If you have a Will, you have an executor. You are placing a lot of trust in your executor. After all, this is the person who will be serving in your stead when you pass away—helping your loved ones, overseeing your finances, paying your final bills and distributing your property. ...
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End of Life Wishes & Living Wills
Clients are always asking about living wills. Massachusetts law does not recognize a living will, and it's also impossible to write a thorough, well balanced statement of your end of life wishes in just a few paragraphs.
I provide clients with a solution to their goal, but in a much better form. I give my...
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My Spouse Just Died – What Do I Need to Do with Our Assets?
Clients often come in bewildered about what they need to do with bank accounts and other assets after a spouse has passed away. People are always the most concerned about the home.
The good news is that there is usually very little to do. Spouses typically hold most of their assets "jointly." This means that...
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Putting Assets in Joint Names to Avoid Probate – Will It Work?
Lots of people want to avoid probate. That's the court process that a family must go through to distribute anything that was in the decedent's name alone upon her passing. Despite its bad reputation, probate isn't the end of the world. Yes, it's a hassle, and yes, there are hoops to go through, but...
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Do You Really Need a Will?
If you want to have a say in who gets your possessions after you die, then yes. If not, then the "laws of intestacy" govern what happens to an estate when a person dies without a Will.
A typical scenario is one parent dies leaving his spouse and children. Without a Will, anything that was...
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