Massachusetts Estate
Planning Attorney

Massachusetts Estate Planning: The Right Plan Will Give You Peace of Mind

Introduction to Estate Planning

Estate planning is more than just preparing for the future—it’s about taking control of your legacy, protecting your assets, and ensuring your loved ones are cared for according to your wishes. A comprehensive estate plan is essential for anyone who wants to minimize estate taxes, avoid unnecessary probate court proceedings, and provide clear direction for the distribution of their wealth. Whether you are a high-net-worth individual, a business owner, or a parent concerned about your children’s future, effective estate planning can help you achieve your unique goals and provide peace of mind.

In Massachusetts, estate planning is especially important due to the complexities of the Massachusetts estate tax and the ever-changing legal landscape. The Massachusetts estate tax can impact estates valued over $1 million, making tax planning and asset protection critical components of any sophisticated estate plan. By working with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney, you can develop legal strategies that minimize estate taxes, protect your assets from creditors and long-term care costs, and ensure your estate is distributed in a tax-efficient manner.

Proper estate planning goes beyond simply drafting a will. It involves creating a suite of legal documents—such as living wills, health care proxies, and trusts—that address your specific needs and concerns. These documents not only protect your assets but also empower your family members to make important medical and financial decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. Trust administration, business succession planning, and charitable planning are additional tools that can be incorporated into your estate plan to safeguard your wealth for future generations.

Many families also benefit from establishing limited liability companies or prenuptial agreements as part of their overall estate planning strategy. These legal options can provide additional layers of asset protection and ensure that your wishes are honored, even in complex family situations or previous marriages. An experienced law firm with extensive experience in estate planning can guide you through the process, from your initial consultation to the final creation of your estate plan, ensuring that every detail is tailored to your unique circumstances.

Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning

At Monteforte Law, P.C., we understand the importance of protecting your assets and ensuring that they are passed on to your loved ones according to your wishes. Our lawyers work closely with clients to address their unique estate planning needs, providing guidance and support throughout the process. However, we also understand that traditional estate planning is often narrowly focused on death and does not take into account the complexities of preserving wealth for the long-term and for multiple generations. That is why we offer a unique approach to estate planning that we call “wealth preservation planning” (WPP).

WPP is a holistic approach to estate planning that goes beyond the traditional focus on death and ensures that your assets are protected and preserved for the long term. This includes not only passing on assets but also minimizing estate taxes, protecting assets from long-term care costs, and ensuring that your wealth is passed on to your intended beneficiaries with as little disruption as possible.

Why Does “Traditional” Estate Planning Fail?

At Monteforte Law, we do what we call “Wealth Preservation Planning”. We don’t do “estate planning”, at least not in the traditional sense, because traditional estate planning is massively flawed. That’s because estate planning is narrowly focused on death. While “what if I die” is a valid concern, Wealth Preservation Planning focuses on life; it looks beyond today and even tomorrow. Wealth Preservation Planning does cover an untimely death, but it also covers what happens during your life. With our “Wealth Preservation Planning,” we look at more than just passing down assets – we look at keeping wealth where you want it, protecting assets from long-term care, and minimizing estate taxes. Proper planning protects assets, provides peace of mind, and helps avoid unnecessary family conflict or confusion. Wealth Preservation Planning is concerned with the overall financial health of you and your family, and not just passing down assets when you die. We look at what happens while you’re still alive and then plan accordingly.

We often see clients who have done some estate planning, and when we review their documents, we find that no consideration has been given to planning for estate taxes, dementia or Alzheimer’s, business succession, or long-term care. Wealth Preservation Planning includes everything that estate planning does, but then fills in those very important missing pieces.

Head over to our blog to read about Jay Leno’s eye-opening experience with the importance of a Power of Attorney.

Don’t all estate planning attorneys do Wealth Preservation Planning?

The answer is no. In fact, it is this deficiency in most traditional estate planning practices that caused us to take a new and different approach that we call Wealth Preservation Planning. For years, we’ve been asked to review estate plans created by other law firms. They notoriously focus on the present, at the expense of the future. The estate plans focus on “today” and not on “tomorrow”. The plans very rarely include long-term care considerations, leaving clients confused about what their plans actually do and what their plans don’t do. For example, we have clients who “think” their home is protected from long-term care because their home is in a trust, but when we review the trust, we find that it has no long-term care protection whatsoever. In those cases, we have to deliver the bad news and often have to start from scratch.

More often than not, the plans lack estate tax considerations as well. They provide no guidance for families and don’t involve family members in the process. The planning process fails to include these MAJOR considerations and misses the most critical goals that Wealth Preservation Planning is trying to accomplish. Our Wealth Preservation Planning takes all of these factors into account.

We help  you find a plan.

Sadly, anyone can suffer a tragic and untimely death. But the reality is that most of us do live into our retirement years. With careful thought and professional planning, you can give your family the gift of a smooth transition, avoiding probate, and clear direction of your assets after you are gone. But at the same time, we focus on your assets during your life.

Which Estate Planning Tools Will You Need?

A  Trust, when done right,  is a useful tool for holding real estate, money, or other property. Trusts can also be used to keep certain properties out of reach from liability or to keep property out of the probate court process after the owner passes away. Trusts can specify distributions to beneficiaries, outlining how and when assets are distributed, and help avoid the probate process, making the transfer of assets more efficient and private. Sadly, trusts can be done incorrectly and can even do more harm than good. Read this free report to see if you have the right Trust or to see if you could benefit from one. We will provide you with legal advice on various types of Trusts and the ways they can benefit you.

Why Trust With Your Estate Plan?

At Monteforte Law, P.C., we understand the unique challenges that moderate to high-net-worth individuals, families, and business owners face when it comes to preserving their wealth. Our Wealth Preservation Planning approach is one of the most sought-after in Massachusetts because we are the best in class at meeting those challenges. We use our trademarked Monteforte Law Wealth Preservation System™ to evaluate and recommend the best plan for each client, and our Legacy Protection Plan program ensures that the plan is always up to date with changes in laws.

Find out what makes us different.

Your Monteforte Estate Plan Will Be Uniquely Yours

Our estate plans are custom-made for each client, and our Monteforte Law Wealth Preservation System™ is used to help determine the best recommendations. We create an individualized plan for you and your family. We focus on YOUR goals. We can make sure that the plan is updated as your life changes and as the law changes. This is important because laws and regulations are in a constant state of flux. Your plan needs to be able to adapt to those changes.

We also take a proactive approach to wealth preservation planning. Instead of waiting for a crisis to occur, we work with our clients to position their assets now, so they can qualify for long-term care benefits in the future. This means that our clients do not have to spend their life savings on nursing home care. Our approach is designed to save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate taxes, also known as death taxes.

Don’t Put Off Calling Us Any Longer

It is time to bite the bullet and give us a call. You will be surprised at how painless our process is and how much better you will feel after getting it done. Fill out the form on this page or call us to set up a meeting. There is no better time to plan for the future than now! Contact us today to schedule a consultation regarding your estate planning needs.

Strategic Planning Session 978-657-7437 or book online!

Please note: You will receive a wider range of availability if you schedule by phone.