The law firm of Sorgi & Minichiello, LLP have been providing advice and legal services for all types of estate planning matters for over 40 years. Whether you are simply concerned about navigating the probate process or you want to establish a charitable trust, our attorneys will be able to handle your estate with care and expertise no matter the size or complexity. As our client, it is our main focus to establish an appropriate estate plan that will protect you and your loved ones in the case of death or incapacity. Our attorneys will be with you every step of the way drafting the documents you need and advising you on an appropriate course of action. Our attorneys know that every person’s estate is unique. Our vast experience gives us the insight and knowledge necessary to accomplish your specific estate planning goals.
Please do not hesitate to contact our office today to schedule a free consultation.
Manage and Protect Your Assets
Whether you take the reigns or prefer to work with a Financial Planner, we can provide the legal framework to best utilize your assets for retirement and beyond. An estate plan can also shield some assets from your creditors or from the creditors of your beneficiaries, preserving those assets for other generations. It may also spare your loved ones the complicated and expensive process of managing your affairs when you pass away or become disabled.
Avoid Probate
Avoiding probate is probably the best known and most repeated reason for seeking an estate plan- and for good reason. The probate process is expensive, public, and can take months before your loved ones, including your spouse, can access and use the assets you’ve left for them. Probate is also very easy to avoid with proper planning. Using trusts and other legal tools, your assets can transfer to their intended recipients quickly, privately, inexpensively, and without the interference of a court.
Providing for Minor Children
Every parent should have a plan for the care of their child or children should the worst happen, most importantly the person or persons they would trust to raise their child. Without a plan, this decision is left entirely up to a court that will be unaware of your wishes or preferences regarding your child’s upbringing. And even if the court should choose the person you would have wanted, the court may place restrictions and burdens on them, like requiring annual reports and accountings to the court.
Proper planning allows you to thoughtfully choose the guardian or guardians you trust, and provide them with guidance and financial support to raise your child or children. Legal instruments can set aside assets specifically for your children and contain directions for how those assets should be used.
Planning for Death Taxes
The estate tax exemption in Massachusetts is $1,000,000. This means that if your total assets upon your death total even $1,000,500, the tax can be up to 16% of your entire estate, and your loved ones with receive that much less support.
We use simple and well-established legal strategies that can reduce or eliminate this and other “death taxes”, and ensure that more of your assets are preserved for your loved ones.
Long Term Care Management
Plan for Incapacity
No one wants to think about it, but incapacity and illness can happen to anyone and, without prior planning, can place an immense burdens on your loved ones. Believe it or not, if you become incapacitated, your spouse or adult children must petition a court to declare you legally incompetent before they may manage your finances and important decisions. Without this order, they cannot legally access or use any of your assets, even for your own care. After this lengthy and stressful process, they may still be required to report to the court every year, demonstrating and explaining their every decision.
This can be easily avoided with proper planning. We can provide you with the proper legal documents, tailored to your personal wishes, to grant someone you trust with the immediate ability to take over for you should you become incapacitated. You will know that someone you trust is taking care of your needs and your family’s needs in a stressful time.