Estate Planning:

An estate consists of the total property, both real and personal, owned by an individual prior to distribution through a trust or will. Real property is real estate and personal property includes everything else, for example cars, household items (e.g., furniture, art, jewelry), bank accounts and investment accounts. Estate planning is simply the process of determining how to distribute an individual's real and personal property to his or her heirs.

The workhorse documents of estate planning are wills and trusts. A will or a trust is a document that sets forth how an individual wishes to dispose of her wealth. Assets passed on via a will must go through the probate process, whereas a trust, which is like a private contract, is not subject to probate court oversight. Because the probate process can be lengthy and costly (it is a court proceeding), some clients choose to use a trust as the core of their estate plan. This is even the case when the client's assets are not so great as to warrant estate tax planning; although there may not be a concern with estate tax liability, a trust offers superior privacy and efficiency to a will.

There are many types of trusts, and it may be the case that for a given client more than one trust is warranted, depending on her circumstances and goals.

Wealth Preservation/Asset Protection Strategies:

In situations where a client has accumulated significant assets and wealth, such that he or she is concerned with protecting those assets, Concord Law Group can help design a plan to minimize the risk that those assets will be attacked by an outside creditor, whether that creditor be the U.S. government (in the event of a business bankruptcy) or a judgment creditor arising out of a lawsuit. Depending on the client's own risk tolerance, the asset protection solution may include domestic asset protection trusts, family partnerships, limited liability companies, or offshore entities.

Succession Planning for Closely Held or Family Businesses:

Many of Concord Law Group's clients are founders and owners of successful family or closely held businesses. As a logical off-shoot of its estate planning services, Concord Law Group helps such families find their way through the jungle of business planning and estate planning issues that they face, with an eye to the crucially important issue of coordination of the owner's business exit and succession plan with his or her estate plan. Such planning is done over time with sensitivity to the personal family relationships that are often at stake.

Charitable Giving:

Concord Law Group helps individuals with philanthropic goals to explore the many charitable possibilities for themselves and their families. Such options include outright charitable gifts, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts and private family foundations. These various charitable vehicles can allow families not only to make a charitable gift and receive a tax deduction, but - depending on the particular vehicle - also to increase their own income stream, eliminate capital gains tax on highly appreciated assets and to involve future generations of their family in ongoing implementation of their charitable vision.

Probate Administration:

When an individual dies, certain assets of the decedent (non-probate) may be transferred by contract, such as joint and survivorship property or payable on death accounts. Other assets (probate) may be transferred through proceedings in Probate Court. Most persons die owning both probate and non-probate assets, all of which generally require some type of documentation to complete the transfer. With regard to probate assets, it is the responsibility of the Probate Court to ensure those assets are collected, maintained, and distributed among the decedent's heirs, beneficiaries, and/or creditors according to the direction of the decedent as expressed through a will and if there is no will, through the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This process is known as the administration of a decedent's estate.

Trust Administration:

"Trust administration" describes the process of implementing the terms of a trust after the death of the person who established the trust (aka, the "donor," "settlor" or "grantor"). The process typically includes:

• Notifying beneficiaries of the trust's existence;
• Identifying, listing, and determining the value of trust assets;
• Paying creditors; and
• Distributing assets to beneficiaries.

Trustees may, but are not required to, retain a lawyer to administer a trust. Under normal circumstances, the Probate Court is not involved with trust administration.