Estate Planning Lawyers for Massachusetts

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Meet some of our Massachusetts Estate Planning Lawyers

Leonid G. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
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5.0 (14)
Member Since:
February 22, 2024

Leonid G.

Principal
Free Consultation
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
8 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA LA, NY
New York University School of Law

I have been practicing law since 2018. I used to be a litigator at a nationwide practice before going in-house at a fintech company. I have experience drafting NDAs, SaaS contracts, service agreements, and stock purchase agreements.

Recent  ContractsCounsel Client  Review:
5.0

"Leonid was amazing. He understood the company ethos, our mission, and how to best update our contracts to serve both. He communicated with me on his progress and stayed within the budget I relayed to him. Will hire again for the next project."

John M. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
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5.0 (1)
Member Since:
June 4, 2024

John M.

Senior Corporate Counsel
Free Consultation
Foxboro, MA
26 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA NY
Boston University School of Law (J.D.)

John Mercer is a distinguished corporate counsel who is well-known for turning legal challenges into strategic assets. He possesses a deep understanding and expertise in intellectual property (IP), compliance, and corporate law, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. His proficiency lies in transforming legal complexities into strategic advantages, ensuring operational excellence, and driving innovation forward. John excels at safeguarding an organization's legal interests and integrity, ensuring operations adhere to the law. As a strategic leader, John excels at safeguarding an organization’s legal interests and integrity, ensuring operations adhere to the law. He also brings immense value to his profession through his skills in drafting, negotiating, and managing significant agreements that secure organizational interests with widespread industry impact. His unparalleled expertise in legal advisories significantly enhances compliance and develops risk management frameworks that protect and advance company ambitions. Moreover, John's command over patent and trademark portfolios, alongside his ability to drive innovation initiatives and design incentive schemes, substantially bolsters intellectual property prowess. John's areas of expertise are extensive, covering skills vital to corporate law, legal contract negotiations, material transfer agreements, and more. He is particularly adept in regulatory compliance, legal consulting, clinical trials, biotechnology, patents, and patent portfolio analysis, to name a few. His leadership is complemented by active listening, analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and other soft skills that make him a leader and visionary.

Recent  ContractsCounsel Client  Review:
5.0

"Thank you John, I appreciate your very personal effort with quality and practicality in mind."

Stephen R. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
View Stephen
4.7 (10)
Member Since:
February 18, 2025

Stephen R.

Attorney
Free Consultation
Boston
17 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA NY
New York Law School

Steve Reich is licensed to practice in both New York and Massachusetts and is based in Boston. He assists with environmental litigation and other complex litigation and heads the firm's intellectual property practice, including copyright and trademark registration and protection. Other practice areas include commercial contract drafting and civil litigation.

Recent  ContractsCounsel Client  Review:
5.0

"Fast, professional, and articulate—I would work with Stephen again."

Alexis L. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
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Member Since:
December 12, 2023

Alexis L.

Attorney at Law
Free Consultation
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
24 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA MI
Suffolk University Law School

I am an attorney in Michigan. I attended Boston College for my undergraduate degree and Suffolk University Law School for my law degree. I have been practicing law for over 20 years.

Colin M. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
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Member Since:
June 3, 2024

Colin M.

Attorney
Free Consultation
NEWTON, MA
9 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA
Suffolk University Law School

Experienced attorney with a substantial history of crafting, evaluating, and bargaining multimillion-dollar commercial and government contracts across diverse sectors, encompassing the US Army, DoD contractors, employee benefits, NASDAQ, Pharmaceuticals, and Finance.

Mark L. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
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Member Since:
June 7, 2024

Mark L.

Transactional & IP Attorney
Free Consultation
Boston, MA
19 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA
Suffolk University Law School

I worked in the Intellectual Property Group at Fidelity Investments for almost 25 years, including managing the group from 2017-2021. I managed and developed the same high-performing group of three legal professionals from 2007-2021. Early in my career at Fidelity, I focused primarily on trademark matters, including trademark searching and clearance, as well as enforcement of trademark rights. In fact, I created Fidelity's trademark and brand protection programs and advanced them over more than two decades, eventually bringing the domestic trademark portfolio in-house and realizing savings of well over $2 million in outside counsel expenses for searching, prosecution and maintenance of US registrations from 2008-2021. Fidelity put me through law school, and I continued working full time while attending law school at night over four years. Upon graduation and passing the bar in 2006, I was promoted to an attorney position effective 1/1/2007. My practice broadened, and I began working on more transactional matters. I became a key transactional attorney for major technology groups and businesses within Fidelity, and negotiated numerous mission critical tech deals, transforming Fidelity's business. I provided transactional and IP support for Fidelity's software development and services affiliate in Ireland, and worked extensively with many of Fidelity's other foreign affiliates. Fidelity's General Counsel handpicked me to provide transactional and IP support to a new business initiative in 2017. That initiative became fintech startup Akoya, LLC, a paradigm-shifting business that enables secure, customer-controlled sharing of personal financial information between financial institutions and service providers. I developed template agreements between Akoya and data providers (financial institutions) and also between Akoya and data recipients (e.g. tax preparation services and financial advisors). Akoya had matured enough to be spun out by Fidelity in early 2020 to a consortium of financial services companies. In 2021, Fidelity offered a voluntary buyout to long-tenured associates, and following the pandemic, coupled with the financial and health benefits included in the package, it was an offer I could not refuse. Days later, my elderly father-in-law broke his hip, and my wife and I became his primary caregivers. It's been a blessing that I was able to contribute to his care and alleviate some of the burden on my wife. He is now in a long-term care facility, and I am eager to return to work as in-house counsel, whether on a contract basis, part time or full time. I did work briefly as a sole practitioner in 2021 and 2022, primarily helping friends, family and pro bono clients with NDAs, business formation issues, consulting agreements and license agreements. From August 2022 - July 2023, I was on the staff of Flex by Fenwick, an in-house counsel on demand business that is a subsidiary of the IP firm Fenwick & West, but did not get any engagements. My wife and I have volunteered for over a year with a dog rescue, Last Hope K9 Rescue, and have fostered several dogs, and adopted two of them!

Michael P. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
View Michael
Member Since:
June 6, 2024

Michael P.

Lawyer
Free Consultation
Walpole, MA
21 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA NH
New England School of Law

I have been licensed since 2006 and have extensive experience in family law, personal injury, criminal law, and general litigation. I have a solo practice and I am seeking new opportunities.

John L. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
View John
Member Since:
June 21, 2024

John L.

Attorney
Free Consultation
Burlington, MA
36 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA DC, FL
Massachusetts School of Law

I have been practising law for over 30 years. I have extensive legal experience in contract disputes and drafting demand letters. I have been lead counsel in over 100 civil and criminal jury trials and have extensive litigation stradegy knowledge. I belive my experience would be of great benefit to any prospective client.

Matthew S. - Estate Planning Lawyer in Massachusetts
View Matthew
Member Since:
July 26, 2024

Matthew S.

Business Lawyer
Free Consultation
West Hollywood, California
14 Yrs Experience
Licensed in MA AZ, CA, FL
Boston University School of Law

I am a business, Internet, and intellectual property lawyer. My practice is split between both transactional work and litigation. Prior to law school, I earned a master’s degree in computer science, which gives me the background and experience to understand technology, software, and the Internet better than most attorneys, and so my practice focuses on these areas. However, I represent clients in almost any industry, including real estate, construction, medicine, service, and consumer products.

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Estate Planning Legal Questions and Answers

Estate Planning

Trust

Massachusetts

Asked on Apr 1, 2025

How can I set up a trust to protect my assets?

I am a business owner and have accumulated significant assets over the years. With the increasing risks and uncertainties in the business world, I am concerned about protecting my assets from potential lawsuits, creditors, and other unforeseen circumstances. I have heard that setting up a trust can provide a level of asset protection, but I am unsure about the process and the different types of trusts available. I would like to consult with a lawyer to understand how I can establish a trust that safeguards my assets while still allowing me to have control and access to them.

Joseph M.

Answered Apr 8, 2025

There are numerous forms of Trust that are available depending on the specific assets and your unique goals. Generally speaking, the two main types of trusts are Revocable and Irrevocable. WIth a Revocable Trust, just like it sounds, as trustee you can remove the assets at some point if you so chose, but if you are to pass away or become incapacitated at some point, it reverts to being Irrevocable. An Irrevocable Trust is one in which the grantor transfers all ownership interests to the Trust itself and this act is irreversible. As I am sure you guessed, there are a myriad of ways that your goals can be achieved and I would be happy to provide a free consultation to discuss your situation and possible solutions.

Read 1 attorney answer>

Estate Planning

Prenuptial Agreement

Massachusetts

Asked on Apr 21, 2023

How does a prenuptial agreement affect estate planning?

I am getting married soon and I am interested in understanding how a prenuptial agreement would affect my estate planning. I would like to know what steps I should take to ensure that my assets are protected and that my wishes are carried out after I pass away. I am also curious as to how a prenuptial agreement might affect the distribution of my assets to my family members and other beneficiaries.

Briana C.

Answered May 23, 2023

A prenuptial agreement does not create an estate plan. But it can do two things. First, a prenuptial agreement can create a contractual promise on the part of one or both spouses to do something in particular with their estate plan (such as promising to leave the marital home to the surviving spouse, or promising to leave everything they have to the surviving spouse, or promising to set up a trust, etc. etc.). If this contractual promise is broken, the surviving spouse has a contract claim against the estate of the dead spouse. Second, and almost the opposite, in a prenuptial agreement one or both spouses can waive the rights they would otherwise have by statute, thus freeing up the other spouse to do whatever he or she wants with her estate plan. Without a prenuptial agreement, a surviving spouse is entitled by statute to inherit a certain proportion of the estate of the dead spouse (the exact proportion depends on whether or not the dead spouse has a will, and/or has surviving children). The prenuptial agreement can override these statutory rights and provide that the surviving spouse is not entitled to inherit anything from the dead spouse, except for anything the dead spouse may choose to leave the surviving spouse in his or her will.

Read 1 attorney answer>

Estate Planning

Power of Attorney

Illinois

Asked on Mar 25, 2022

I am my brother's payee I am planning on moving another state my brother has had two aneurysms do I need power of attorney to move him to another state

My mom just died in 2020 February she was controlling the household I was living in Wisconsin when my mother died I was the only son capable taking care of things financially and mentally my oldest brother have had two aneurysms when my mom died I had to take care of my oldest brother and my youngest brother which he died the same day as my mom and my dad since then my oldest brother has lost his eyesight and he can't remember a lot of things I just want to know I am new to this do I need power of attorney to move my brother to another state

T. Phillip B.

Answered Mar 25, 2022

You don't necessarily need a POA to move him to another state if he is agreeing to move. But at some point you'll need a POA (if he has the capacity to sign one) or to become his guardian.

Read 1 attorney answer>

Estate Planning

Power of Attorney

Georgia

Asked on May 20, 2022

I'm trying to have help my step mom get power of attorney for my dad

My dad's finance ( they have been together for 15 years so we kinda her my step mom) is trying get power of attorney of my dad. He's on house arrest and he is fixing go to prison so he wants her to have power of attorney.

Igor B.

Answered Jun 7, 2022

Hello. In your case, a power of attorney should be: 1. Signed by your father, 2. Notarized, and 3. Attested by a witness who is not named as an agent. Although your father is under house arrest, it is possible to arrange the signing at his house.

Read 1 attorney answer>

Estate Planning

Will

Kansas

Asked on Aug 29, 2025

Can I designate a non-family member as the executor of my will?

I am in the process of creating my will and estate plan, and I am wondering if it is possible to designate a non-family member, such as a close friend or trusted advisor, as the executor of my will. While I have a good relationship with my family, I believe that this non-family member would be better suited to handle the administrative duties and ensure my wishes are carried out accurately and efficiently. I want to ensure that this decision is legally permissible and if there are any potential complications or considerations I should be aware of.

Randy M.

Answered Aug 30, 2025

You don’t have to name a family member as the executor of your will. In many cases, choosing someone outside the family is not only allowed but actually a smart move. With one notable exception, no U.S. state requires your executor to be a family member. What matters most is that the person is trustworthy, capable, and legally qualified to handle the role. Why someone outside the family might be the better choice For some people, appointing a friend, a professional advisor, or even a neutral third party just makes more sense. They’re often less emotionally entangled in family matters and better equipped to make level-headed decisions during what’s usually a tense and emotional time. Also, if they have relevant experience, like being an attorney or financial planner, they may already understand what the job entails. What the law actually requires Legally speaking, most states just require that your executor be at least 18 years old and mentally competent. From there, it’s mostly about whether the person is willing and whether the state has any disqualifying rules, such as felony convictions or certain types of misconduct. Some states are stricter than others on that point. Watch out for location-based restrictions Every state allows non-family executors, but a few have extra rules for people who live out of state. For example, your chosen executor might have to post a bond, work with a local co-executor, or name someone in-state to receive official documents. Florida is the sole exception. It generally limits executors (technically called “personal representatives” there) to relatives or their spouses. But that’s the exception, not the rule. A few things to think through Choosing an executor isn’t just about who you trust. It’s also about who can realistically handle the responsibility. They’ll have access to all your financial info, need to manage assets, pay off debts and taxes, and make sure everything is distributed properly. That’s a lot to take on. Also, consider how far they live. While distance isn’t always a deal-breaker, having someone nearby can make things easier, especially when there’s paperwork to sign or property to manage. And then there’s the family piece. If you pick someone outside the family, be prepared for possible tension. Even if your choice makes perfect sense, relatives may feel hurt or suspicious. If you’re concerned about that, it’s worth having a conversation in advance to explain your reasoning. What about compensation and other options? Executors are entitled to compensation for their time and effort, usually a percentage of the estate’s value (often 2 to 5 percent), depending on the state. Just keep in mind that executor fees are considered taxable income, while inheritances typically are not. If you’re trying to strike a balance, you can name co-executors, such as a trusted friend and a family member. This can help keep everyone involved while making sure the job gets done right. Just be aware it can slow things down, since both have to agree on major decisions. And if your estate is especially large or complicated, you might want to bring in a professional fiduciary, such as a trust company, bank, or estate attorney. They charge more, but you’re paying for deep experience and institutional reliability. Before you lock in your decision, here’s what to do: 1. Double-check your state’s requirements, especially if the person lives out of state. 2. Talk to your chosen executor to confirm they’re willing to take on the role. 3. Name an alternate in case your first pick can’t serve later. 4. Spell out compensation clearly in your will, or reference state guidelines. And finally, it’s always smart to run your estate plan by a local attorney or an attorney here on Contracts Counsel. State laws can vary more than people realize, and a quick legal review now can prevent a lot of headaches later. At the end of the day, choosing the right executor is about trust, competence, and clarity. Whether they’re family or not, you want someone who can step in and carry out your wishes with care and professionalism.

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