FAQs

Tax planning helps individuals and families to reduce avoidable tax burdens while staying compliant with current laws on taxation. Proper planning can help you preserve wealth, improve cash flow, and maximize the value of assets passed on to future generations.

In short, yes. Estate planning is not exclusively for high-net-worth individuals. Anyone with assets, dependents, or health care preferences can benefit from having an estate plan in place to protect loved ones and avoid unnecessary legal complications.

An estate plan will often include:

• Last Will and Testament
• Trusts (Revocable or Irrevocable, depending on specific needs)
• Health Care Proxies
• Durable Powers of Attorney
• Beneficiary Designations
• Guardianship Designations for Minor Children

Some types of trusts can help minimize your estate taxes, protect assets, and deliver greater control over how wealth is distributed. The ideal strategy depends on your financial goals, family structure, and applicable tax laws.

If someone dies without a will, state intestacy laws will determine how their assets are to be distributed. In Massachusetts, assets that pass through probate will go to the person’s closest relatives under interstate succession laws. Other assets, such as life insurance proceeds or retirement accounts, will go to the named beneficiary.

A great first step is scheduling a consultation with an attorney to discuss your financial situation, the needs of you and your family, and your long-term goals. Our estate planning attorneys offer a free initial consultation. To get the process started, please contact us for our Estate Planning Questionnaire. The information you provide enables our attorneys to develop a customized estate plan tailored to your needs and objectives.

Our attorneys recommended that you review your estate plan about every two years, as well as after any major life event such as marriage, divorce, having children, or major changes in your financial situation. Changes in applicable tax laws are another factor to consider in making updates to your estate plan.

The administration of an estate involves several steps, including:

• Preparing an inventory of assets like bank accounts, property, and investments
• Paying debts and taxes and filing tax returns
• Distributing assets to the appropriate beneficiaries
• Handling necessary court filings and paperwork

The probate process is the legal process of settling a decedent’s estate. This involves proving the will, if any, paying debts, taxes, and expenses, and the distribution of assets. The process is overseen by the Probate and Family Court. The purpose is to provide for the transfer of the decedent’s property to his or her heirs or beneficiaries. Not all estates need to be probated.

An estate must be probated if the decedent died owning assets in his or her name alone. If all of a decedent’s assets are jointly owned with another person or held in a trust which provides for how the decedent’s assets are to pass following his or her death, the probating of the estate may be avoided.

The simplest answer to what is a very complicated question is that a trust divides the ownership of an asset or assets between the legal owner (the trustee) and the beneficial owner (the beneficiary or beneficiaries). There are many types of trusts. At MacLean Holloway Doherty & Sheehan, we can provide advice as to what type of trust or trusts may be best for you and your family.

Administrating an estate plan is a complex undertaking. The attorneys at MacLean Holloway Doherty & Sheehan are here to help decedents’ families with the collection, preservation, protection and distribution of assets. In addition, we provide sound advice and assistance in dealing with litigation issues should they arise during administration.

Our firm assists trustees with the management of a variety of trusts, including multi-generational trusts, and charitable lead and remainder trusts, and irrevocable life insurance trusts. Our unique process enables our fiduciary clients to make customized decisions around the selection of investments in a transparent and objective manner. Our attorneys and paralegals also work with our clients’ independent investment advisors when appropriate.

Yes. In many instances, disputes can be settled before escalating to a trial. Alternative dispute-resolution methods include negotiation settlements between parties, mediation, and arbitration. These strategies can often bring about a faster resolution at a lower cost compared to a courtroom trial while maintaining a greater degree of confidentiality for the parties involved.

Mediation is a voluntary, confidential, and non-binding process where an impartial third-party known as a mediator attempts to help parties resolve a dispute without going to a trial. The mediator does not issue a decision but rather helps the two sides negotiate and craft a resolution that will be acceptable to each party. Mediation can offer a faster, less expensive, and less adversarial approach to handling a dispute than traditional litigation.

Arbitration, which may be voluntary or mandatory depending upon the circumstances, is, in essence, a trial before a person or persons other than a judge. This process takes place in a private setting rather than in a public courtroom.

Discovery is a pre-trial fact-finding process in which opposing parties exchange information, documents, and evidence in order to prepare for trial. Common types of discovery include written Interrogatories, Requests for Production, and Requests for Admission, as well as the taking of depositions. The Discovery process is a critical stage in litigation as it allows parties to uncover key information and helps inform the decision of whether to settle the case or proceed to trial.

In most civil litigation, the standard of proof for a judge or jury to find for a Plaintiff is the “preponderance of the evidence.” This means that a judge or jury can find for the Plaintiff if the Plaintiff has demonstrated that their claim is more likely to be true than false. In certain high-stakes matters, the standard of proof can be raised to the stricter “clear and convincing evidence” standard. Both of these are less stringent than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard needed to determine guilt in a criminal case.

Whether you can recover your attorney’s fees is dependent upon many factors which differ greatly depending upon the nature of your case. This is an issue you may want to raise at your initial consultation.

Our attorneys advise that you bring with you to your initial consultation any documents related to your case. These may include emails, letters, contracts, invoices, receipts, photographs, and court papers. The more information you can provide up front, the better your attorney will be able to formulate an effective legal strategy.

Zoning laws give cities and towns the authority to adopt ordinances and by-laws that regulate the manner in which land can be used and developed.

A local law that outlines the ways in which land may be improved, developed, and used in different zoning districts in a municipality is known as a zoning ordinance or zoning by-law. Generally, cities’ zoning laws are known as ordinances while those of towns are called by-laws. Zoning ordinances and by-laws divide a city or town into defined zoning districts and include rules regarding types of permitted use in those districts as well as dimensional regulations for structures built in them.

Special permits and variances are both ways in which a land owner can seek relief from existing zoning regulations and that can be granted by a municipal government (typically a Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals). A special permit typically allows a use that is delegated to the discretion of the granting authority under the zoning ordinance or by-law, while a variance grants the right to use land in a way that is otherwise prohibited by local zoning law. In general, a special permit is more easily acquired than a variance. The standard for relief is very different for a variance as contrasted with a special permit.

To request a hearing from your local Zoning Board of Appeals, you will need to submit an application, including site plans and other required documents, and pay any required fee. You may need to request an abutter’s list so your neighbors can be notified of the hearing. The Board will then set a hearing date and send you a notification.

A prior nonconforming use is a land use or structure that was legal at the time it was established but is now prohibited by subsequently passed zoning laws. Such non-conforming use or structure is allowed to continue, but any expansion or changes will be subject to local approval.

Local government boards like the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board review development proposals, ensure compliance with local zoning laws, and make rulings on land use proposals and requests for special permits and variances.