Estate Planning

Estate planning is far more than simply inserting names into “one-size fits all” documents and a modern estate plan encompasses far more than just a last will.  Each client has individual circumstances and goals that must be taken into account to ensure that the plan is right for them.  Our planning process always starts with getting to know our clients on a personal level beyond their net worth.  We take a holistic view of the client’s situation because every aspect of a person’s life informs their plan.  We often recommend special planning when necessary, if, for example, a client has closely held business interests, life insurance, retirement benefits, heritage assets, or difficult intrafamilial dynamics. Similarly, estate planning is important for everyone, not just high net worth families.  Everyone can benefit from a well drafted estate plan, and we do our utmost to help our clients understand each and every document they sign. To assist in the education process, we provide written explanations of the documents and flow charts to visually explain the plan.

When we draft an estate plan, our work isn’t done when the documents are signed. We continue to assist our clients in funding their plans. Clients can hold their assets during life in a way that allows them to retain control of their wealth while avoiding probate, minimizing expenses, and reducing transfer taxes (such as estate tax, gift tax, and generation skipping transfer tax). Lifetime funding will also help avoid assets being subject to the probate process at the client’s death, thereby avoiding additional legal costs and unnecessary delay.

In addition to foundational estate planning, we also work with clients to build upon those fundamentals when additional planning is appropriate:

  • Many of our clients have complex goals that require more advanced planning techniques. These personal goals might include reducing or eliminating estate tax, making large gifts in a tax-efficient way, or maximizing the benefits of a gift to charity. Whenever a client wants to make a taxable gift, we discuss the possible transfer tax consequences and how best to structure the gift. Gift structures often involve irrevocable trusts or business entities with particular features and funny names. Depending upon the client’s goals, a gifting strategy may include generation skipping transfer tax (GSTT) planning, a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT), a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT), a family limited liability company (FLLC), or a self-canceling installment note (SCIN) as well as the charitable planning techniques discussed below. We also advise our clients reporting obligations to the IRS, and regularly prepare gift tax returns (Form 709).

  • With the 2020 enactment of the SECURE Act followed by the passage of SECURE 2.0, planning with retirement benefits has grown more complex.  We are committed to ensuring that the plans we put in place for our clients encompass a thoughtful discussion of any retirement assets the client has and how the client may wish to plan with such assets.

  • Planning for life insurance already owned by the client or structuring a plan for acquiring life insurance is an important part of almost every estate plan. By reviewing our clients’ beneficiary designations and making recommendations, we can help our clients to avoid major catastrophes. In developing a client’s estate plan, we are careful to recommend ownership and beneficiary designation in a way best for the family’s protection, focusing as well on the plan that will produce the least possible tax and best fit for the family structure. Life insurance is particularly valuable because if it is structured correctly and held in an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) it can avoid all estate tax, and income tax, at the death of the insured. Further, life insurance held in an ILIT can provide a source of liquidity for a family for estate tax payments in a situation where the vast majority of the assets are illiquid, such as rental real estate holdings.

  • Whether at the formation of a business, growing a well-established enterprise, or planning for passing the business on to the next generation, Bove Langa Witherell & Soiffer can advise you at all phases of a closely held family business.  We regularly work with clients to establish buy-sell agreements and to prepare thoughtful governing documents that clarify each owner’s rights and obligations under different scenarios, such as a partner’s death, retirement, or termination of employment. One of our most basic services for business owners is also the most important the avoidance of probate for business interests. We help arrange the owner’s stock shares, LLC interests, or other business interests so they will avoid probate at the owner’s death. Because the probate process often includes substantial delays, and because an executor or personal representative’s business powers may be limited, keeping business interests out of probate is essential. Finally, we regularly work with clients who have closely held family business to ensure that their estate plan and their business succession planning is fully coordinated to properly reflect their goals for the future.

  • One important estate planning and asset protection tool is a prenuptial agreement.  It can be used to protect assets both in the case of divorce and in the event of death.  Prenuptial agreements serve to protect non-marital property from division in the event of divorce or death.  Often they are used to keep a large inheritance separate from the marital estate.  In a “kitchen sink” jurisdiction like Massachusetts, in which the Court will consider everything in determining a property settlement during a divorce, these agreements can be key.  It is our goal to protect a client’s assets and work with the client, the client’s intended, and the intended’s attorney to fashion a prenuptial agreement that will benefit you and withstand attack down the road.

  • Planning is key for individuals that are unmarried but living with a partner, because they are not protected under the law like married couples. Over the years, we have helped many cohabiting, unmarried couples to create a mindful plan for their future. Our goal is to make sure that if our client or their partner dies or becomes incapacitated, there will be peace of mind. This planning should include traditional estate planning documents like a durable power of attorney, healthcare proxy, and will, but it may also involve other creative solutions. For example, the couple might enter into a cohabitation agreement. This formal agreement can be made when the couple starts living together, or after the fact, and it can be an excellent way to protect both parties. It may handle a variety of issues that can arise, including how property and debts will be handled if the couple stops living together.

  • Planning for individuals with disabilities who may need public assistance is an important area of trust law that, if done improperly, can have devastating consequences. There are two basic types of special needs trusts that we draft for our clients: third party supplemental needs trusts, and (D)(4)(a) Trusts (which are self-settled). The goal of a third-party supplemental needs trust is to hold gifts or inheritances for a person with disability in a way that is out of reach of Medicaid. We regularly work with our clients to provide for family members with a disability, such as a grandchild, in a manner that does not undercut the family member’s access to necessary government programs.

  • What if your goal is not to provide for a person, but instead you want to accomplish a goal or protect certain property? We can help accomplish your goals through a non-charitable purpose trust. This type of trust does not have any human beneficiaries. Instead, the trust is designed and funded to carry out a stated purpose, for example, maintaining a family vacation home. Once the purpose is complete, any property remaining in the trust can be distributed to individual beneficiaries or to charitable organizations.

  • We are very aware that not all of our client’s family members may be human and we have a commitment to ensuring the well-being of the whole family, whatever the species! Whether it is the champion (and valuable) showjumper, the eastern box turtle whose life span can last 100 years, or the faithful dog, we support individuals who wish to provide for their companion animals within their estate plan. Such planning can range from including a provision as to who will provide a home for the animal and perhaps a sum of money to off-set the animal’s care to establishing a purpose trust just for the animal’s continued benefit.