Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Your first consultation with Curseaden Law Office is free, whether by phone or in our Westford office. We use it to understand your family and your goals, answer your questions, and tell you what a plan would involve — you are never obligated to hire us afterward.

For most families it is four documents: a will, a durable power of attorney, a health care proxy, and a HIPAA authorization. Depending on your assets and goals, a revocable living trust and a Massachusetts homestead declaration may also make sense.

[Fee information to be supplied by the firm — e.g. flat-fee packages for an individual plan and a couples' plan.] What we can commit to now: after your free consultation you receive the scope and the fee in writing, and we do not begin work until you approve it.

Yes. Curseaden Law Office serves clients throughout Massachusetts. Our office is on Littleton Road in Westford, and we regularly work with families in North Reading, Andover, Lowell, and the surrounding Merrimack Valley and Middlesex County communities.

Most straightforward plans move from the first meeting to the signing appointment in roughly two to four weeks, depending on how quickly you gather asset information and how many revisions you want. If there is urgency — a scheduled surgery or upcoming travel — tell us and we will work to that deadline.

A rough list of what you own and roughly what it is worth, how each asset is titled, any beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, and copies of any estate planning documents you already have. If you don't have all of it, come anyway — we can start with what you know.

The Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code decides for you. Your property passes under the state's intestacy statute, which does not always leave everything to a surviving spouse — if you have children from a previous relationship, or a surviving parent and no children, your estate is divided by formula. The Probate and Family Court also chooses who administers the estate and who becomes guardian of any minor children.

Yes. A trust only controls the assets actually transferred into it, so a will remains necessary as a safety net — usually a 'pour-over' will that directs anything left in your individual name into the trust. Your will is also the document that nominates a guardian for minor children; a trust cannot do that.

No — this is the most common misunderstanding we hear. A will is your instructions to the Probate and Family Court, so having one means your estate goes through probate with directions rather than without them. Avoiding probate is done with trusts, beneficiary designations, and how assets are titled.

Review it every three to five years, and immediately after a major life event: marriage, divorce, a birth or adoption, a death in the family, buying or selling real estate, a significant change in assets, or a move to or from Massachusetts.

Probate is the court process for property held in your individual name at death. Assets retitled into your trust are no longer held in your individual name, so they pass under the trust's terms without a court filing. This only works if the trust is funded — an unfunded trust avoids nothing.

A revocable living trust can be amended or revoked at any time and keeps you in full control, which makes it the right tool for probate avoidance and incapacity planning. An irrevocable trust gives up that control in exchange for protections — asset protection, Medicaid/MassHealth planning, or estate tax planning — and should never be signed without understanding what you are giving up.

Yes. A pour-over will catches anything you never transferred into the trust, and it is where you nominate a guardian for minor children.

A durable power of attorney covers money and property — banking, bills, real estate, taxes, insurance. A health care proxy covers medical decisions. They are separate documents governed by separate Massachusetts statutes, they can name different people, and you need both.

Most Massachusetts durable powers of attorney take effect as soon as they are signed and remain effective if you later become incapacitated. A 'springing' power of attorney only activates on a finding of incapacity, which sounds safer but often causes delays when banks demand proof. We will walk you through the tradeoff.

No, and this trips up a lot of people who move here. Massachusetts does not have a statute making living wills legally binding — the health care proxy is the operative document, because it appoints a real person with authority to decide. A written statement of your wishes still matters, but it guides your agent rather than binding your doctors.