Estate Planning

24 Mirick O'Connell Attorneys Named to 2025 Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch List

Nancy Gunnard quoted in "How Are Estates Distributed If There's No Will? A Lawyer Explains Intestate"

Allen Falke Published in Kiplinger "To Protect Your Kids, Consider These Estate Planning Steps"

Allen Falke Published in Kiplinger "What to Discuss With Your Aging Parents as They Get Older"

Trusts and Estates e-News: Episode 2 of Trusts and Estates Podcast Series

Mirick O'Connell Launches Trusts and Estates Podcast Series

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Avoiding Family Feuds

PODCAST: Allen Falke discusses Considerations for Parents as Children Turn 18

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Living with Memory Loss

Patricia Davidson was quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article, "Widow Gets Appreciation on her Share of Estate"

In the absence of language in a premarital agreement suggesting otherwise, is a surviving spouse entitled to benefit from the appreciation of the value of her share of the assets in her late husband's estate occurring in the years between his death and the settlement of the estate?

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Wills and Trusts

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Planning for the Last Year of Life

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Financial Planning for the Rest of your Life

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Tax Issues for Seniors

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Planning Ahead to Protect your Home as you Age

James Donnelly and Chris Collins to co-chair MBA 18th Annual In-House Counsel Conference: The New (Not So) Normal

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses What Seniors Need to Know about MassHealth

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Massachusetts Elder Law: Gifting

PODCAST: Arthur Bergeron discusses Medicare Open Enrollment

PODCAST: Allen Falke discusses Estate Planning Techniques in a Low Interest Rate Environment

17 Mirick O'Connell Attorneys Named to 2021 Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch List

PODCAST: John Shea discusses Mediation in Divorce Cases

PODCAST: Emily Crim discusses estate planning for same-sex couples | Recorded 5.1.20

Free Estate Planning Clinic for Low-Income Veterans

Joint Ownership: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Even Your Pet Needs an Estate Plan

Trusts and Estates Legal Update: "Mirick O'Connell's Trusts and Estates Team is here for you at every stage of your life."

e-Alert: COVID-19 Funeral Reimbursement Program

Extension of 2020 Federal Tax Return Filing and Payment

Mirick O'Connell Attorneys to Speak at Massachusetts Bar Association 19th Annual In-House Counsel Conference: Avoiding Traps for the Unwary

Allen Falke Published in Kiplinger "Three Legal Documents Your Child Should Sign When They Turn 18"

TOD Accounts Versus Revocable Trusts - Which Is Better?

5 Ways to Incorporate Charitable Giving into Your Estate Plan

Trusts and Estates Newsletter - Spring 2018

Representative Matters

• Advised clients concerning gift, estate and generation-skipping tax planning 
• Drafted estate planning documents including wills, durable powers of attorney, health care proxies, revocable living trusts, and homestead declarations 
• Drafted irrevocable trusts, including life insurance trusts, family gifting trusts and marital deduction lifetime QTIP trusts 
• Advised clients concerning asset protection issues 
• Implemented sophisticated leveraged gifting transactions including qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts and family limited liability companies 
• Implemented charitable gifts including the formation and operation of private foundations and gifts to charitable split-interest trusts, such as charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts 
• Created public charities 
• Advised clients concerning elder and disability law issues, including asset preservation and Medicaid qualification 
• Implemented special needs trusts, supplemental needs trusts, irrevocable income-only trusts and private annuities 
• Prepared estate, fiduciary income tax, estate tax and gift tax returns 
• Represented clients in tax matters before the Internal Revenue Service and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue 

Getting All Your 'Docs' in a Row: Trusts and Estates Blog

PLANNING TO KEEP CONTROL

This article was co-authored by Arthur Bergeron and Leah Kofos. Does this dilemma sound familiar?  On one hand, you want to keep control of your life and make all of financial and medical decisions yourself.  On the other hand, you …

Living with Memory Loss

Thirty years ago next month, my mother died in a nursing home.  Back then, there weren’t open discussions, shared knowledge, or resources available to people with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Most seniors died from “hardening of the arteries” or just “old age.” …

Financial Planning for Seniors

This article was authored by elder law attorneys Arthur P. Bergeron and Leah Kofos. To whom do you trust to give your financial planning advice?  Your accountant?  Your kids?  The guy you have coffee with at Dunkin Donuts?  Your lawyer? …

Extension of 2020 Massachusetts Tax Return Filing and Payment

This article was authored by Allen J. Falke, Tracy A. Craig, and Leah Kofos. Following the recent federal extension for tax filings, Massachusetts has announced that it will extend the filing and payment deadline for individual income tax returns until …

Extension of 2020 Federal Tax Return Filing and Payment

This article was authored by Allen J. Falke, Tracy A. Craig, and Leah Kofos. The Internal Revenue Service announced yesterday that the federal income tax filing and payment deadline for individuals will be extended until May 17, 2021. This extension …

A Few Tips for Tax Season

This article was authored by elder law attorneys Arthur P. Bergeron and Leah A. Kofos. I love being at Mirick O’Connell because when my elder clients inevitably call me at this time of year asking tax questions, I can always …

Planning to Stay Home

Most seniors, like my friends Frank and Mary, hope they can live in their home until they die.  But hope is not a plan. Here are some tips: Make your home safe. The older you get the greater the risk …

The Planning You Need to Qualify for MassHealth

In previous columns I have explained how, whether you are single or married, you can always qualify for MassHealth at the last minute if you need to.    Knowing that to be true, do you still need to plan ahead?  The …

Giving it All Away (Or at Least Some of It)

Every December my clients ask whether or not it makes sense to make gifts to their loved ones.  In addition to getting to hear “thank you”, there are several advantages to giving assets away before you die, with few disadvantages.  …

Single? Need to Qualify for MassHealth?

It is important to know your options when it comes to qualifying for MassHealth should you require home health care or nursing home care. Many seniors who are single often lose sleep worrying about this very issue. Rest assured, whether …