No, in Massachusetts you can not have a joint will with your spouse. You and your spouse each need to make separate wills regardless if you own all of your property jointly. When one dies, the property will pass to the survivor and the survivor will become the sole owner of the property. Because of [...]
Gabriel Cheong, Esq., Infinity Law Group LLC,
One Adams Place Suite 400
Quincy,
MA
02169
Work
(617) 273-5110
Boston Estate Planning, Wills and Trust
Can I Change or Revoke My Will at Any Time?
The testator (the person who created the will) may change or revoke the will at any time with or without a reason. A will is an ambulatory instrument, meaning that it is not legally effective until death. As long as the testator has mental capacity, the testator will have authority to change or revoke the will. The only [...]
What Happens When One Dies Without a Will?
To die intestate means dying without a will. The ability to specify the new owners of your property upon death is an important and powerful privilege that is granted to each and every citizen. When you die intestate, your property passes to those individuals whom the state government believes the decedent would have wanted to [...]
If a Trust Has an Expiration Date, Can it Be Extended?
There’s a trust, whether it was created by you or someone else, and you want to know if it can be extended so that it doesn’t expire. It depends entirely on the type of trust and how the trust was drafted.
People often think that a trust is a trust; that there’s no difference between one [...]
Are Video Wills Valid in Massachusetts?
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 [...]
Are Handwritten Wills Valid in Massachusetts?
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 [...]
No Estate Taxes in 2010!!
That’s right, the estate tax is officially repealed for this year and this year alone.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 [...]
Year-end Gifting for 2009
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 [...]
Who should be your 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, [...]
Information to bring to your estate planning consultation
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 [...]
