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Bridging the Gap

Stability, Integrity, Trust

Estate Planning Strategic & All Encompassing

To many people, estate planning means signing a will. In reality, estate planning is a comprehensive, strategic and all-encompassing undertaking that considers lifetime concerns – such as how to protect your assets from third parties, and who would make decisions in the event of illness or disability – as well as traditional estate and end-of-life matters – including who will inherit your assets, and in what manner.

Our Approach to Estate Planning

It begins with a complimentary consultation in which we conduct a thorough assessment of your unique situation. We discuss typical estate planning issues including estate tax and income tax minimization, wealth transfer planning, long-term care and nursing home planning, special needs and disability planning, and probate avoidance.

We also consider issues such as the potential risk exposures of future beneficiaries, financial aid concerns for clients and beneficiaries, planning for higher education costs, and the role of family dynamics in the planning process.

From that analysis, and with your personal and financial goals in mind, we design estate plans that ensure the financial security and success of you and your loved ones. From there, we work closely with you to create your unique estate plan documents, and complete the process by ensuring the plan is properly “funded”, which is a concept that involves analyzing and updating the ownership and beneficiary designations of all your assets.

Estate Planning Worcester MA Boston MA
Estate Planning Worcester MA Boston MA
Solutions

Challenges to Estate Planning

We understand how challenging it can be for many clients to undertake estate planning.  The distractions and responsibilities of daily life, coupled with the weighty decisions to be made, can make the process seem daunting. That’s why we have developed and finely tuned our estate plan process.

Our team of dedicated and personable professionals will work with you throughout the entire process to keep things timely and manageable. We hear countless times from clients at the conclusion of the planning process how relieved they are to have done it, and how pleased they are with how much they accomplished.

Trusts

There are as many different types of trusts as there are reasons to use them.  Trusts accomplish key objectives during your lifetime while also protecting your beneficiaries after you’re gone. Following a consultation with an EPLO attorney, you will understand the type(s) of trust(s) that might be right for you, and why/how they work. These include:

Revocable Trusts

For probate avoidance; marital estate tax planning; ongoing asset protection for beneficiaries; and more

Irrevocable Trusts

For nursing home/long-term care protection; asset protection from third parties/creditors during your life; estate and gift tax reduction/elimination; and more

Testamentary Trusts

For spousal nursing home/long-term care planning

Supplemental Needs Trusts/Special Needs Trusts

To hold the inheritance of disabled/special needs beneficiaries

Retirement Trusts

For protecting your pre-tax/qualified retirement accounts beyond your lifetime in the hands of your beneficiaries, while affording favorable income tax treatment

Charitable Trusts

For lifetime and testamentary charitable giving and estate tax/income tax planning

Nominee/Agency Trusts

For spousal planning, to hold assets jointly yet strategically positioned to fund trusts upon the first spouse’s death; to protect the privacy of you and your beneficiaries; and more

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Estate Planning Services Include

Core Documents Every estate plan, no matter how simple or complicated, requires a basic set of foundation documents:

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Wills

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Durable Power of Attorney

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Health Care Proxy

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HIPAA Release

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Living Will

Estate Planning Asset Protection

BRIDGING THE GAP

Special Estate Planning Services

Clearly, the estate planning process is complex and the laws that regulate it are constantly changing. It takes attorneys who have developed in-depth expertise in this field and who remain up-to-date with regulations – to help clients properly plan their estates and to ensure that their assets are protected during their lifetimes and preserved for future generations.

More about Estate Planning from Our Blog

EPLO

Worcester Office

71 Elm Street
Suite 100
Worcester, MA 01609

Uxbridge Office

9 N Main Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569

Leominster Office

156 Hamilton Street
Leominster, MA 01453

Braintree Office

100 Grandview Road
Suite 405
Braintree, MA 02184

Cape Cod & Islands

776 Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601