Boston Massachusetts Estate Planning, Estate Tax, and Probate

Also Serving Andover and Raynham Massachusetts

Estate Planning

When planning end of life issues and passing on your legacy to the next generation, the right plan makes all the difference in your quality of life.   An appropriate estate plan takes care of you in the event you are unable to take care of yourself, and then takes care of your family after you have passed. Our firm specializes in wills, trusts and estates, and building the right plan for you..

We approach estate planning from two directions. First, we take care of you and your assets should you require long term care, or if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself. Second, we ensure that assets you leave behind are minimally impacted by probate taxes, and that they end up with those that you write in your will, not disputed in probate.

As such, all we do, ultimately, revolves around protecting you and your estate.  Estate planning is not a simple question of completing your will online or a one time writing of your last will and testament.

Visit with our wills and estates attorneys while you are healthy and aware.  Avoid potential probate court expenses, delays, and the uncertainties of tough decisions after you have passed away or if you become incapacitated.

Comprehensive Estate Plans Designed to Meet Your Unique Needs

A proper estate plan ensures your final wishes are honored and your assets pass to the intended heirs and beneficiaries. Estate plans include a combination of wills and trusts, putting property in joint tenancy or other methods. A well designed estate plan works to avoid probate. We provide legal advice to help families preserve and protect hard-earned assets in the event a family member requires long-term care or nursing home care. In addition to Medicaid planning, our attorneys counsel clients on asset protection strategies including:

• Special needs trusts
• Charitable trusts
• Living trusts
• Retirement planning advice
• Asset protection planning.

For higher net worth clients, our estates lawyers work to minimize or even eliminate inheritance or estate tax on the wills and estates of our clients.

Health Care Proxies / Medical Powers of Attorney

Machado & Carden provides the legal documents that allow you to put your final healthcare and financial wishes in writing. A health care proxy, sometimes called a medical power of attorney, gives your spouse, or other designated agent, authority to make healthcare decisions if you cannot do so yourself.

Advance Healthcare Directives / Living Wills

Many clients choose to sign advance health care directives to express their medical treatment wishes in the event of a terminal illness. Often known as a "living will", this directive provides family clear instructions about whether "heroic" or "futile" medical treatment is appropriate if your death is imminent.  If you prepare ahead of time, with a living will in place, your family will not face the uncertainty of making decisions about your medical care.  That is the job of our living will attorneys.

Durable Powers of Attorney

"Durable powers of attorney" are a critical piece of any estate plan. This document enables your appointed agent to make financial decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated. Machado & Carden advises you on how to choose an agent and how to draft the durable power of attorney to ensure that your assets are properly managed.

Estate Tax and Inheritance Tax Planning

Have you taken into account what percentage of your assets will be eaten up by inheritance taxes? At your death, your estate could be subject to both federal and Massachusetts estate taxes. The top federal estate tax rate is an incredible 46 percent. The State as well as the Federal Government will tax your estate. We are specialists in trusts and estates, and can help you steer through this.

The first spouse to die can leave an unlimited amount of assets to a surviving spouse tax free. This, unfortunately, often guarantees that the surviving spouse's estate will be subject to an estate tax upon their death. The estates of single people will always be subject to a tax if the estate is substantial. Discuss your estate plans with our experienced estate tax planning attorney.  We can help prevent losing your estate to taxes.

Help Protect Your Beneficiaries from Probate Court and Excessive Taxes

Our inheritance tax lawyers offer more than sixty combined years of elder law and estate tax planning experience. We explain the financial strategies and legal options that are available to help protect your beneficiaries from probate court and excessive taxes upon your death.

Boston Estate Administration and Probate Attorneys

Machado & Carden is experienced in providing representation and sound legal advice for individuals and families that find themselves entangled in probate issues upon the death of a family member. We aim to avoid putting wills through probate. It seems that no matter how well the deceased person may have planned, some financial holdings or other assets simply must pass through the courts before legal title is transferred to heirs. In that case, the firm handles probate matters for estates of all sizes, from simple real estate property to complex stock options and deferred compensation accounts. We have more than sixty combined years of probate law experience. Whether you want to meet with an attorney to prevent probate issues after your death, or you have current probate court legal problems, the firm's probate lawyers can help.

Wills and Probate Law Services

• Probate court avoidance advice
• Inheritance tax planning
• Inheritance assets passing outside of probate
• Life insurance benefits
• Retirement account and pension issues
• Property valuation issues
• Estate administration services
• Preserving assets from Medicaid recovery

Probate Administration Problems

Many are not aware that they face probate problems until they serve as the executor of a will. Only then do they realize that the testamentary will may be several years (or decades) old and does not clearly direct the dispensation of all of the deceased's assets. If you have been named an executor, you should contact our experienced probate law attorneys to review and discuss the contents and directives of the will. Our wills lawyers can help avoid will litigation.

Contact Machado & Carden to schedule a consultation.