Protect What You’ve Built

Nobody expects to be sued. Just ask the 20 million people involved in lawsuits last year.
Divorce, inheritance, health issues, creditors, employees, theft, changing markets, malpractice suits, sexual harassment claims, natural disasters and disgruntled business partners are just a few issues that can result in devastating lawsuits for unprepared business owners. The highest level of risk falls on those who think they are immune.
Americans are now more concerned than ever about protecting their assets from creditor claims, taxes, divorce and other disasters. Rightly so.The more success you have (especially in business, professional practice or real estate activities), the more at risk you are as others see your success grow.
Here’s some of the “risky behavior” you may be engaging in right now:Will you be signing loan documents, a personal guarantee or a lease? Do you have rental properties or employees? Are you an attorney or physician? Do you work in construction or perform professional services? Are you getting married and have children from a prior marriage or separate property assets you are bringing into the marriage.

Here’s the thing: all of these activities are activities we want to see you do more of! They are, in many ways, the spice of life. But we don’t want that spice to become too hot and impact your life negatively.That’s where we come in. We can set up your business and life structures to ensure that you can take maximum risk with minimum worry.We assist our clients in determining the appropriate level of asset protection planning for their particular circumstances. We will consider insurance, prenuptial agreements, asset segregation, choice of jurisdiction, gifting, LLCs, partnerships, corporations, and asset protection trusts. Customized combinations are layered depending on the needs of the client and as appropriate.There are many different strategies to accomplish the protection of your assets while you are alive and after you are gone. To find out which strategies may be right for you, contact us for a Family Wealth Planning Session.

Estate tax protection & planning

You work your entire life to save and have enough money to comfortably retire—and ideally leave something for your loved ones when you pass away. During your life, you pay all kinds of taxes: income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and so on. And at the end, the government even wants to tax you on the assets you have left at your death. This is known as the estate tax, sometimes called the inheritance tax or death tax. The best way to protect your assets and your family’s future from excessive taxation is to hire an attorney who specializes in estate tax planning. We can help you reduce your estate tax burden
HOW DOES THE ESTATE TAX WORK?
The estate tax is totally separate from federal income taxes and is paid on the net value of all your assets owned at your death. However, there are fairly sizable exemptions to the estate tax, so it’s primarily high net-worth individuals and their families who are affected. That said, the estate tax rate is a whopping 40%, so we’re talking about potentially massive sums of money being owed by one’s heirs. And that bill must be paid to the IRS within 9 months of the decedent’s death.

Exemptions to the estate tax

Notably, President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 nearly doubled the allowable exemptions to the estate tax, ensuring that even fewer families will be affected:

So unless your estate is valued at more than $30 million, you won’t have to worry about the estate tax at the federal level. But if your estate is valued at more than $2 million then you will have to worry about the Massachusetts Estate Tax. Additionally, unlike at the Federal level, Massachusetts has no portability meaning that sophisticated estate planning is required to ensure each spouse leverages their full Massachusetts exception of $2 million. Our estate tax planning lawyers can advise you on the best options for your family.

Advanced estate planning strategies

Families with high-value estates face several complex legal and tax issues — and the estate tax is only one of them. At we offer a number of advanced estate planning strategies that are primarily aimed at reducing a family’s tax burden. In addition to the estate tax, we also help families navigate the gift tax and generation-skipping tax to pass assets on for successive generations without risk of estate tax decimating the estate at each generation.Some of our most popular advanced estate planning tools and strategies include: