New Hampshire Estate Planning Attorney

By Michael Monteforte, Jr.

I am admitted in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York. That matters less as a credential than it does as a practical thing, because the families who need it most are the ones with a foot in each state.

I appear in the New Hampshire Circuit Court Probate Division, and we draft New Hampshire documents, not Massachusetts documents with the state name changed. New Hampshire uses an advance directive that combines a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care. Massachusetts uses a separate health care proxy. They are different instruments and they are drafted differently.

Who Actually Calls Us From New Hampshire

They usually have one foot in each state. They may live in New Hampshire and still own a house or a business interest in Massachusetts. They may be Massachusetts clients who moved north and never updated the plan. Sometimes the parents are in one state and the children helping them are in the other.

They call about a will, a trust, probate, long-term care, or an old plan that no longer fits. The question usually sounds simple when the call begins.

Then we look at where they live, what they own, how it is titled, and which state’s law applies. That is usually where the real problem shows up.

If You Moved North, the Old Plan Did Not Disappear

Crossing the border does not undo a Massachusetts will or trust. It may well still be valid after a move to New Hampshire. That is not the same as saying it still does what you want.

Your power of attorney, your health care documents, your trustees, your beneficiary designations, your deeds and the way your accounts are owned all need to be looked at again.

The tax difference is real. New Hampshire has no separate estate or inheritance tax. Massachusetts has a $2 million estate tax filing threshold. But moving is not just changing the address on your driver’s license, Massachusetts can still treat you as domiciled here if your life is still here.

I tell clients the same thing every time. If the move is supposed to change the tax result, the move has to be real, and the estate plan has to follow it.

Does Your Massachusetts Trust Still Work?

Usually, yes. A Massachusetts trust does not stop working because you moved to New Hampshire. But I would not tell anyone to assume it is fine without reading it.

We look at which state’s law controls, who the trustees are, where the trust is actually being administered, what the tax provisions say, and whether the trust was ever funded.

That last part matters more than people expect. The document sitting in a binder does not control a house or an account that was never put into it.

Sometimes a few changes are enough. Sometimes the old trust is built around a life, a family, or a tax law that no longer exists. At that point a clean restatement is usually better than adding another patch and hoping the pieces work together.

Property on the Wrong Side of the Border

This is where people create an extra probate without realizing it.

If you live in Massachusetts and die owning New Hampshire real estate in your own name, your family may need a New Hampshire probate for that property in addition to the Massachusetts proceeding. The reverse happens to New Hampshire residents who own Massachusetts real estate.

The tax answer is not as simple as saying the property is in New Hampshire, so Massachusetts cannot touch it. For a Massachusetts resident, out-of-state property is still part of the filing analysis. Under current Massachusetts rules, directly owned New Hampshire real estate is generally removed when the Massachusetts estate tax itself is calculated.

But if you put that property into an LLC, you no longer own the real estate directly. You own an interest in the LLC, and that interest may be included in the Massachusetts calculation.

An LLC can be useful. It can also create the exact tax result you thought you were avoiding. The deed, the entity and the estate plan have to be reviewed together.

No Estate Tax Does Not Mean No Estate Planning

Most families are not in my office because they are worried about a tax return.

They are worried about who can act if they become sick, whether the house will go through probate, how a spouse will be protected, and whether the children will inherit money outright before they are ready. Long-term care is a major concern. So are second marriages, children with disabilities, family businesses, and property in more than one state.

Taxes matter when they apply. The larger job is making sure the right person can act, the assets go where they are supposed to go, and the family is not left trying to fix the plan during a crisis.

It is worth knowing that New Hampshire has no personal income tax either. The Interest and Dividends Tax was repealed effective January 1, 2025, so the state now taxes neither income nor estates. That is genuinely favorable. It is just not the same thing as not needing a plan.

Trusts Do the Same Work in New Hampshire

People sometimes assume that with no estate tax there is no reason for a trust in New Hampshire. We use trusts up there for the same reasons we use them in Massachusetts, minus the estate tax layer.

Keeping the family out of probate. Protecting the house and savings from long-term care costs. Controlling how and when children inherit rather than handing them everything outright. Planning around a second marriage, a business, or a child who needs protecting.

The 20/20 Hindsight Trust™ works the same way for a New Hampshire family as it does for a Massachusetts one. What changes is the tax analysis sitting on top of it, not the reason for having it.

And Probate Is No Easier Up There

New Hampshire probate is not that different from Massachusetts probate procedurally. It is also not any faster.

It is also county by county. If you are in Nashua, Merrimack, Hudson, Amherst or anywhere else in Hillsborough County, the estate is filed in the 9th Circuit Court, Probate Division, in Nashua. Salem, Derry, Londonderry, Windham, Plaistow and the rest of Rockingham County go to the 10th Circuit Court, Probate Division, in Brentwood.

The courts are just as bogged down and just as far behind. Families wait. Paperwork sits. The house cannot be sold while everyone waits for a court that is working through a backlog.

If you were hoping the state line meant an easier probate, it does not. That is a large part of why people plan around probate rather than through it, in both states.

What People Get Wrong

The biggest mistake is believing there is nothing to plan for because New Hampshire has no estate tax.

A will still goes through probate. A power of attorney still has to work when somebody is incapacitated. A trust still controls only the assets that were actually put into it.

The other common assumption is that moving north automatically ends every Massachusetts issue. It does not. Your domicile, your Massachusetts property, and the way you own your assets can keep Massachusetts in the picture.

The state line does not fix an unfunded trust, a bad deed, an old beneficiary designation, or a plan that nobody reviewed after the move.

How This Works Without a New Hampshire Office

We handle most of the planning by telephone, video conference and secure exchange of documents. Clients come to the Woburn office when an in-person meeting makes sense.

We decide how the signing will be handled before we get to the end, because a will, a trust, a power of attorney and a deed do not all have the same signing requirements.

The question is not whether I have an office on the other side of the border. The question is whether the advice and the documents account for where you live, what you own, and which law applies.

When You Should Use a New Hampshire Firm Instead

I tell people when I am not the right lawyer for the job.

A contested New Hampshire probate, active litigation, or a matter needing repeated appearances in a distant court may belong with a lawyer who handles that work locally every day. The same is true when the real issue is a specialized business, real estate or tax matter outside the estate planning engagement.

Being licensed in more than one state does not mean pretending to be every kind of lawyer in each of them. It means I can see the cross-border problem, handle the work that fits my practice, and tell you plainly when someone else is the better choice.

Talk to Us

If you live in New Hampshire, or you are thinking about moving there, or you own property on both sides of the line, a short conversation will tell you whether your plan actually fits your situation. Book a free consult call at bookmyconsultcall.com, or call our Woburn office at (978) 657-7437.

Monteforte Law, P.C., 300 TradeCenter, Suite 6750, Woburn, MA 01801. We work with families throughout southern New Hampshire, including Salem, Derry, Londonderry and Nashua. More about where we serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does New Hampshire have an estate tax?

No. New Hampshire has no separate estate or inheritance tax. The Legacy and Succession Tax was repealed for deaths on or after 1 January 2003, and since 2005 there has been no New Hampshire estate tax return to file at all, per the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. For a New Hampshire resident the federal exemption is the only estate tax threshold in play, and for 2026 that is $15 million per person. Massachusetts, by contrast, requires a return once the estate crosses $2 million.

Does New Hampshire have an income tax?

Not any more. New Hampshire never taxed wages, and the Interest and Dividends Tax, which applied to certain investment income, was repealed effective January 1, 2025. A fair amount of guidance still online predates that change.

I moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Do I need a new estate plan?

Not necessarily a new one, but it needs to be reviewed. The documents may still be valid. What changes is which state’s law applies, how your property is titled, whether Massachusetts still considers you domiciled here, and whether the plan still matches your life.

Will my Massachusetts trust still work in New Hampshire?

Usually. But which state’s law controls, who the trustees are, where the trust is administered and whether it was ever funded all deserve a look. A trust only controls what was actually put into it, in either state.

I live in one state and own a house in the other. What happens?

Left unplanned, your family may face probate in both states, the main proceeding where you lived, and a second one for the real estate. It is avoidable, but it has to be dealt with before it happens, and how the property is owned changes both the probate answer and the tax answer.

Is probate faster in New Hampshire?

No. The procedure is broadly similar to Massachusetts and the courts are just as backed up. Families wait either way, which is why probate avoidance is usually worth planning for on both sides of the border. If you are already dealing with an estate rather than planning one, our New Hampshire probate page walks through the two simplified routes and the six-month clock.

Do I have to come to Woburn?

Usually not. Most of the planning happens by phone, video and secure document exchange. Come in when it makes sense to, and we will sort out the signing arrangements in advance.