Estate planners often say you should review your estate plan every few years (with just a hint of bias). However, in practice I have found that this answer varies between two extremes: 3 years to 15 years. The reason being that most families only need to review their estate plan when a triggering event occurs, […]
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