Estate Planning
Estate planning that listens before it drafts.
A good estate plan is not a stack of documents. It is a careful translation of who you are, what you've built, and what you want for the people who will come after you — into a legal structure that holds up over decades. We've spent fifty years doing that work for Cape Cod families, and we've learned that no two plans should ever be alike, because no two families are.
Some clients come to us with a simple goal: a will, a healthcare proxy, a durable power of attorney. Others arrive with multiple properties, blended families, business interests, and decades of accumulated wealth that needs careful tax planning. We're equally at home with both. What we bring to every conversation is patience, plain language, and the long view that comes from watching estate plans unfold over a generation.
The documents that hold a plan together.
For most clients, an estate plan begins with the foundational documents — a last will and testament that says who inherits what, a durable power of attorney that names someone to handle your finances if you cannot, a healthcare proxy that empowers a loved one to make medical decisions on your behalf, and a HIPAA authorization that lets your family talk to your doctors when it matters most.
For families with more complex needs, we build trusts that fit the situation. A revocable living trust can keep your estate out of probate and provide privacy for your family. An irrevocable trust can protect assets, qualify a loved one for benefits, or provide for a child with special needs. We draft each instrument from the ground up, in plain English wherever the law permits, and we walk you through every clause until it makes sense.
And because circumstances change — children grow up, marriages end and begin, businesses are sold, parents pass — we expect to revisit your plan every few years. A good estate plan is a living one.
Quiet planning that preserves what you've built.
Massachusetts has its own estate tax, and it kicks in at a far lower threshold than the federal one. For Cape Cod families who own a home, a summer property, and a modest retirement portfolio, it is surprisingly easy to find yourself with a taxable estate without realizing it. The good news is that thoughtful planning, done well in advance, can dramatically reduce or eliminate that exposure for your heirs.
We work alongside your accountant and financial advisor to structure plans that consider both Massachusetts and federal estate tax, beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, lifetime gifting strategies, charitable giving vehicles, and trusts designed specifically to protect assets from future creditors or care costs. For families with a child or relative who has special needs, we draft supplemental needs trusts that preserve eligibility for public benefits while providing a meaningful quality of life.
The goal is simple: as much of what you've built as possible should pass to the people you love, on the terms you choose, with as little friction and tax as the law allows.
Some things on Cape Cod are meant to be passed down.
For many of the families we work with, the most meaningful asset in the estate is not the largest one. It is the cottage on a tidal cove that has been in the family since the 1950s, or the small business on Route 6A that two generations have built. These properties carry weight no balance sheet can capture, and they often raise the most difficult planning questions: how do we pass it on without forcing a sale, without dividing the family, and without triggering a tax bill no one can pay?
We've spent decades helping Cape families answer those questions. Depending on the family and the property, the right structure might be a family limited partnership, an LLC, a qualified personal residence trust, a buy-sell agreement among siblings, or a carefully drafted right of first refusal. Often it is some combination, designed around the specific dynamics of your children, their spouses, and the next generation that will eventually take over.
We also help families think through the human side — who should serve as trustee, how decisions get made when siblings disagree, what happens if a child wants to buy out the others. These are not legal questions, exactly, but they are questions that determine whether a plan actually holds up over the long run.
What it actually feels like to plan with us.
The first meeting is a conversation, not an intake form. We want to understand your family — who's in it, who's not, who gets along with whom, who could realistically take on the role of trustee or executor. We want to understand your assets — what you own, where it's held, and what you'd like it to do for the people you love. And we want to understand your worries, because those are usually what shape the plan more than anything else.
From there, we draft. We send you the documents to read at your own pace, we mark up anything that needs explanation, and we sit with you again to walk through every page before you sign. There is no rush, no pressure, and no jargon we won't translate. By the time the documents are executed, you understand exactly what you have and why.
Fifty years on Willow Street.
We know Massachusetts law
The Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code, the state estate tax, and the homestead and elective share rules all have local quirks. We've worked with them for decades.
We know the families
Many of our clients are the children — and grandchildren — of clients we represented thirty years ago. That continuity matters when a plan is meant to last generations.
We know the properties
Cape cottages, family compounds, working farms, and small businesses — we've planned for all of them, and we know what does and doesn't work in this community.
Let's plan for what matters most.
The best estate plans are made with time and clarity. We'd be glad to start with a quiet conversation about your family and your goals.