Legal Services For Your Family

Good estate planning will ensure that you and your family can effectively manage if faced with poor health, disability, or death. The team at McHugh Law has extensive experience in developing estate plans that effectively preserve client assets for their families, while allowing for efficient administration.

Our estate planning documents will help you obtain services, manage communication with appropriate individuals, and make sure your property goes to your designated beneficiaries. Good estate planning can reduce tax liability, preserve assets in case of long term care, and reduce or eliminate the involvement of the Probate Court upon your death.

At McHugh Law, we are experienced in developing personalized estate plans that make sure your wishes are honored. Let us guide you in making informed decisions that provide for your loved ones while preserving family.

Our law firm has over 40 years of experience helping seniors plan for aging, illness and incapacity.

McHugh Law can help you avoid the financial devastation often associated with the high cost of long-term care. With careful estate planning and an in-depth understanding of the Medicaid application and eligibility requirements, the team at McHugh law will help you maximize your benefits and protect your estate.

As elder law practioners, we are able to assist you with:

• Long-term care planning
• Medicaid planning
• Durable powers of attorney and health care proxies in the event of illness or injury
• Issues of guardianship or guardianship avoidance
• Planning for special needs minor or adult children

Everyone needs a Will! Without a Will, assets that you own will be distributed in accordance with the Massachusetts laws. More importantly, you should choose the Personal Representative. Otherwise, the brassiest and boldest person will step forward and that probably would not be the person you want. Don’t let the state or others decide!

A Will creates organization by naming the most appropriate person to manage things thereby reducing stress and expense at the time of death and expediting the probate process. Most often, many assets are transferred outside of the Probate Court. McHugh Law has more than 35 years of experience helping with probate planning and easing the financial burden on families.

We can assist drafting a Will that is tailored to the situation and individual needs, even disability. In addition to making sure the right people receive the right property, we will help insure the Personal Representative is the best person for the job.

Do you want to avoid the Probate Court? McHugh Law also helps with trusts for a wide range of special situations. For example, a testamentary trust is an inexpensive way to make sure the kids do not spend the money unwisely. A testamentary trust is also a good tool for asset preservation in case of nursing home care. Revocable trusts are used to help save estate taxes. In Massachusetts, if you have more than $1,000,000 in the family, you have a taxable estate. The federal limit is over $5,000,000, not the Massachusetts limit. A $1,100,000 estate can generate a tax of $41,000. We can set up the trusts needed to save that $41,000. Trusts also will save the cost to probate the estate [$4,000 – $8,000 for an estate of that size]. Life insurance trusts can be used to take life insurance completely out of the taxable estate. Supplemental needs trusts or special needs trusts can be used to make sure a disabled person can receive money and still qualify for necessary benefits. Irrevocable trusts can be used to protect your assets in case of nursing home care.

Joint ownership is another way to avoid the probate process but you have to consider the risks as well as the benefits of any type of joint ownership.

McHugh Law will help determine estate planning goals and then identify and implement the best tools to accomplish them.

Probate is the court-supervised process of collecting and distributing assets that occurs after a death. We can help ensure that the costs and time of probate are kept to a minimum. Probating a Will can be a daunting and time-consuming task. The Probate Court is short-handed, working without the benefit of new technology and is a difficult place to navigate on your own.

A Personal Representative appointed under a Will would normally preserve assets while waiting for appointment, assemble assets for reporting in an Inventory, identify valid debts and disputes and manage invalid claims, analyze estate tax liability, file appropriate estate tax returns, pay estate tax liability, file a Final Account with the Probate Court and make distributions to the heirs.

Atty. McHugh has served as a court appointed Guardian ad Litem and Commissioner for the Probate Court. McHugh Law has the knowledge and experience with the Probate Court needed to assist you.

If a person unable to make decisions and live independently and there is no Durable Power of Attorney or Health Care Proxy, a conservatorship or guardianship is required. A conservator manages the finances for the incompetent person. A guardian tends to the personal needs and care of the person. Both processes are managed by the Probate Court which is short-handed and working without the benefit of new technology. It is a difficult place.

The Attorneys at McHugh Law have extensive experience with the Probate Court. Atty. MucHugh has served as a court appointed Guardian Ad Litem with the Probate Court.

Whether you are buying or selling real estate, McHugh Law will make sure your interests are protected. From reviewing the listing agreement, closing documents to clearing title issues, we will work to ensure your real estate transactions proceed smoothly and avoid unexpected, costly delays.

Buying and Selling Homes

McHugh Law will make sure your interests are protected. There are multiple parts to buying and selling homes:

• Listing Agreement
• Offer
• Purchase and Sale Agreement
• Inspections
• Mortgage Financing
• The Closing

There are a number of things to do prior to closing:

• Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Certificate
• Final water/sewer/electric readings
• Draft the Deed
• Attend Closing or Limited Power of Attorney
• Mortgage payoffs
• Title V Certificate (Septic)
• 6(d) Certificate (Condominium)
• Certificate of Insurance
• Real estate tax and oil adjustments

One of the most important and financially risky transactions most people will experience. At McHugh Law, a real estate transaction involves the coordinated efforts of our attorneys and professional staff protecting your interests and getting the deal done!