Articles from Mair Law Offices

We are right in the middle of the holiday season, planning for parties, shopping for gifts and maybe even taking some time to reflect. Now is the perfect time to add to your list of New Year’s resolutions: Meet with an attorney for an estate plan. You don’t need to meet today or even this month. Set up your appointment for January or February and have your estate plan in place as soon as possible. For simple non-taxable estates, the plan can be done in a couple of weeks. For more complicated plans, it will take a little longer unless there are circumstances requiring it to be done immediately.

Just about everyone understands they should have a will. However, estate planning goes well beyond the drafting of a will. Do you have children? Do you have assets to protect? Is your estate federally taxable? Is it taxable in Massachusetts? In Massachusetts, you only need to have assets in excess of $1,000,000 to pay an estate tax. Consider the equity in your house, the value of your personal property (cars, jewelry, etc.), retirement plans, life insurance, a vacation home, etc. and you may have more than $1,000,000 in assets.

Most people only need a basic estate plan with a will, durable power of attorney and health care proxy. A will is the cornerstone of any estate plan. The main purpose of the will is to disburse your property after your death. It also appoints a personal representative and a legal guardian for your children.

A revocable trust or living trust is a legal entity you create to own property such as your home or investments. You can control the property in the trust, change the trust terms, move property in and out of the trust or even terminate the trust. Not everyone needs a revocable trust. Assets placed in a revocable trust are fully accessible while you are alive. Upon death, the trust functions much like a will, except that it does not require the approval of the Probate Court, and its provisions are much more flexible. For example, a simple will might provide for assets to be left to your spouse or, if your spouse predeceases you, to your children. A revocable trust could contain specific provisions about when and how the assets are distributed (such as age requirements).

A durable power of attorney helps protect your property when you are physically unable or mentally incompetent to handle financial matters. Without a durable power of attorney, court approval is needed to manage your finances which may result in your property being wasted, abused or lost. A durable power of attorney can be effective immediately or can be drafted to take effect upon incapacity.

A health care proxy can be thought of as a power of attorney for medical decisions. An agent is appointed to make decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. Without a validly appointed health care agent, a court appointed guardian would be required.

A living will is a written declaration of medical wishes.  Although it is not binding in Massachusetts, it can still be useful as a source of guidance for your health care agent and used as evidence to prove that the agent made the correct decision. A HIPAA release simply allows the release of medical records to specified people which would otherwise be impermissible under federal law.

Still unsure about the need for an estate plan? At least do yourself (and your loved ones) a favor by getting the facts and meeting with an estate planning attorney. We invite you to call our office at 508.250.0797 or email info@gmairlaw.com to schedule a free estate planning session with the mention of this article. If you would like to be notified of future articles, please subscribe to our blog in the right hand column.

This article is intended to inform you of developments in the law and to provide information of general interest. It is not intended to constitute legal advice regarding a client’s specific legal issues and should not be relied upon as such. This article may be considered advertising under the rules of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.