Why Work with a Hopkinton Estate Planning Attorney?
Secure your assets and protect your loved ones with a carefully tailored estate plan. Don’t wait until it’s too late – a comprehensive estate plan not only saves you money in the long run, but also grants you peace of mind in the present. Entrust your estate planning to the expertise of Todd Rosenfield, a Hopkinton estate planning attorney. With his guidance, rest assured that your cherished assets and family are safeguarded from whatever challenges the future may hold. Experience the confidence of a well-crafted estate plan – reach out to Todd Rosenfield today!
What is estate planning, and why is it important to have one?
An estate plan is a collection of legal documents and tools that determine how your estate (your assets, or everything you own) will be managed during your lifetime and how it will be distributed to your beneficiaries upon your passing.
Secure the Future of Your Family and Assets with an Estate Plan
Don’t wait until it’s too late to protect what matters most. Estate planning may seem daunting, but our experienced Hopkinton estate planning attorney is here to guide you every step of the way.
Why risk leaving your loved ones vulnerable to creditors, taxes, and court costs? Without a Massachusetts compliant estate plan, your assets are at serious risk.
By engaging our services, you ensure that your family’s wishes are honored and that they can seamlessly make decisions about your care and receive their rightful inheritance. Don’t let disputes and costly probate court proceedings disrupt your legacy.
With our expertise and attention to detail, you can have peace of mind that your affairs are in order. Take control of your future and protect your family’s well-being today.
What should an estate plan include?
Ensure your estate plan covers all bases and meets your specific legal goals with the following essential tools:
A comprehensive will – Clarify your wishes for your dependents and asset distribution. Although a will alone won’t prevent probate, it can be tailored to your needs.
Establish a trust – Safeguard your assets from creditors, taxes, and other obstacles. By assigning a trustee and setting the terms, you ensure seamless transfer to loved ones without the hassle of probate.
Grant a power of attorney – Secure the right person to make legal and financial decisions on your behalf if you’re unable to do so. This ensures your affairs are handled by someone you trust during incapacitation.
Create an advance directive – Clearly express your medical care preferences. This ensures your medical team and designated power of attorney are aware of your wishes if you’re unable to communicate them.
Organize titles, passwords, and legal documents – Streamline your family’s experience by gathering all necessary financial and legal documents in one accessible place. Simplify the process and alleviate stress during challenging times.
Specify funeral instructions – Save your family from the burden of guessing your funeral preferences or potential conflicts. Provide clear instructions to ensure your final arrangements align with your desires.
Designate beneficiaries – Streamline the transfer of assets such as life insurance policies, bank accounts, and stocks directly to your family without the need for probate. Name beneficiaries to ensure a smoother process.
Trust our Hopkinton estate planning attorney to guide you through the creation of your unique plan, determining which documents are essential for your peace of mind.
Why do you need a Hopkinton estate planning attorney’s help?
Estate planning can be a complex and time-consuming process, but there’s a better way than trying to do it yourself with online resources. By working with a knowledgeable Hopkinton estate planning attorney, you can save yourself hours of research and paperwork. More importantly, you can avoid costly mistakes that could undermine the very purpose of your planning efforts.
When you choose to work with an attorney, you can rest assured that the information and documents you receive will comply with Massachusetts law. What’s more, they will be tailor-made to your unique family dynamics and financial situation. With an attorney taking care of your estate plan and your future, you can focus on living in the present and enjoying life to the fullest.
Don’t leave the fate of your family and assets to chance. Trust in the expertise and dedication of a Hopkinton estate planning attorney to ensure a secure and prosperous future for yourself and your loved ones.
Why choose the Socius Law Firm and Todd Rosenfield to draft your estate plan?
When it comes to important matters like getting your affairs in order, the choice of attorney is crucial. That’s why Attorney Todd Rosenfield is the trusted advocate you need. With a deep understanding of the complexities of estate planning, he approaches each case with a personal touch. He genuinely cares about you, your assets, and your loved ones, and takes the time to get to know you in order to provide the best advice and guidance for your estate.
With nearly 30 years of experience serving clients in Hopkinton and beyond, Attorney Todd Rosenfield has the expertise to give you peace of mind. In our increasingly virtual world, he offers the convenience of working with clients remotely. Plus, he values the importance of building a trusting relationship, which is why he provides free initial consultations. It’s an opportunity for you to get to know him, ask questions, and gain a better understanding of the estate planning process.
Don’t wait any longer to secure your future. Call now and schedule your free consultation with Attorney Todd Rosenfield today!
Questions Our Clients Often Ask
At the Socius Law Firm, we believe estate planning is a process where you design a blueprint that:
- allows you to control your property when you are alive and well
- enables you to control how your & your loved ones are cared for in the event of incapacity
- allows you to control how your assets are managed, used and passed in the event of your death
- enables you to save every last tax dollar, professional and court cost.
While this is typically accomplished through a set of estate planning documents, it is crucial to keep in mind that estate planning is not only about the documents themselves. It is about making a series of informed decisions and taking a series of thoughtful actions, all of which are designed to ensure that in the event of your incapacity or death, things will transition in the way you would have hoped, with the least disruption possible and with minimal or no intrusion by the court.
Learn more about the Socius Law Firm's unique 6-Step Estate Planning Process.
Both a Will and a Trust are useful estate planning documents, but understanding their differences will help you decide which is right for your particular estate planning objectives and personal circumstances.
Find out why a Will alone may not be the best choice for you and your family by viewing our side-by-side comparison chart.
As the foundation of the modern estate plan, a Revocable Trust helps you control how your assets are managed and used while you are alive and well, if you become incapacitated, and after you die.
A Living Trust enables the coordinated distribution of all of your assets, while maintaining the greatest degree of asset control and flexibility - both during your lifetime and after death.
There are many important benefits of Trusts beyond federal and MA estate tax considerations such as:
- Avoiding probate and ensuring a smooth transition
- Protecting assets
- Planning for incapacity or disability (without Court oversight)
- Controlling distributions to beneficiaries (give what you have…to whom you want, the way you want, when you want)
- Maintaining 100% privacy
We offer four levels of comprehensive estate planning - each highly customized to meet your unique family situation. Plan fees are dependent upon your personal values, goals and objectives.
From starter plans primarily for families with young children and little in the way of financial wealth, to more robust plans for well-established families who want to avoid probate, provide asset protection and eliminate or minimize estate taxes, we offer estate planning levels to meet your needs and objectives. Estate planning fees generally range from $1,200.00 up to $8,500.00 on the high end for an extensive estate plan. We also offer several advanced estate planning options for those who need even more planning.
At the Socius Law Firm, we have established a unique estate planning process where we listen and learn about you, your family and personal circumstances, thoroughly explain the estate planning options available to you and custom design, implement and maintain a comprehensive estate plan that reflects your specific concerns, fears, goals and objectives. Our process is designed to ensure your confidence at each step along the way, from the initial planning meeting through the delivery and implementation of your completed plan and beyond. The ultimate outcome of our estate planning process is to give you peace of mind.
We all like to put off important tasks and wait until the very last minute, this includes estate planning. There is always “something” that would be more fun to spend time doing or money on. However, honestly there are few things that are more important and none that are a better investment for yourself and your family. Take the first step….
Probate is a process whereby the Probate Court supervises the transfer of assets from a person who has passed away to the new lawful owners.
Probate is generally a long, frustrating and expensive process. Much of our practice is devoted to using trusts and other planning tools to help our clients avoid probate altogether. However, for families who did not do probate avoidance planning, we are frequently hired to guide them through the probate process.
If you become mentally incapacitated, you won’t be able to manage your own financial affairs. Many are under the mistaken impression that their spouse or adult children can automatically take over for them in case they become incapacitated. The truth is that for others to be able to manage your finances, they must petition the Probate Court to declare you legally incompetent.
This process can be lengthy, costly and stressful. Even if the court appoints the person you would have chosen, they may have to come back to the Probate Court every year and show how they are spending and investing the money.
If you want your family to be able to immediately take over for you without Probate Court interference, you must designate a person or persons that you trust with the use of a Durable Power of Attorney.
A Health Care Proxy allows you to appoint someone you trust - for example, a family member or close friend to make decisions on your behalf about medical treatment options if you lose the ability to decide for yourself. Without a Health Care Proxy, your loved ones would have to petition the Probate Court for authority to make medical decisions on your behalf.
In addition to a Health Care Proxy, you should also have a Living Will which informs others of your preferred medical treatments such as the use of extraordinary measures should you become permanently unconscious or terminally ill.
At the Socius Law Firm, we have developed an expertise in planning for the well-being and care of children should the unthinkable happen. We call this advanced legal planning — Kids’ Safeguard Planning.
Kids’ Safeguard Planning is based on the premise that a Will alone is simply not enough to protect minor children should both parents die or become incapacitated.
If you are a parent of minor children, your estate plan needs to include Kids’ Safeguard Planning to ensure your children will always be taken care of by the people you want, in the way you want, and never put in a situation you wouldn’t like.