According to Pew Research, more than 40 percent of American adults have a step relative and a sizable portion of American children are living in households with a stepparent, stepsibling or half-sibling. This is a statistic the estate planning attorneys of Surprenant & Beneski pay close attention to, since we are...
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When Is the Right Time to Update Your Estate Plan?
Your estate plan helps you prepare for the future, but such preparation is based on present circumstances — and circumstances almost always change. At Surprenant & Beneski, P.C., we remind our clients to update their portfolios at 3-year intervals to keep up with the changes that may escape their notice. We...
Tips on Caring for Elderly Parents with Dementia
Caring for elderly parents with dementia gets harder as the condition worsens, but there are a number of steps you can take to ease your path. At Surprenant & Beneski, P.C., our elder law attorneys have extensive experience helping residents of Southeastern Massachusetts navigate this complex process, not only in terms...
Why You Should Implement an Asset Protection Plan when Estate Planning
Do you ever wonder why “asset protection” is such a common phrase in estate planning? This blog is to clarify why your assets need protection and from what. To put strong guard rails in place to protect assets you have worked so hard to accumulate, you need a sharp asset protection...
How an Elder Law Attorney can Help with Medicaid Planning
A significant portion of individuals over the age of 65 will eventually require long-term nursing care — an extremely expensive proposition since such care on average costs nearly $100,000 annually for a semi-private room. Because very few families are able to pay for such care out of pocket, Medicaid (MassHealth) is the...
Estate Planning for Parents with Minor Children
For many parents, starting a family is anxiety-producing as well as joyful since having children makes them aware of the weight of parental responsibility. They may wonder how their family would manage if they were suddenly injured, became ill, or passed away. That’s when having an experienced, dependable estate planning attorney...
Estate Planning Tips To Avoid Probate in Massachusetts
Probate is the process through which property is legally transferred when someone dies. It can be time-consuming, costly, and confusing, especially when the estate is of high net worth or is otherwise complicated. For this reason, many individuals and families seek astute estate planning attorneys to help them avoid probate. In...
Why Do I Need a Business Succession Plan?
Only a small percentage of businesses in the U.S. have business succession plans in place. This is not a good idea, even if a family member is ready and willing to take over. Two facts make a succession plan, actually two succession plans, necessary:
No one knows when...
Why Is Putting Off Estate Planning Until Retirement a Bad Idea?
More people than you might think put off estate planning until they are getting ready to retire or have already retired. This is a bad idea for a number of reasons that we will discuss, but basically an estate “plan” is a road map to the future so it makes sense to...
Why Estate Plans Are Not One-and-Done
Having put a well-crafted estate plan in place, many people feel that they are now finished with the task. But not following up with a regular review of your estate plan is comparable to not visiting the dentist for years after having your teeth cleaned — likely to result in serious trouble....