slnlaw
  • Home
  • Employment Law
    • Guide To Employment Law Content
    • Advice for Employers >
      • Hiring Independent Contractors in Massachusetts
      • Termination Best Practices
      • Workplace Discrimination Employer Guide
      • Employee Handbook >
        • Employee Handbook Basics
      • Paid Family Leave and Your Small Business
      • Overtime Law for Employers
      • Employee Complaints About Pay
      • Employee Non Competes
    • Advice for Employees >
      • Discrimination in the Workplace
      • Sexual Harassment at Work >
        • Sexual Harassment Resources
        • Sexual Harassment in a Small Business
        • Constructive Discharge
        • Sexual Harassment and Non Disclosure Agreements
        • Sexual Harassment and Remote Work
        • Sexual Harassment Case Studies
      • Massachusetts Paid Family Leave
      • Non Compete Agreements >
        • Are non competes enforceable
        • Massachusetts Non Compete Act
        • Pre 2018 Massachusetts Non Competes
        • Non Compete Case Studies
        • Can I Avoid My Non Compete
      • Independent Contractor Law >
        • Independent Contractor Test
        • Working As Independent Contractor
        • Independent Contractor Case Studies
        • Independent Contractor Roadmap
      • Wage and Hour Laws >
        • Massachusetts Minimum Wage
        • Overtime Law >
          • Overtime Exemptions
          • Employee Travel Time
          • Federal or State Overtime Law
        • Overtime Law Case Studies
        • Massachusetts Wage Act >
          • Payment of Commissions
          • Wage Deductions
          • Late Payment of Wages
          • Paid Time Off
        • Wage Act Case Studies
        • What Are Your Wage and Hour Rights
      • Employment Contracts in Massachusetts >
        • Restrictive Covenants
        • Promissory Estoppel
      • Employment Termination >
        • Severance Pay
        • Should I Accept a Severance?
      • Do I Have a Case?
    • Unemployment in Massachusetts >
      • Unemployment Overpayment
      • Pandemic Unemployment
      • Unemployment Case Studies
  • Estate Planning
    • Guide To Estate Planning Content
    • Legacy Protection >
      • Why You Need an Estate Plan >
        • Why You Don't Have an Estate Plan
      • Massachusetts Estate Tax
      • Asset Protection Trusts
      • Children with Special Needs
      • Planning for Assisted Living
    • Is Your Will Enough >
      • Special Circumstances >
        • Estate Planning for Blended Families
        • Estate Planning for a Non Citizen Spouse
        • Estate Planning and Divorce
        • Estate Planning for Small Business Owners
      • Surviving Spouse's Share
      • Disinheriting Children Massachusetts
      • Updating Your Estate Plan
    • Estate Planning Documents >
      • What is a Trust >
        • Revocable trust
        • Irrevocable trust
        • Irrevocable vs revocable trust
      • Last Will and Testament
      • Durable Power of Attorney
      • Massachusetts Health Care Proxy
      • Life Estates in Massachusetts
      • Massachusetts Pet Trust
    • Probate Process >
      • Non Probate Assets
  • Business Law
    • Guide To Business Law Content
    • Small Business Law
    • Business Contract Basics
    • Civil Suit Defense
    • Legal Issues for Start Ups
    • Trademark Basics
    • How to Incorporate
    • Sale of Business
  • About
    • Reviews
    • Slnlaw Offices
    • slnlaw core values
    • Publications and Interviews
    • New Client Intake and Consultation
    • Contact
  • Attorneys
    • Emily Smith-Lee >
      • 2018 Lawyer of the Year
    • Rebecca Rogers
    • Sharleen Tinnin
    • Elijah Bresley
  • Legal FAQs
    • Estate Planning FAQs
    • Probate FAQs
    • Small Business FAQs
    • Wage Act FAQs
    • Commission Pay FAQs
    • Overtime FAQs
    • Independent Contractor FAQs
    • Non Compete FAQs
    • Employment Discrimination FAQs
    • Employment Termination FAQs
    • Massachusettts Unemployment FAQs
    • Severance Package FAQs
    • Medical Leave FAQs
    • Sexual Harassment FAQs
    • Employer FAQs
    • Civil Lawsuit FAQs
  • Blog

Special Circumstances in Estate Planning

Everyone wants to take care of their family members, protect their assets, and avoid the probate process if possible. Beyond that, every family has unique needs when it comes to estate planning. Below are a few of the special circumstances that may require some additional planning tools available to meet your needs:

Your Estate Plan if You Have a Child with Special Needs​
​Your Estate Plan if You or Your Spouse Are Not U.S. Citizens
​Your Estate Plan if You Have a Blended Family
​Your Estate Plan After a Divorce
​Your Estate Plan as a Small Business Owner
Your Estate Plan if You Need to Disinherit Someone
​
Your Plan to Afford Long Term Care
Your Estate Plan if You Need or Want a Pet Trust


Need Help With Your Estate Plan?

Call (781) 784-2322
OR
Schedule a Free Information Call

Need Help Getting Started on Your Estate Plan?

Our Solutions Roadmap is a quick and easy way to share some information about your situation and your goals and receive preliminary feedback from a member of our team.  Use the button below to get started- it is 100% confidential and 100% free.
Tell Us What's On Your Mind
 

Your Estate Plan if You Have a Child with Special Needs

If you have a child with special needs, this may not change the basic structure of your estate plan, but it may require you to tailor those documents a little differently. For example, if you are leaving assets to a child with special needs you may want to make sure that you have a special needs trust in place that allows them to benefit from your legacy without putting their eligibility for state and federal government benefits in danger.
 

Your Estate Plan if You or Your Spouse Are Not U.S. Citizens

You can still accomplish all of the basic goals of a comprehensive estate plan if someone in your immediate family is not a United States Citizen. The main difference is that there are much lower asset thresholds for estate tax purposes. You should make sure your estate planning lawyers know about the immigration status of your family members so he or she can best protect your family and your assets.
 

Your Estate Plan if You Have a Blended Family

If you or your spouse have children from a prior marriage or relationship, whether those children live full time with you or not, you and your spouse should have at least a will. Most likely you will also want to create a trust that ensures the assets you each want preserved for your children are preserved for them, and appoints someone to manage any assets they inherit if they are minor children.

We have worked with families whose primary goal was for the assets of each spouse to benefit that spouse's children. We have also worked with families where both spouses wanted to make it clear that each of their assets were to be divided equally among all of the children, his hers and ours. Whatever your objective is, in a blended family the state laws are unlikely to do what you want if you do not have the right estate planning documents.

 

Your Estate Plan After a Divorce

Everything changes, including your estate plan, after a divorce. The law will automatically undo certain things about your existing will upon divorce, but it is important to review your plan with an attorney to make sure everything has changed that you want to change, and you have retained everything you want to retain in your plan.

Remember also that if you do not update your beneficiary designations, you may have assets automatically going to your ex-spouse that you intend to go somewhere else.

 

Your Estate Plan as a Small Business Owner

Business succession planning is an often overlooked but critical part of a business owner's estate plan. The people you want to leave assets to are not necessarily the same people you want to succeed you in your business.

If you have business partners or co-owners, you may want to consider taking out another life insurance policy that gives the business the funds to buy your shares from your heirs. If you are a sole owner, you may want that same insurance to allow the company to hire your replacement so your family can reap the benefits of ownership but not have to run the business.

If one family member is the person you intend to step in and run the business, you want to make sure this is clear in your own will.
 

Your Estate Plan if You Need to Disinherit Someone

Sometimes people have reason to treat family members differently in their estate plan. Sometimes this includes wanting to leave a child or a spouse out of the inheritance. You can disinherit some or all of your children, but there is specific language you must use in Massachusetts to ensure that the probate court will honor that desire.

There is also something called the "spousal share," which entitles a spouse to a certain percentage of the probate assets regardless of what you put in your will. You will want to speak to an estate planning attorney to make sure your documents will be effective to do what you want them to do.

There are also situations where you want each of your children to benefit equally, but in different ways.  One child may need to receive their inheritance through a special needs trust.  You may have another who has difficulty making good financial decisions, and decide to create a trust so a trustee can help them manage any assets they inherit.  Your estate planning lawyer should be able to help you accomplish this as well.

 

Your Plan to Afford Long Term Care

Ideally you are starting to think about long term care before you need it, because the best way to be sure you are protecting your assets is by creating an asset protection trust or deeding property with a life estate at least five years before you need care. But even if you have missed that window, for example if you receive a diagnosis that will likely result in long term health care inside of five years, it is worth discussing your situation with an estate planning or elder law attorney.
 

Your Estate Plan if You Need or Want a Pet Trust

Massachusetts now recognizes a special form of trust called a pet trust. This means if you choose to you can separately provide for the care of animals in your family, with assets dedicated to that purpose and specific individuals named as caretakers and trustees. Especially if you have pets with particularly long life spans (for example, parrots), or with high upkeep expense, this is an option worth considering.

How Our Estate Planning Lawyers Can Help

Estate Planning Jenna Ordway slnlaw MA
Estate Plan Jenna Ordway slnlaw MA
Picture
Estate Planning in Massachusetts
All of these stories are adapted from real clients who had very real shortcomings in their existing estate plans.  The good news is that these are easy problems to fix.  We are ready to help.  We understand this can be a difficult issue to tackle, so we have designed our process to make it as easy as possible for you to get the plan in place that protects you and your family and accomplishes your goals.  You can use the button below to schedule a free information call, or simply give us a call at  781-784-2322.
Schedule a Free Information Call

Sharon MA

46 South Main Street
​Sharon MA 02067

(781) 784-2322
Serving Eastern and Central Massachusetts
Greater Boston Referral Resources
slnlaw solutions
Refer a Friend
slnlaw publications and interviews
​slnlaw privacy policy
Chester MA
26B Main Street
Chester MA 01011
(413) 667-2322
Serving Western Massachusetts
Western MA Referral Resources

Copyright 2022, slnlaw
  • Home
  • Employment Law
    • Guide To Employment Law Content
    • Advice for Employers >
      • Hiring Independent Contractors in Massachusetts
      • Termination Best Practices
      • Workplace Discrimination Employer Guide
      • Employee Handbook >
        • Employee Handbook Basics
      • Paid Family Leave and Your Small Business
      • Overtime Law for Employers
      • Employee Complaints About Pay
      • Employee Non Competes
    • Advice for Employees >
      • Discrimination in the Workplace
      • Sexual Harassment at Work >
        • Sexual Harassment Resources
        • Sexual Harassment in a Small Business
        • Constructive Discharge
        • Sexual Harassment and Non Disclosure Agreements
        • Sexual Harassment and Remote Work
        • Sexual Harassment Case Studies
      • Massachusetts Paid Family Leave
      • Non Compete Agreements >
        • Are non competes enforceable
        • Massachusetts Non Compete Act
        • Pre 2018 Massachusetts Non Competes
        • Non Compete Case Studies
        • Can I Avoid My Non Compete
      • Independent Contractor Law >
        • Independent Contractor Test
        • Working As Independent Contractor
        • Independent Contractor Case Studies
        • Independent Contractor Roadmap
      • Wage and Hour Laws >
        • Massachusetts Minimum Wage
        • Overtime Law >
          • Overtime Exemptions
          • Employee Travel Time
          • Federal or State Overtime Law
        • Overtime Law Case Studies
        • Massachusetts Wage Act >
          • Payment of Commissions
          • Wage Deductions
          • Late Payment of Wages
          • Paid Time Off
        • Wage Act Case Studies
        • What Are Your Wage and Hour Rights
      • Employment Contracts in Massachusetts >
        • Restrictive Covenants
        • Promissory Estoppel
      • Employment Termination >
        • Severance Pay
        • Should I Accept a Severance?
      • Do I Have a Case?
    • Unemployment in Massachusetts >
      • Unemployment Overpayment
      • Pandemic Unemployment
      • Unemployment Case Studies
  • Estate Planning
    • Guide To Estate Planning Content
    • Legacy Protection >
      • Why You Need an Estate Plan >
        • Why You Don't Have an Estate Plan
      • Massachusetts Estate Tax
      • Asset Protection Trusts
      • Children with Special Needs
      • Planning for Assisted Living
    • Is Your Will Enough >
      • Special Circumstances >
        • Estate Planning for Blended Families
        • Estate Planning for a Non Citizen Spouse
        • Estate Planning and Divorce
        • Estate Planning for Small Business Owners
      • Surviving Spouse's Share
      • Disinheriting Children Massachusetts
      • Updating Your Estate Plan
    • Estate Planning Documents >
      • What is a Trust >
        • Revocable trust
        • Irrevocable trust
        • Irrevocable vs revocable trust
      • Last Will and Testament
      • Durable Power of Attorney
      • Massachusetts Health Care Proxy
      • Life Estates in Massachusetts
      • Massachusetts Pet Trust
    • Probate Process >
      • Non Probate Assets
  • Business Law
    • Guide To Business Law Content
    • Small Business Law
    • Business Contract Basics
    • Civil Suit Defense
    • Legal Issues for Start Ups
    • Trademark Basics
    • How to Incorporate
    • Sale of Business
  • About
    • Reviews
    • Slnlaw Offices
    • slnlaw core values
    • Publications and Interviews
    • New Client Intake and Consultation
    • Contact
  • Attorneys
    • Emily Smith-Lee >
      • 2018 Lawyer of the Year
    • Rebecca Rogers
    • Sharleen Tinnin
    • Elijah Bresley
  • Legal FAQs
    • Estate Planning FAQs
    • Probate FAQs
    • Small Business FAQs
    • Wage Act FAQs
    • Commission Pay FAQs
    • Overtime FAQs
    • Independent Contractor FAQs
    • Non Compete FAQs
    • Employment Discrimination FAQs
    • Employment Termination FAQs
    • Massachusettts Unemployment FAQs
    • Severance Package FAQs
    • Medical Leave FAQs
    • Sexual Harassment FAQs
    • Employer FAQs
    • Civil Lawsuit FAQs
  • Blog