Trusts and Estates
Cape Ann Law assists clients in structuring their business and personal holdings in order to transfer property during their lifetimes or at death in ways that preserve assets, minimize taxes, and reduce or avoid the cost and delay of the probate process. A special focus of our work is assisting clients with taxes and Medicaid planning.
We believe it is essential that each estate plan accurately reflects the client's dispositive wishes and addresses those wishes in the most tax-efficient manner. To accomplish this objective, we works extensively with clients to understand their wealth transfer needs. We devise comprehensive plans involving lifetime and postmortem transfers through the use of wills and trusts, supported by durable powers of attorney and health care proxies. We utilize estate planning techniques such as living and irrevocable trusts, realty trusts, planned gifting, family partnerships and limited liability companies as appropriate.
In addition to lifetime planning, Cape Ann Law provides trust administration and estate settlement services, including probate, asset management, and tax return preparation. Our attorneys can personally serve as executors and trustees, and assume responsibility for all aspects of the probate process. Our firm provides sophisticated postmortem advice that is both mindful of the decedent’s goals and the beneficiaries needs.