Your Health Care Proxy Probably Won’t Work When You Need It Most

I’m attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein Law Group. Many people have a very important document in place already called health care proxy. That’s where you’ve nominated under Massachusetts Law someone to make medical decisions for you if you’re unable to do so due to an accident or an illness, and you’re incapacitated. Two critical documents It’s a critical document, along with a HIPAA authorization,…

Warning for All Married Massachusetts Residents Who Are NOT U.S Citizen

I’m attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein law group. Imagine that Warren Buffet died and left his entire wealth to his wife. As long as Mrs. Buffet is a U.S. citizen, there would be no taxes, even though there are billions of dollars going to her, and the tax we’re talking about is the estate tax. The unlimited marital deduction The reason there wouldn’t be…

The Dangers of Putting Your Child’s Name on Your Deed

You better think twice before putting your child’s name on your deed. I’m attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein law group. Why do I say you better think twice before putting your child’s name on the deed of your house? Well, you’re probably thinking, I’ll put their name on the deed so if I pass, it’ll just go to them. They’ll own it. No court…

Revocable Trust vs. Irrevocable Trust

I’m Attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein Law Group. And today, I’ll talk about revocable versus irrevocable trusts. So what’s the difference between a revocable and an irrevocable trust? Simply put, a revocable trust is one where the trust maker or the grantor can change the words. An irrevocable trust means that the trust maker can’t change the words of that trust. That doesn’t mean…

Top 3 Reasons to Avoid Probate in Massachusetts

I’m Paul Bernstein, an attorney with the Bernstein Law Group. And for over 25 years, we have helped families in Massachusetts protect and plan for what’s most important to them. Today, we’re going to talk about one of the things clients have asked us about over the last several decades, and that’s probate court avoidance. What is probate court? Before we get to the top…

How to Protect Your Child’s Inheritance From Divorce

I’m attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein law group. And I’d like to illustrate how to protect the inheritance for your child if they should ever get divorced. Here’s an example. A story of two families Let’s talk about two families. We have the Night family and the Day family. The Night family The Night family went to see an attorney and they said they…

This ONE Mistake Can Cost You and Your Family Your Home!

I’m attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein Law Group. Are you aware that there are over 40 million lawsuits filed in the United States each and every year? Two potential arguments to defend yourself And if you find yourself in the very unlucky position where someone is threatening to sue you, you really only have two arguments to defend yourself with. The first argument is…

Keep the Government from Getting Your Family’s Inheritance

I’m Attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein Law Group. Unfortunately we see it over and over again in our law firm. We get a client who recently lost their spouse. And when they come in, we ask them to bring in any estate planning documents they may have, along with any financial records so we can help settle the estate. A simple will is not…

How Estate Planning is Like Building a House

I’m attorney Paul Bernstein of the Bernstein Law Group. We’ve dealt with many, many local area families over the last 25 plus years in creating their estate plans. And we frequently use the analogy of building a house when we talk about designing and creating someone’s estate plan. Blueprints for the house When someone wants to build a house, they usually start off with having…

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