Practice Areas
Trust Attorney Serving Massachusetts
A properly funded trust keeps your family out of the Probate and Family Court, keeps your affairs private, and lets you control how and when your beneficiaries receive what you leave them.
Overview
Trusts in Massachusetts
A trust is a legal arrangement that holds property for the benefit of someone else. In a revocable living trust — the kind most Massachusetts families use — you are the trustee and the beneficiary during your lifetime, so day-to-day nothing changes. What changes is what happens when you die or become incapacitated: the assets titled in the trust pass under its terms immediately, without a probate filing, without the delay, and without becoming a public court record.
That last point matters more in Massachusetts than many people realise. Probate here is a formal court process with filings, notice requirements, and a timetable measured in months rather than weeks. It is manageable, but it is neither fast nor private. A trust is the tool that avoids it.
The second reason Massachusetts families use trusts is state estate tax. The Commonwealth taxes estates above a threshold far below the federal exemption, and a home plus retirement accounts plus life insurance adds up faster than people expect. Trust planning can preserve exemptions that would otherwise be wasted.
A trust only works if it is funded. Signing the document is roughly half the job — the rest is retitling deeds and accounts so the trust actually owns them. We handle that step rather than handing you a binder and wishing you luck.
Scope of Work
What we handle
Revocable living trusts
Individual and joint trusts built to avoid probate, plan for incapacity, and control distributions to children and grandchildren.
Trust funding
New deeds for Massachusetts real estate, retitled bank and brokerage accounts, and beneficiary designations reviewed so they match your plan rather than contradict it.
Massachusetts estate tax planning
Structuring a married couple's plan so both spouses' state exemptions are used rather than one being lost.
Trust administration guidance
Practical help for successor trustees stepping into the role — what to do first, what to file, and how to distribute without personal liability.
Reviewing trusts you already have
Trusts drafted years ago, out of state, or never funded. We tell you whether yours still does what you think it does.
The Process
Three steps, start to finish
- 01
Consult
A free conversation about your family, your assets, and what you want to happen. You leave knowing what you need — even if that turns out to be less than you expected.
- 02
Draft
Your trust and the companion pour-over will are drafted together, then walked through with you so you understand exactly who controls what, and when.
- 03
Sign & fund
Documents are executed, then we handle the transfers — deeds recorded, accounts retitled, designations updated — so the trust is real rather than theoretical.
Not everyone needs a trust
Plenty of Massachusetts families are well served by a will, good beneficiary designations, and careful titling — and we will say so. The right answer depends on what you own, where you own it, and how much complexity you want your family to face.
FAQ
Trusts: common questions
How does a trust avoid probate in 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.
What is the difference between a revocable and an irrevocable trust?
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.
Do I still need a will if I have a trust?
Yes. A pour-over will catches anything you never transferred into the trust, and it is where you nominate a guardian for minor children.
What does it cost to set up a trust?
[Trust fee range to be supplied by the firm.] Cost depends on whether it is a single or joint trust, how many assets need to be retitled, and whether any tax planning is involved. You will have the fee in writing before we start.
Is my estate large enough to worry about Massachusetts estate tax?
Massachusetts taxes estates above a $2 million threshold — far lower than the federal exemption, which is why many Massachusetts families owe state estate tax while owing nothing federally. Your home, retirement accounts, and life insurance you own all count toward that number, so estates reach it more often than people expect. Thresholds change; we confirm current figures at your consultation.
What does 'funding a trust' mean?
Funding is the paperwork that actually moves assets into the trust — new deeds for real estate, retitled bank and brokerage accounts, and updated beneficiary designations where appropriate. It is the step most often skipped, and skipping it is what sends supposedly probate-proof estates to court anyway.
More questions? Read the full FAQ.
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