Are Video Wills Valid in Massachusetts?

Written on March 9, 2010 by Gabriel Cheong in Will

No!  In Massachusetts a will must be written.  This is a requirement that is specifically listed in the laws governing wills.  If you wish to leave videotaped final words to your friends and loved ones, you must also complete a written will, unless you’re okay with the state distributing your belongings according to its preset default rules.

This doesn’t mean a videotape  is useless.   Your attorney might ask that you videotape your will signing, not to serve as a video will, but documentation of the event.  There are two reasons why having this event videotaped can be helpful:

1)       It shows you were of sound mind at the time you signed your will, a requirement for it to be valid, and;

2)      It shows that you signed your will voluntarily, another requirement for it to be valid.

By videotaping the signing of your written will, you bolster its validity and make sure that your final wishes are carried out the way you expected.

*Idea for this post is courtesy of David Shulman of the South Florida Estate Planning Law Blog

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Are Handwritten Wills Valid in Massachusetts?

Written on March 8, 2010 by Gabriel Cheong in Will

You may be wondering why a handwritten will, also known as a “holographic will,”  wouldn’t be valid; but when you really think about it, there are a lot of good reasons why that is so.  Many states don’t consider holographic wills valid, but Massachusetts isn’t one of them.  That’s right, in Massachusetts, your will may be handwritten.  According to the law, as long as your will is a written document, you were over the age of 18 and of sound mind when you wrote/signed it, and you had at least 2 witnesses who were also competent to sign your will, your will may be valid.  I say “may” and not “is” because there are a lot of other considerations beyond these basics.

For starters, think about all the other documents, like bank statements and official letters,  that you expect to be typed up.  Why?  For starters, these are documents you expect to be legible, and that’s much more likely to be true if they’re typed up.  It’s also true that a document that’s been typed up is more likely to have been thought out before it was printed and signed.  Your will is an important document, it dictates your wishes to those who are left behind when you pass.  Do you really want to risk it being invalid because your handwriting was messy?

The truth is that when it comes to writing a will, seeking the advice of an attorney comes highly recommended.  Even a will you’ve typed up yourself might not be entirely valid, or address everything you really need to consider.  An attorney can help not only with drafting the actual language contained in your will, but can help explain what a will should contain so you can be certain that your wishes will be carried out.  It may cost money now, but could save your friends and loved ones years in court fighting with the state or each other over a will that is unclear or invalid.

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No Estate Taxes in 2010!!

Written on January 1, 2010 by Gabriel Cheong in Estate Planning, Will

That’s right, the estate tax is officially repealed for this year and this year alone.  What this means is that if anyone dies in 2010, no matter how much money they leave to their heirs, no one will have to pay taxes on that money (there’s a caveat to this in Massachusetts, but we’ll explore it later).

In 2009, the estate tax exemption was $3.5M.  If you had $3.5M or less at the time of your death, you wouldn’t have to pay any estate taxes, but if you had more, you would have to pay taxes on the amount over the exemption.  In 2010, the exemption is unlimited so therefore no estate taxes.

This all applies to the federal estate tax.  Massachusetts has its own estate tax that is not related to the federal tax.  So while in 2010, the federal exemption is unlimited, Massachusetts still has theirs set at $1M.  This means that if you have more than $1M at the time of death in 2010 and you also lived here in Massachusetts, then you will have to pay Massachusetts an estate tax (arguably a lot less than if you also had to pay the Federal government).

But this generous lapse in tax in 2010 does not come for free.  Estate taxes are gone but so are the inherited step-up in cost basis of inherited property.  In the past, if your mom left you a house valued at $2M at the time of her death, when you inherit that property, your cost basis for tax purposes would automatically go up to $2M.  That means if you turned around and sold the property that day, you would have to pay no estate tax or capital gains tax.  In 2010 however, the step-up in cost basis is limited to only the first $1.3M.

Keep in mind however that the gift tax is not repealed in 2010.  The generation-skipping tax is repealed.

With all these changes in the estate tax laws, if you’re doing any sort of wills and trust planning, you need to see an estate planning attorney to make sure everything is set up correctly.  A pre-packaged will and trust kit from a stationary store or a $20 computer program will not be sufficient to plan around all these changes and be property tailored to your individual circumstances.

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Year-end Gifting for 2009

Written on December 1, 2009 by Gabriel Cheong in Estate Planning

It’s December of 2009, a time to celebrate the holidays and thoughts of buying gifts dominate the holiday season.  You might think about electronics or toys or gift cards, but it is the end of the year that some of you should be thinking about gifting money – large amounts of it.
For those that have [...]

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Who should be your health care proxy?

Written on November 24, 2009 by Gabriel Cheong in Estate Planning, Health Care Proxy

One of the hardest parts of putting together an estate plan is deciding who should take over for you if you can’t care for yourself.  Who do you want to be your health care proxy?
Most people immediately think of their closest family member – whether that be your parents, your children or your spouse.  However, [...]

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Information to bring to your estate planning consultation

Written on November 16, 2009 by Gabriel Cheong in Estate Planning

You’re ready to see your lawyer about having a will and possibly a trust document drafted.  Before meeting with your lawyer, you need to spend a bit of time to gather all the documents necessary for your lawyer to give you sound and complete advice about what estate planning documents he needs to draft for [...]

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Pet Trusts

Written on November 1, 2009 by Gabriel Cheong in Estate Planning, Pet Trust

Many of us have pets and we treat them as part of the family. As some of you might know, I have 2 rabbits and I treat them like my children. I care about my rabbits so much so that I keep a blog for them. So when you did your estate [...]

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Why fill-in forms suck! Part 3: Power of Attorney

Written on November 1, 2009 by Gabriel Cheong in Power of Attorney

Click here for Part 1: Over the Counter Formed Wills
Click here for Part 2: Over the Counter Divorces
When I went to waste money buy the first packet – Over the Counter Wills kit – I also picked up a General Power of Attorney kit made by the same people. It cost me about $10.00 [...]

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10 Reasons Why a Simple Will is All You Need

Written on November 1, 2009 by Gabriel Cheong in Will

Here are the top 10 reasons why a “simple will” is all you need:

You are penniless, homeless and have no family or friends to speak of.
You are 100% sure that you’ll never become incapacitated.
Your spouse, children and family are taken care of even if they don’t have access to any of your property or money.
If [...]

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Special Planning for Disabled Children

Written on November 1, 2009 by Gabriel Cheong in Children, Estate Planning

If you have a disabled child who’s receiving any federal or Massachusetts state government benefits, chances are, if you or anyone else leaves them an inheritance, they will become disqualified for those benefits. Any needs-based benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), MassHealth, or subsidized housing which imposes an income or asset limit on [...]

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