langa@bovelanga.com
10 Tremont Street
Suite 600
Boston, MA 02108
Tel: 617-720-6040
Fax: 617-720-1919

Melissa Langa

Attorney

” My favorite part of the day is working with clients. They are dealing with important and sometimes difficult issues, and must understand complex concepts outside their normal comfort zones. That moment when they get it, when they understand they are in control of what happens, it’s pure joy to me. And if we can enjoy a laugh or two along the way as we discuss life and death issues, that’s the icing on the cake.”

Melissa Langa has built a dynamic practice guiding individuals, families, businesses, and charitable organizations in designing and implementing customized tax-efficient structures to meet their particular estate planning, asset protection planning, business, and charitable needs. Her clients are local, national, and international. As part of her practice, Melissa has assisted business owners who wish to pass a business to certain children while treating their other children fairly, has helped surviving family members navigate the legal and tax implications of a loved one’s death while preserving family harmony, has drafted customized shared use agreements for vacation homes enjoyed by multiple generations, has prepared complex trusts to provide for family members with special needs, has assisted international families navigate the US tax system, has counseled clients in marital planning with prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and has designed complex gifting structures to meet specific family and philanthropic goals. Melissa’s practice encompasses not only that of a trusts and estates advisor, but also as a family advisor and sounding board for all matters legal which a family faces in the 21st century.

Prior to Bove Langa Witherell & Soiffer, Melissa’s legal experience included advocating for civil rights on behalf of the United States in the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court — specifically protecting the employment rights of minorities, women, the individuals with disabilities, and the aged. While taking time off from the law to raise her children, Melissa’s civic activities included leading a civil rights political action committee, spearheading the funding and building of a new elementary school playground, and serving as a town meeting member. Upon re-entry to the law, Melissa chose the field of Trusts and Estates as the ideal vehicle to allow her to continue her advocacy for clients’ personal rights and to help them build a better legal blueprint for themselves and their families.

    • Private Client – Estate Planning

    • Blended Families – Estate Planning

    • U.S. Transfer Tax Planning: Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Tax Planning

    • Asset Protection Audits and Planning

    • International Estate and Tax Planning

    • Expert Witness

    • Family Business and Succession Planning

    • Charitable Giving

    • Special Needs Trusts for Persons with Disabilities

    • Trusts for the Beneficiary with Special Considerations

    • Perpetual Purpose Trusts

    • Private Trust Company Structures

    • Planning for Pets

    • Adjunct Professor, Boston University School of Law, Graduate Tax Program, 2000-Present (Has taught courses in Estate and Gift Taxation and is currently team teaching Estate Planning with her colleague and friend Karen L. Witherell.)

    • The Complete Book of Wills, Estates & Trusts 4th Edition.  St. Martin’s Press 2020 (co-author)

    • International Estate Planning:  A Reference Guide 2nd Edition.  Juris Publication 2020 (co-author) (3rd Edition to be published 2026)

    • Chapter 5: Lifetime Asset Transfers. A Practical Guide to Estate Planning in Massachusetts (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education updated regularly) (co-author)

    • Chapter 16: Ethics in Estate Planning. Ethical Lawyering in Massachusetts (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education updated regularly) (co-author)

    • Chapter 8: Planning Bequests or Gifts to Grandchildren. Drafting Estate Plans (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education updated regularly) (co-author)

    • Chapter 5: Special Drafting Considerations for Asset Protection Trusts: The Offspring of Offshore Trusts. Asset Protection Strategies: Wealth Preservation Planning with Domestic and Offshore Entitles (American Bar Association 2005)

    • A Recipe Book for Asset Protection: Jurisdictional Selection. 60th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning

    • The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel State Survey of Asset Protection Techniques in Massachusetts

    • Thomson Reuter Practical Law Q&A of Massachusetts Estate Tax

    • The Trustworthy Advisor, co-author of a recurring column appearing in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

    • The Foreign Bank Account Bomb – How to Defuse It Estate Planning Magazine

    • A Year End Review for a Clean Slate in 2019 LISI Estate Planning Newsletter

    • The Mechanics of Expatriation at the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education’s Annual Estate Planning Conference

    • The Great Escape: Charting the Course for the Vacation Home, Boston Bar Association

    • Prying the Cold, Dead, Fingers of the Decedent Off Of The Gun: Fiduciaries and Firearms Boston Estate Planning Council

    • Cyberspace – the New Frontier of Estate Planning Mass Bar Association 2nd Annual Probate Law Conference

    • Asset Protection Guide for Financial Service Professionals, 50th Annual Harris M. Plaisted New England Conference of Financial Service Professionals

    • The Massachusetts Estate Tax: What Is It, How To Calculate It, and How to Plan To Eliminate It, Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants

    • Asset Protection Planning Up-Dates: Practical Strategies and Drafting Tips to Minimize Risk, ALI-ABA Live Video Webcast (Washington D.C.)

    • The Rules of the Game: Transfer Tax Planning for the Non-Resident Alien, Boston Bar Association

    • New Developments in Generation Skipping Transfer Tax Planning, American Bar Association Joint Taxation and Probate/Real Property Meeting, San Francisco

    • Preserving and Transferring the Principal Residence Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Seminar

    • Turning Asset Protection Into Asset Collection: A Creditor’s View. New Hampshire Estate Planning Council

    • Offshore Trusts and The Mechanics of Establishing Them, 16th Annual Symposia, Real Property, Probate, & Trust Law, American Bar Association (Washington D.C)

    • Lifetime Asset Transfers and Section 529 Plans, Estate Planning Basics, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

    • Common Estate Planning Errors, Boston Bar Association

    • Ten Tax Tips, Massachusetts Women Lawyers Association

    • Generation Skipping Transfer Tax Planning published in The Best of MBA-CLE, Massachusetts Bar Association

    • Practicing with Professionalism Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

    • Ten Best Practices: Joining a Nonprofit Board Boston Estate Planning Council

    • Valuations, Appraisals, & Tax Reports: An Estate Planner’s Guide Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education

    • Quoted in “Pets: Who Would Care For Them If You Couldn’t?”, Animals Magazine

    • Don’t Let International Estate Administration Be the Death of You! 13th Annual MBA Probate Law Conference

    • AI, Captain! Navigating the Waters of New Technology. Boston Estate Planning Council

    • The Asset Protection Audit:  What Is Possible If the Suit Has Hit The Fan. Boston Probate Forum

    • Now You See It, Now You Don’t: The Domestic Asset Protection Trust and the Perpetual Purpose Trust (Mass. Continuing Legal Education)

    • Spendtrift Trusts and the Equitable Division of Assets in Divorce (Mass Continuing Legal Education)

    • The Practical Practice: Onboarding the New Client or Setting Sail Without Them. Ninth Annual MBA Probate Law Conference.

    • When Trade Winds Blow Through True North: Cross-Border Planning and International Governance Issues.  Estate Planning Council of Canada

    • How To Taylor Your Trust for a Swift Resolution: You Are Never Ever Reaching Those Assets. Ever. 59th Annual NAEPC Advanced Estate Planning Strategies Conference

    • The Perpetual Business Purpose Trust – From Pet Care to Billion Dollar Businesses. Boston Estate Planning Council

    • The Three Faces of Asset Protection. Heckerling Instittute on Estate Planning

    • Ethical Practices during COVID. Massachusetts Bar Association

    • Structuring Trust Protector Provisions:  Protectors’ Powers & Duties, Trustee Oversight, Tax and Fiduciary Risks.  Avoiding Unintentional Fiduciary Classification, Key Trust Provisions to Limit Disputes, Navigating State Differences. Strafford Webinar Presentation

    • Back to Basics – IRD.  ACTEC Conference, Fiduciary Income Tax Committee.

    • When Old Money Meets New Money: Estate Planning with Cryptocurrency. Boston Estate Planning Council

    • Serving on a Non-Profit Board – Why and How To.  Boston Estate Planning Council

    • How to Establish A Planned Giving Legacy Society  Brookline Community Foundation

    • Massachusetts Bar Foundation:  President and Member, Board of Trustees

    • President’s Alumnae Advisory Council, Colby-Sawyer College (N.H.)

    • Massachusetts Bar Association: Probate Law Section Council

    • MCLE Estate Planning and Administration Curriculum Advisory Committee

    • Trusts & Estates Magazine: International Estate Planning Advisory Group

    • Speakeasy Stage Company: Former Board of Directors (Four terms)

    • Boston University School of Law: Mentor law students interested in the field of trusts and estates

    • Brookline Bird Club – Lifetime Member

    • Dance Complex, Cambridge Massachusetts. Perpetual Beginner | Tap Dancing

    • Massachusetts, 1982

    • United States Tax Court, 2000

    • District of Columbia, 1979

    • United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits, 1980

    • Boston University School of Law – LL.M., Graduate Tax Program, May 1996. Class Rank: 5th

    • Washington College of Law, The American University, Washington, DC – J.D. 1979 Labor Law High Achievement Award

    • Douglass College (Rutgers University), New Brunswick, NJ – A.B. with honors, 1976. Eagleton Institute Honors Scholar

    • Colby-Sawyer College, New London, N.H. – Associate of Arts, 1974. Social and Behavior Science Award

Boston, MA—July 1, 2020

2019–2020

Scholar-Mentor honored

Long-time estate planning expert recognized

Every year, MCLE recognizes as Scholar-Mentors a few outstanding individuals who have “raised the bar” through their career-long contributions to the continuing legal education of the bar and their exceptional service to the legal profession by volunteering their time and expertise to MCLE programs and publications. These awards are presented throughout the year at annual conferences or other programs in the practice areas relevant and meaningful to the recipients.

Award Link