Get Back to Your Estate Plan!

If you are like me and like many friends and colleagues you’ve been all geared up and getting ready to get back to school. Whether you have your own children in school or grandchildren or nieces and nephews or you are sending kids off to college, it feels like September is really the time when the year begins. This serves as a reminder that summer ends all too quickly and it feels like another year has gone by and things can change quickly and life just happens. Preparing for change is a big part of what we do and planning for life’s unexpected events that just happen. We could spend our days worrying about what’s in store for us around the corner or we can take time to plan in the event of a health issue or an unexpected passing of a family member so that our wishes are followed

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Is Your Trust Safe in a Divorce? The Implications of Jones v. Jones for Estate Planning in Massachusetts

An important recent case in Massachusetts has planning implications for married couples, especially when there is inherited property. The divorce of Jones v. Jones was filed in 2019. Inherited property and gifted property was a significant issue in the divorce. The wife’s mother had set up an irrevocable trust for the benefit of her daughter and had supported the couple financially throughout the marriage. The judge in the case deemed that the trust should be treated as marital property. The wife disagreed on the grounds that the interest in the trust was too speculative to be defined as such. In September 2023, the Massachusetts Appeals Court decided that the trust could be considered marital property. The wife argued that she had not received any distributions from the trust and she would not receive the trust assets in full until her mother’s death. Yet the appeals court found that the existence

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Estate Planning Pop Quiz

Posted by Robert L. Arone August means school is back in session or just around the corner, signaling the return of new school supplies, homework, and pop quizzes. Try your hand at this estate planning pop quiz to see if your knowledge of estate planning makes the grade. Question #1: True or false? The only people involved in an estate plan are the client and the estate planning attorney who drafts the documents. Answer: False. Many advisors such as financial planners, certified public accountants (CPAs), and insurance agents play an important role in the estate planning process. For example, one of the first steps in creating an estate plan is understanding what property the client owns. This may include tangible property such as real estate, vehicles, and collectibles, as well as intangible assets such as retirement accounts and insurance policies. A client’s advisors can help the estate planning attorney understand everything the client owns

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Estate Planning Awareness: Don’t Fall Victim to These Common Myths

Posted by Robert L. Arone Left unaddressed, these myths can create serious trouble for families and individuals, often leading to intrafamily conflict, permanently damaged relationships, and lengthy and expensive court battles. Myth #1: Estate planning is only for the wealthy. When the topic of estate planning comes up, professional advisors often hear their clients respond with phrases like “Oh, estate planning is only for rich people,” or “Why do I need an estate plan? I plan to spend it all before I die!” Unfortunately, this kind of response, perhaps subconsciously, allows the person making the statement to avoid having to expend any further energy thinking about the uncomfortable reality of their own mortality and the consequences of not having planned for their incapacity or death. As their professional advisor, consider whether you have a responsibility to gently push back on such responses from a client. Most things worth doing are

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Working with Co-trustees: How You Can Help

When clients select a successor trustee for their trust, they frequently choose one person to serve as a successor trustee at a time. Many attorneys continue to recommend that only a single trustee be appointed to avoid the potential for disagreements or conflicts between co-trustees during the trust administration after the trustmaker’s death or disability. This can be a prudent approach and works well in many situations. This is particularly true when the appointed trustee diligently keeps the trust beneficiaries informed about the trust administration and carefully fulfils the trustee’s responsibilities under both the law and the provisions of the trust document. However, many clients are reluctant to place the entire responsibility for trust administration on one person. As a result, it is increasingly common for a trustmaker to nominate two or more family members or friends to serve as successor co-trustees. In some cases, it may even be beneficial

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