Attorney Pamela Schwartzs father, Maurice Schwartz, opened his law practice in 1947, committed to providing working people with personalized and professional legal services. Pamela joined her fathers practice in 1983, and she has upheld those original goals.While modern life has become increasingly more complex and impersonal, our office strives to maintain our founders original goals, by providing caring, compassionate and professional service.
We also handle probate work such as guardianships, adoptions, probating of a will or trust after a person’s death, accountings and distributions of an estate. Atty Schwartz will handle the necessary court filings, prepare estate tax returns, assist clients with transferring assets from the decedent’s name to the intended beneficiaries and prepare and file documents at the Registry of Deeds to clear title on real estate following a death. Atty. Schwartz can also help you find qualified professionals to help you appraise estate property values, sell estate property, clear out a loved one’s home, etc. Atty. Schwartz’s goal is to streamline the process for you, to keep it as simple and easy as possible during what is generally a difficult and stressful time.
The practice of elder law encompasses many of the same tasks as the estate planning services but with a focus directly geared toward senior citizens. In addition to preparing wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills and health care proxies, the office also offers specialized elder law services including Medicaid planning, preparation of MassHealth applications, representation at MassHealth appeals, as well as assistance reviewing and evaluating assisted living and life care community contracts, long term care insurance policies and nursing home contracts. For those elders who are unable to plan prior to becoming incompetent, our office will handle the probate court proceedings needed for someone to become guardian and conservator of the disabled individual. Many important Medicaid planning laws changed in 2006 when the Deficit Reduction Act went into effect. Recent court cases have resulted in additional changes in the Medicaid trust field. If you had a Medicaid planning trust drafted before 2006, you should consult with an attorney to be sure your plan remains effective today.
Atty. Schwartz is an approved attorney with the MetLife Legal Plans, a division of MetLife. For those individuals who are enrolled in the plan, many of the services provided by our office are fully paid by the MetLife Plans, including most estate planning, residential real estate and non-business related services. Some employers offer the plan as a benefit to their employees. If you are covered by the plan and have been procrastinating about taking care of your estate planning needs, now is a great time to call and schedule an appointment and obtain services at no cost to you.
Wills
Our firm provides a variety of estate planning services. We prepare wills and trusts, documents to minimize or eliminate estate tax liability, durable powers of attorney, health care proxies and living wills. Trusts can be used to accomplish a variety of goals. Some goals involve asset management during your lifetime, while others involve streamlining the process of passing on your assets to your heirs following your death. Some of the most common trusts are those set up for the benefit of minors, estate tax minimization trusts such as marital and life insurance trusts, Medicaid trusts and trusts of the benefit of disabled individuals. By scheduling an appointment, Atty. Schwartz will analyze your personal situation and create the documents that best suit your needs.
Trusts
A living trust can be funded while you’re living (to as great or as small extent as you wish) or can fund fully at death, your choice. A testamentary trust can only be funded at death. If funded now, the trust creators are usually the primary beneficiaries and would have full use of trust assets until their deaths, although other arrangements can be made.
Power of Attorney
Powers of Attorney can be durable (good for all purposes, even after you become disabled), limited to a specific task or time period, or springing (going in to effect only upon a specific event triggering its use). In general, springing powers are not effective, and not recommended.
Generally, there are no tax consequences from establishing or distributing from a living trust, especially if the creators are the primary beneficiaries. Yearly income tax consequences pass through to the beneficiaries. Un;ess you are very wealthy, you will not have any Federal Estate Tax issues. However, if your net worth exceeds one million in value, you should consider establishing estate tax planning trusts, to minimize or eliminate the estate tax burden that would otherwise result under Massachusetts law.