Boston Estate Planning and Probate Lawyer & Attorney : Gosselin & Associates Law Firm : Serving Boston, Winchester, Hingham, Wellesley, Manchester

Casinos are ordinarily divided into two main sections, one for table games (blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and craps) and one for slot machines (the infamous "one arm bandits"). Walking around the casinos it quickly became apparent that those playing at the tables were mostly younger and middle aged men, mostly in small groups, making some serious calculations of their potential success. These were men who knew the odds and were consciously putting their money on the line strictly for a speculative financial return. Many of these men lead ordinary lives as lawyers, accountants, managers - people who take little risk in their "day" jobs, but vent their conservative natures from time to time by seeking Lady Luck. These are the same folks who drive Toyota Camry's during the week and Harley Davidson's on the weekend. Put in perspective, these gamblers understand the risks they are taking at the tables and are prepared to lose their grubstake as dues for the release that being a "player" brings to them. Seldom do these gamblers gamble their rent or food money.

Since there were two people who could communicate with each other, there was this type of gambling - "Hey Org, I'll bet you a rock that you get eaten by that saber tooth tiger first!" As an elder law lawyer, I am far more concerned with the other side of the casino. Like a vast sea of buzzing alarm clocks, beeping microwave ovens and unstoppable car alarms - the cacophony of the slot machine areas in casinos sounds like a virtuoso performance to those seeking to be winners. BAR - BAR - BAR. 7 - 7 - 7. With carpal - tunnel - inducing - repetition, the Nicotine induced masses monotonously search for the machines' positive feedback. Most of the people at the slot machines appear to be obsessed by the prospect that they could be winners - some of the machines even say "You're a Winner", never telling you that you are a loser.  Whether by illness, financial distress or merely addictive natures, many people are drawn to spending what remains of their lives and savings fixated on the hope of positive reinforcement from a machine. The real walk-out-the-door payouts are meager. Few walk out of the casino with a surplus - they let it ride, and when they do, they lose. Like the lonely elders who spend all their money on meaningless junk just so they can chat with their favorite Home Shopping Network or QVC operator, casinos provide a sense of community.

This reason is not a good one to keep building casinos. It would seem that the vast majority of the masses in the Las Vegas casinos are there to pass time in an atmosphere where there is a chance of rising from the crowd, where your car alarm goes off, your lights blink and everyone knows that you're a winner. I am concerned that far too many elders are in casinos with funds that they need for their own protection. In fact, I recently became aware of a reverse mortgage company that is promoting their services along side a major casino. Reverse mortgages have an important place in elder law planning. They are a financial tool to protect an elder's standard of living, dignity and sense of place in remaining in their own home. Reverse mortgages are not a remedy of last resort. Advertising reverse mortgages in a context of gambling is mercenary and solicitous of the very people who need sound financial planning and advice from a competent elder law lawyer. A casino in Connecticut that advertises heavily in the Boston market, Mohegan Sun, offers this new innovation: ************[from MoheganSun.com]**********"It's the latest trend in slot machines and only Mohegan Sun has it. The Northeast's premier entertainment destination installs 20 half-cent slot machines in its Casino of the Earth and Casino of the Sky. This makes Mohegan Sun the only destination in the United States to offer this new technology. This latest offering allows customers to wager half a cent instead of the traditional quarter, dollar or even penny it's just another way Mohegan Sun is revolutionizing the gaming industry.********** You read it right. HALF-cent machines.

 Boy, they sure are revolutionizing the gaming industry. And legislators say that casinos are not preying on the elderly? The poor? The uneducated? Apparently the government is so blinded by the voluntary tax dollars that pour into state coffers that they don't see the societal and financial evil brought on by the wholesale distribution of false hope and deus ex machina for sad lives. This government is the same one that cannot provide long term care without impoverishing its people, cannot offer even a remotely intelligible drug benefit for Medicare recipients and is afraid to impose meaningful taxes on the very rich. I imagine there are many casino owners in that category - they are easy to recognize, they are laughing and like a heroin dealer that never shoots up, you won't see them pulling the handle of that revolutionary ha'penny machine. We don't need more casinos. We don't need any casinos. I think we need some new ideas. As many know, I love inventions. My latest invention? The Jackpot Emulator (tm). I see this as a Medicare reimbursable device not unlike a prosthetic or a wheelchair. Like a slot machine in every way, but the JE does not require the payment of any money, nor does it pay out any money, but rather brightly colored slips of paper that exclaim - YOU'RE A WINNER!! For the cost of the machine and a little electricity we could set up Jackpot Emulator (tm) rooms in nursing homes and senior centers where elders could push buttons and hear whirring happy sounds to their hearts' content and then go home with the satisfaction of being a "winner" with no possible way of putting their personal financial security at risk. Now that is revolutionary.

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Whenever I meet with a new estate planning client I like to take the time to know what brought them to finally sit down and plan the disposition of their assets at death (what many people call 'getting my affairs in order' or 'getting my will done'). Some decide to get their will done because of some event in their lives, a new baby, a new marriage, a new divorce, a recent death, an inheritance; while others have much more unexpected reasons for finally getting it all in writing.

For example, I met a client once who had an overwhelming fear that her grandmother's china collection would be separated at her death that she made elaborate provisions for it in a trust (I don't think she ever actually ate on it!). Another client came to me because they intentionally wanted to make the probate process miserable for their heirs, looking to me to make the most complex and inefficient plan possible so her estranged family would have great difficulty in getting at her property through the Probate Court (needless to say we sent her elsewhere for her tormenting plan). Yet other clients are motivated, even upon their deaths, by nothing more than saving money on taxes - what I call making Uncle Sam a lesser heir to your estate. I guess it is good to do what's legal to reduce your estate taxes, but some folks are more worried about the savings in tax than protecting spendthrift kids from them summarily blowing their increased inheritances. We are seeing more and more people getting their estate planning done, not to avoid probate or reduce estate taxes, but to protect their pets. I guess pets are people, too.

Whatever the reason to getting an estate plan done, it's truly the action of taking the steps necessary to complete a plan that matter, as without proper planning,  incapacity or death can have many unintended consequences. GosselinLaw.com >

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I have just come to another milestone in my life. My oldest son (10) decided that he will no longer be calling me "Daddy", but that I am forever more to be referred to as "Dad." As school kids are wont to do, my son was teased by a classmate for calling his parents "Mommy and Daddy". To conform to the bully's wishes my son just made me middle aged. I'm Massachusetts most recent middle aged lawyer father. I was a twenty something and had been enjoying my thirty somethings when this came out of the blue. In my elder law practice I am asked by prospective clients about what is and what is not elder law. Some fifty somethings ask whether they can 'qualify' to use my services for a trust or a will, while some octogenarians don't feel old enough to seek services meant for the elderly, after all "they're old people." What it all comes down to is that age is a state of mind. I tell my elder law clients that how old you think you are is so much more important than how old you are according to your birth certificate. If you need assistance with Medicaid or a will or trust you just need legal help, it's not a question of being elderly. When you need Medicaid or an estate planning attorney you can call me (781-729-0313) and, you can call me 'Daddy'.

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One of the most misunderstood words in the legal profession is trust. I am talking about a trust, the legal document. Many people can describe to me what a trust does ("it avoids taxes", "it keeps things secret", "it allows me to tell my son what to do with my money", "it manages my money", etc.) Few people actually see the essence of what a trust is, and what it is not.

Black's Law Dictionary defines a trust as "a right of property, real or personal, held by one party for the benefit of another." Or, "an obligation arising out of a confidence reposed in the trustee or representative, who has the legal title to property conveyed to him, that he will faithfully apply the property according to the confidence reposed, or, in other words, according to the wishes of the grantor of the trust." Well, that's a lot of help. I like to think of trusts as nothing more than "instructions". The person making the trust instructs the trustee to do something for the benefit of another person (the beneficiary). Try the exercise of replacing the word 'trust' with the word 'instructions' and I think you'll see how simple it can translate legal jargon. Trusts are really the modern equivalent of wills a generation ago. They are affordable, flexible, can avoid probate, reduce will contests and protect your family from a myriad of legal problems. Some types of trusts can even help you qualify for Medicaid as part of a comprehensive Massachusetts elder law plan.

Although trusts come in many different flavors and styles, the core element is protection of assets and ease of management. Some countries, most notably France, have no legal identity for trusts. Even the term 'trust' can't be easily translated into French, because there is no legal equivalent. As a result it can be very difficult for trusts to acquire property in France or otherwise conduct business as they are not recognized as separate legal entities. Although the concept of a trust may exist in other countries as a practical matter trusts are only used by the super rich and powerful. During the middle of the 20th century, as U.S. banks and trust companies became more competitive to offer services to a burgeoning (upper) middle class that came about after World War II, trusts became more available. In sum, a good written set of instructions left in the hands of a good person is your best defense against an unwanted outcome upon your incapacity or death. Trusts fit the bill. Let one of Law for Life's experienced trust and estate planning attorneys help you with your personal trust planning. Call them at Gosselin Law at 781-729-0313.

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The son of philanthropist Brooke Astor was accused in an indictment unsealed Tuesday of plundering his mother's $198 million estate and conspiring to have the Alzheimer's-stricken socialite sign a new will leaving her fortune to him.

I guess this shows us that the rich are just like everyone else. Greed is no more a condition of poverty than hunger is a condition of obesity. Humans with a nature to cause harm to their families for their own profit come in all shapes and sizes. Brooke Astor is no more immune to her family's greed than any other elderly woman suffering from the ravages of dementia. Probate, estate taxes and trust issues for the rich are the same as for everyone else - just magnified by the scale of wealth.

A big part of our estate planning process is developing strategies to prevent abuse of the elderly. Using co-fiduciaries, professional trust services and checks and balances built into our documents, we are able to give our clients strong lines of defense. Brooke Astor may have had access to the best lawyers in the United States because of her wealth, but without an understanding of elder law and the dangers of elder abuse, even the best lawyer in Boston cannot imagine the opportunity for fraud within a parent-child relationship. Our experience tells us that the "big firm" lawyers are ill equipped to deal with what is often more social work than legal work.

Our practice is to approach mental health issues in our elderly clients as a multi-disciplinary issue. Working closely with medical providers, financial planners and social workers we craft bespoke plans that respect each individual client's unique personal situation. House, hospital or nursing home calls are commonplace in what we do, how else could we know how our clients live? Ask your downtown Boston lawyer to visit the nursing home on a Saturday morning.

In her day Brooke Astor, was a great philanthropist. In a great twist she will continue to be philanthropic through her own son's misdeeds by giving America an example of greed to the umpteenth degree. For elder law lawyers, Santa Claus could not have brought a more perfect Christmas present for elder parents than the example of the consequences of poor planning. Do your grandparents, parents and self a favor and give the affordable Christmas gift of good estate planning. And, yes, I would be happy to sell you a gift certificate for estate planning!

 

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I make my Easter turkey a couple of different ways, sometimes, I'll even make two or three smaller birds in different styles. My favorite method for preparing turkey is really the most simple. First, choose a fresh 10-12lb whole turkey, clean it thoroughly. Preheat a three burner gas grill to maximum temperature with a handful of hickory chips wrapped in aluminum foil, (I use a Vermont Castings that I got at Home Depot for this part ).

Mix chopped carrots, celery, onion, fresh sage, fresh ground pepper, a crushed and chopped lemon, a couple cloves of garlic and five tablespoons of sea salt (seriously) together and stuff it into the turkey cavity. Generously slather sea salt, ground pepper, fresh sage and lemon juice all over the skin. Here's the trick. Now, turn the middle burner to the off position and the front and back burners to the lowest possible setting. Place the turkey breast up, close the grill and wait. Whatever you do, don't check on the turkey. Just come back in 2.5 hours. Do not open the lid. Do not open the lid. Do not open the lid. I know you will, so close it quickly - the secret is uninterrupted convection. Don't eat the vegetables inside, just discard them prior to serving.

 

There are two holidays in my estate planning world - Easter and Leap Year Day. Huh? Easter is a holiday based around families coming together to share a meal and in the "Leave it to Beaver" world to think about the good things in life that come from being a family and the re-birth that the season inspires. Since we had Leap Year Day, there is no Easter on my perpetual calendar this year.

Of course, Easter today is as much about Easter baskets, and after Easter sales at the Burlington Mall. Leap Year Day is a big holiday on my perpetual calendar.

LYD (what us insiders call it) is a day every four years that you should take your estate plan and read it. And as you get older, I'd celebrate the last day of February more often. For older clients, I suggest reviewing your estate plan each year at Easter time. So, every four years until you stop buying green bananas!

Death. Money. Who gets the china? I think these are wonderful topics for your Easter Feast. What better time than when you have the whole family together to discuss your estate plan? If you want to review your intended resurrection, I'm all for it - tell your family that you will haunt them. I am a great proponent of talking to your family about your financial affairs and your intent - albeit homogenized for the audience. You may not want your in-laws to be in the room, no problem, give them a Monopoly box and put them in the den. Easter is a good day for board games. Did you ever think that Milton Bradley has a Monopoly on Monopoly?

Be direct with your children. In my experience as an elder law lawyer in Massachusetts, I have learned that frankness wins the day. You can reduce your child's anxiety by giving them straight answers and your clear intent. If you intend to create trusts for your children - tell them so. And don't let your spendthrift child talk you out of protecting him from himself. If need be, call your estate planning lawyer (my cell phone will be on on Easter for just such emergencies) to take the heat. As for health care issues there is nothing better than expressing your wishes to your family. After all, they will be the ones to make decisions about your care when you are no longer able.

It's a time to give thanks for the good things in our lives and to discuss what will happen after our deaths. It's what Jesus would do.

Happy Easter and God Bless.

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The word came quickly that he had six weeks to live.  He just woke up with a splitting headache and blurry vision on a Tuesday, a Tuesday like any other Tuesday.  Went to the doctor, had a test or two, and WHOOMP! there was an inoperable tumor the size of a golf ball in his noggin.

The doctors said he would have about two or three weeks during which he could walk around and more or less function normally and then he would be put out of commission by the effects of the morphine and the lack of oxygen needed for his vital brain functions.  Most anyone would start praying or go sky diving, but this gentleman had a very different plan.  Since he could not travel to see the world due to the short amount of time left, the estate planning paperwork to be done and the final goodbyes to family and friends to be said, he instead chose to taste the world.  Yes, he would literally eat until he died.

With a globe as his guide and a close friend as chauffeur, he began to sample cuisines from over thirty countries.  Most of the food came from restaurants located in out-of-the-way places that he had always wanted to try, but much of the food also came from complete strangers who had heard of his plight. 

He did not suffer too much nausea as chemotherapy really was not an option at this point, but he was quite drowsy and lacked appetite much of the time.  This did not stop him from sampling the fiery foods of Cambodia and Laos or the butter-rich baked goods of Finland.  Even in the very last days when his consciousness was only fleeting, his family brought him his favorite foods just so the aroma of boeuf bourguignon or garlic mashed potatoes could comfort him.  He died as he wanted, sampling the world through its foods.

How will you die?  I don't mean 'hit by a bus', 'cancer' or a 'heart attack just like my father' - that's all so pedestrian.  The reaper will take each of us one way or another.  I mean what's your taste in dying?  Will you surround yourself with symphonies and hear the angels as you drift off?  Face the bull and jump from the plane like Tug McGraw?  Or, just sit quietly holding the hand of the one you love?

In my work as an elder law lawyer I am often one of the last people, outside of medical workers and family, that clients see before they die.  For the first years of my practice I soberly played my role as "the lawyer" with my dark suit, briefcase and methodical manner; but now, now I try to engage my clients with the notion that although life will continue on without them, they can be at peace knowing that they have done what they can to protect their loved ones.  I've warmed up to embracing, or at least touching, my dying clients as I  leave their bedsides with their affairs in order.  I whisper my last words into their ears, inaudible to their families, "Everything is in order, don't worry".  For better or worse, many of my very sick clients leave this world shortly thereafter. 

Take a moment and think about hearing that you only have weeks to live.  Have that bag packed in your mind.  Have your affairs in order.  It will let you taste the last bits of life instead of wasting precious time deciding what to pack.

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My law firm handles a large number of mortgage closings, estate plans and probate administrations. Honestly, it is quite monotonous, dull work. We input information into the computer and the computer spits out all the magic documents. Then we do it again, and again, and again. As dull as it may be I make a point of instilling in my staff the mission of the law firm.

Our mission, simply, is Clients First. A necessary evil, sure, but we try hard to put a human side to each mortgage closing we push out the door. Each probate involves the death of a loved one, the tension of families revealing their greed to each other, the grieving that makes it ever so hard to hold that green certificate of death in your hands. We see each probate file as something that needs to be handled with great care and respect. Whenever I first meet with a family after a death, the first words from my lips after extending my sympathy is that we are here just to talk about the process and your feelings in divvying up your loved one's affairs. I'm often surprised just how many clients take me up on my free ear and shoulder.

I have been looking around for other monotonous jobs and tried to look a little deeper at what defines excellent service in the face of boredom. It all comes down to people, people make life interesting. My favorite librarian that keeps those books in perfect order is just waiting for a patron to ask her about a good book about Antarctic exploration. My accountant can discuss boats with me until the cows come home, even manages a smile when he tells me that I owe money (I swear the IRS gives him a commission), probably because he is thinking of buying another boat. The firefighters (whose jobs are 95% boredom and 5% adrenaline) I know enjoy sharing current events, recipes and get-rich-quick ideas. What do these boring jobs have in common? People. Good people caring about helping others, but focused on the people they serve. Otherwise they would be easily replaced by machines.

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How did wealthy Aunt Sally's bequest of $500,000 a year to help stray cats end up going to The Foundation for the Preservation of Home Brewers after she was gone? She had both a will and a trust explicitly spelling out her wishes that were supposed to be followed in perpetuity.

Stewardship is a lost art. As an estate planning attorney I am charged with preserving my clients' intents through various documents, such as wills, trusts and charitable foundations. I guide clients on selecting experienced, competent and reliable fiduciaries. I follow through to know that my clients' estate planning trusts are funded before death to avoid unnecessary probate administration.

A recent New York Times piece reminds me how important it is for me, an estate planning attorney, to see that my clients' wishes are preserved, not perverted by the corporate greed that pervades the corporate estate and trust administration industry.

The Times article shows how many irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts and private foundations are administered by stingy corporate trust giants more interested in collecting fees than serving the wishes of those no longer here. Why give the money to charities? It will only reduce trust fees.

But that is not even the worst part. According to the Times, the wishes of clients are often changed to reflect the wishes of the administrators. The charities specified in the trusts are replaced by charities chosen by administrators as more appropriate. Generous gifts become less so, or even disappear. Why?

Why indeed. The trust industry in the United States got its big start in Boston over 200 years ago with the First National Bank of Boston in 1784. The bank was chartered to serve the banking needs of ship captains, mainly whalers and Far East Traders.

Often the ships would be gone for over a year at a time while the captains' families stayed behind in Massachusetts. As a result, Boston trust lawyers and trust companies were charged with preserving and protecting the wealth of the merchant fleet. Massachusetts developed a great body of trust law, that to this day is unrivaled in any other state.

Silent among those laws is a clear definition as to what a reasonable action would be by a trustee. Certainly the trustees must act reasonably. But because most estate planning attorneys draft trusts with the broadest of fiduciary powers, theses same discretionary powers are often the tool of self serving corporate trustees. The cure? For one, clear language is a good start. I am a strong advocate among the Massachusetts Bar for clear language in all estate planning documents.

Our law firm is partial to English, as opposed to legaldygook, for all our estate planning documents. If you cannot understand the plain meaning of a document after carefully reading it once, it is not clearly written. Secondly, we are proponents of using co-trustees or trust protectors on all trusts and foundations. In this way, there are checks against outrageous unrestrained abuse of power by trustees as outlined in the Times article.

Last, and most important, we provide for removal of the trustee in all of our trust planning, should that trustee fail to perform fiduciary duties. Provisions are made that such a trustee can be replaced by one willing and able to do the job consistent with the language of the trust and the wishes of the client. 

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A company called Last Minute Travel.com will trade low fares and accommodations for those willing to set off on a trek with a minimum of notice. That seems apt to me, as one with a law practice that includes estate planning.

As I meet with clients I am always struck by the disparate ways they view aging. I have clients in their 50's, who despite their young age, have no plans for the future beyond an immediate 24/7 Weather Channel vigil.

Then there are 90-and-older clients who show up in VW convertibles, asking about pre-nuptial agreements, as 'someone has caught their eye'. There is wisdom in the old adage, age is a state of mind.

To locate my mother at any given time, I need a globe and an airline guide. She worked hard all her life and travel is her escape from aging. Have your bags packed, I say. To some, this is literal as well as figurative.

As an estate planner, I work to help clients pack their proverbial bags. It is not easy work. Many people don't prepare for a journey until flood waters have risen around them. There is only so much I can do for someone lying in an ICU who gave no prior thought to what lies beyond.

As for real travel (as opposed to that of joining the cosmos) I look forward to my planned trips more than I enjoy the reality of battling the national embarrassment that is our transportation system. There is hope in the planning of a journey - the expectation of something good to come. Some of the joy of any trek is in the preparation of it.

Estate planning is no different. It is your ticket and your itinerary, if you will, for the trip of a lifetime. Like any kind of travel, it could be difficult - but the idea of passage itself, eternal rest, etc. doesn't sound so bad.

Look forward to the biggest trip of all - and don't disregard the secret to any successful excursion - plan ahead. Put it on the calendar. It is a journey we will all make, whether planned or via last-minute travel. Bon voyage.

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Where is that owner's manual? Is there a warranty on this thing? How do you get it to stop making that noise? Is it supposed to smell like that? Where are the handles? These and other questions come with the arrival of the first new baby in most homes. A combination of panic and "we've gone and done it now" takes over most new parents. Since this is a legal blog, I won't go into the intricacies of diapers, burping techniques or guaranteed sleep inducing maneuvers (for both baby and parents) - although with three sons I am a lesser expert in these things.

Where does the law stick its ubiquitous head into the new family? First, the parenting unit needs to look at itself and determine how they are aligned to each other. In the "old" days, it was just marriage and the child was the direct result (or at least that's what they told everyone) of the marriage. Simple. Now the mother and father may have never met in the biblical sense. Unless a parent has legally given up their rights in the child (through assenting to adoption or through donor agreements for non-gestational parents) then the biological parent has an interest in that child the day that it is born.  My advice is to be crystal clear from the moment of conception (or before would be ideal) as to who's on first. With modern science's simple tools for determining paternity I would also suggest honesty is a good policy, not just hope that the kid will not have your next door neighbor's tell-tale red hair.

Next, the baby needs a name. Not to burst anyone's PC bubble I think that for legal purposes only a simple Anglo-centric first, middle, last name works best on a birth certificate. Practically speaking you can call your baby (and yourselves) anything you please under Massachusetts law so long as it is not intended to defraud others. So, Moonbeam Smith-Jones-Simmons-Wilson, is just fine. Legally? Mary Ann Smith will suit that child far better in the practical bureaucracy that is the American legal system. Trust me. Your child will thank you for it later. And it will save them from having to go get their name changed. Hyphenated names were cool in the 1980's, but now that those hyphenated people are marrying each other we have quite-a-hyphenated-mess-in-the-legal-world.

We have a parental unit. We have a named rug rat. Let the social security administration know. Most hospitals will provide information to you immediately at birth. If it's a home birth, then contact your local social security office or www.ssa.gov. Tell your health insurance company about the newbie as soon as possible too. Do not assume that just because you paid for a live birth that they are smart or organized enough to add junior to their mega computer. You could find this out the hard way if the babe needs some medical procedures done in the early months. Ask for a couple extra birth certificates; put them in more than one safe place, they always come in handy. Open a bank account in the name of the child within 30 days of birth. Seriously, go to the bank (send the father, he will need something to do), and open an account, even with $10. This will at least serve as a spectre of your lack of adequate savings for the spawn's trip to Harvard in 18 years. More practically, it lets you tell family that there is an account set up and gives you a place to start seeding a little bit of an account. Do it right now.

Another project for Dad (while Mom is doing all the hard work of recovering from child birth) is to get some life insurance. In Massachusetts, I can strongly recommend families to look at Savings Bank Life Insurance for quality, affordable TERM life insurance. I suggest getting this insurance from a reputable local savings bank. My favorite local bank is Cambridge Savings Bank (www.cambridgesavings.com). Snoopy's MetLife, John Hancock, Northwestern Mutual, Mass Mutual, Jefferson Pilot, Pacific, New York Life, and Guardian are all perfectly good companies. Your best bet is to get 20 year term life insurance for roughly 10 (yes, TEN) times your annual household income pre-baby. So, if you had a combined $150,000 household income before the baby, then you should have a $1.5MM policy on the primary wage earner and half as much ($750,000) on the stay at home parent. If both parents are working then I would suggest $1MM on each account for a changed lifestyle if one was to die. This term policy that you will own individually (or in a trust if you get fancy with planning) should be in addition to whatever life insurance that you have at work. Buy even more life insurance if you plan on having more children. I would suggest $500,000 per child (wage earner and $250,000 per child for caregiver) after you meet the ten times rule.

Look at your disability coverage at work. If it would not be enough for your family to survive if either parent were disabled then get some of your own too. Unum or Northwestern Mutual are the biggest and best players in this business. It is four times more likely that you will need disability insurance before you are 65 than you will need life insurance. Four times.

And get a will. Now. Don't wait. Get one right now.

Wills need not be expensive, use some of Juniors "college" money or christening/bris money if you get some - it's a good investment. Getting a will first means that you will consult with a competent estate planning lawyer. The lawyer should be able to give you all sorts of valuable information about life insurance, disability insurance, the use of trusts in estate planning, health care proxies, powers of attorney and if they have some real life experience they might give you some wise words to help you get on your feet. Estate planning lawyers, at least the ones I know in Massachusetts are lawyers with integrity that care about their estate planning clients.

Your will will include a provision for the guardianship of your minor child (that's the baby). This is the person, other than the legal or biological parents that would take custody of your child in the event of your death(s). Long discussions ending in tears have been known to happen on this subject more often ending in complete indecision than useful results.

My legal advice? Decide this within 30 days of the news that a baby is coming. Yes, 9 months ahead of the blessed event. You can't really make a will to that effect yet, but you can let the concept of these people assuming a parental role for your child sink in. In my legal experience, it is far better to name someone that you think could do an adequate job than to name no one or worse yet not have any will at all. While you are talking to the estate planning lawyer make sure you discuss how a trust might be useful for you. You should also get a simple; form oriented powers of attorney and health care proxies. With a baby in the house, your responsibilities extend beyond caring for the dog that you've been practicing parenthood on for the past three years. You're in the big leagues now. And there is no emergency exit.

The law will follow that baby throughout life. Just in the first year you'll have medical privacy forms, waivers for liability at day care, employment issues for outside caregivers, emergency care agreements (standby guardianships), 529 plan contracts, etc. Embrace the law and protect your baby with proper planning and good advice along the way. It is not expensive and estate planning lawyers are among the most approachable of all lawyers in Massachusetts.

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Estate planning is for old people in hospice, right? Don't estate planning lawyers hang around nursing homes looking for dying people who need wills? I'm young, healthy and make big money - what do I need with planning for incapacity, I'll do that when I'm old. What does it take for an otherwise intelligent, caring and responsible person to call an estate planning lawyer to get a will drafted and their affairs in order?

Well, I just came back from my summer vacation (in Alaska and Seattle) using the disgrace that is our national air travel system. Despite my conscious person knowing that the cab ride to the airport was many times more dangerous than the metal tube hurtling through the air at 600 miles an hour, I knew somewhere within me that at any time I could become dust. As a rule I travel with my immediate family all together, yet I know others that always separate their children and spouses on the theory that 'at least one of us will survive.' Statistically I don't know if they're better off or not.

In the months after 9/11 I saw a huge influx of new estate planning clients, many of whom never had done any estate planning of any kind. These were people in their 50's and 60's that had never had a will let alone an asset protection or liability protection plan in place for their families or their businesses. They had just been too busy to get their affairs in order apparently. It took the realization that they could have been on those planes or they could have been at Windows on the World having a coffee and Danish. From discussions with colleagues in New York City many new high net worth estate planning clients came in who admitted that previously they thought themselves invincible, immortal or just plain luckier than those poor slobs that become incapacitated at a young age or die leaving their families in dire straits. It couldn't happen to them.

Every day we see disasters, car accidents, epidemics, crimes that destroy lives and cause untold distress to whole families. I am proud to provide at least some measure of peace of mind to those that seek protection, or at least preparation, for the worst that this world has to offer. You would think that with the unending flow of misery leading our headlines that estate planning lawyers would be beating off the business with a stick - but rather, in my experience, people cower and convince themselves that it is always someone else therefore they need not take responsibility for their own situations.

I have filing cabinets full of this flawed reasoning, and the files are labeled with such terms as probate, guardianship, bankruptcy, litigation. Do yourself a favor and get some estate planning done. It need not be expensive. It need not take a lot of your precious time. And it doesn't make you look weak - on the contrary it shows that you are strong enough to acknowledge your own mortality, which as you've seen before in this blog is really one of the few things that distinguishes humans from all other life forms on Earth. And yes, the cobbler's kids have shoes.

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I met Mitt Romney about eight years ago. Mitt and I maintained an odd sort of relationship over a couple of years. He and I would sit twenty feet apart each week for five hours at time. We never shared a word, but our eyes would meet almost every Friday evening with a "hey neighbor" nod of the head. I represented a company in Utah that is in the legal and real estate software business. From 1999 to 2001 I attended regular Friday morning meetings at the company's office in Provo, Utah. Each Friday night I would fly Delta back to Boston. Invariably I would see the same well dressed man traveling alone sitting in the waiting area. Often he would be reading business papers, but just as often he would be passively enjoying the throng of people filing through the airport. He was Mitt Romney, head of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, but I didn't put his face with his name for several months.

I noticed something very different about this well dressed and outwardly successful man right from the beginning. As we boarded the plane, each traveling alone, I would take my seat in the first class cabin (because I traveled so much Delta upgraded me on every flight) and Mitt Romney would take his aisle seat in the coach cabin. One time I glanced at the flight manifest that they tack up in the first class galley and saw that Mitt Romney's name was in the list with mine as a "medallion flyer", meaning that he had the same privilege to sit in the front of the bus. And he's tall, and he traveled frequently, but he sat with the people. This was a five hour plus flight at night. The plane was normally only half full and was one of those dull dark rambling flights bringing people from one place to another place without any fanfare. Mitt Romney was not being watched by the Boston Globe or New York Times, he was not even a politician - just a tired business traveler trying to be home for the weekend.

Back to the Boston Globe story and how this relates to estate planning, elder law and lawyers in Massachusetts generally. I have no affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) - those that know me know that I would last about ten minutes with their prohibitions on coffee, foul language and alcohol - not to mention where I stand on virtually every social issue of importance in modern life. But I have developed a great respect for their single most important belief - that our families our bound to us forever and therefore of utmost importance. Mitt Romney and I see few issues the same way on the scorecard of politics that the media requires of candidates, but I still see Mitt Romney as a worthy man for leadership in America. That's not to say I'd vote for him, I probably won't, but if Mitt Romney got elected at least I would trust that he would act honorably.

The Boston Globe ran a 37 picture album of the Romney family today. From Mitt Romney's childhood through to his wife's birthday party this past spring his devotion to family is without peer. Mitt Romney reads to his grandchildren. Mitt Romney brings his kids to school on their first day. Mitt Romney cuddles with his newborn son. Mitt Romney holds his wife's hand. Mitt Romney came home on Friday nights to be with his family, steerage class. I recently heard a story about Michael Eisner, the former head at Disney, who apparently had a sign in his office that read "If you're not here Saturday, don't bother coming in Sunday." You won't see this sign in Mitt Romney's oval office. Sure, he'll be available for emergencies of state, but more likely Mitt Romney will be at church and playing Wiffle Ball with his sons on the lawn of the White House. Learn from Mitt Romney. Not the politics (we can have that discussion another time). Learn how the man has enjoyed unimaginable financial and personal success but still goes to his lake house in New Hampshire most weekends to pull water skiers and attend his grand daughters' tea parties. Mitt Romney's devotion to family is worth emulating. In my elder law practice more than anywhere else I see the opposite example.

I see parents that never made the time to read to their children, counsel them when they had problems or share their hobbies. What does this breed? Ask Harry Chapin (Cat's in the Cradle). These children impoverish the spirit of their parents by not helping when their parents need help the most. These children impoverish their children by living as their parents lived. It is not too late to mend your ways, especially if you still have young children in the house. Bring a kid golfing with you (Mitt Romney was his father's caddy). Skip your weekly poker game and bring your kids to the movies. Tell your boss that you can't make it to that late meeting because your son has a little league game. Eat your meals together as a family, at a table, without a television or iPod and talk about the events of the day. Go camping, in a tent, with nothing run by electricity. Mitt Romney did these things in spades with his busy father and as a busy father. If you treat your children as an extension of yourself and you bond your family together on the premise that you will be spiritually together for an eternity or at least while your hearts are beating (whatever your beliefs may be), you will be rich - richer than you can ever imagine. Ask Mitt Romney.

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The knowledge that we will eventually die is one of the things that seems to distinguish humans from other living beings. At the same time, no one likes to dwell on the prospect of his or her own death. But if you postpone planning for your demise until it is too late, you run the risk that your intended beneficiaries -- those you love the most -- may not receive what you would want them to receive whether due to extra administration costs, unnecessary taxes or squabbling among your heirs.

This is why estate planning is so important, no matter how small your estate may be. It allows you, while you are still living, to ensure that your property will go to the people you want, in the way you want, and when you want. It permits you to save as much as possible on taxes, court costs and attorneys' fees; and it affords the comfort that your loved ones can mourn your loss without being simultaneously burdened with unnecessary red tape and financial confusion.

All estate plans should include, at minimum, two important estate planning instruments: a durable power of attorney and a will. The first is for managing your property during your life, in case you are ever unable to do so yourself. The second is for the management and distribution of your property after death. In addition, more and more, Americans also are using revocable (or "living") trusts to avoid probate and to manage their estates both during their lives and after they're gone.

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The death of emergency Medicaid planning is official. Let us mourn the techniques of the estate planning and elder law bar that allowed elders to qualify for Medicaid benefits despite having significant assets. Due to the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (passed in 2006) most planning opportunities now involve five year plans and more complex trust instruments. While we are still working on these more complex trusts, including irrevocable trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts and the like; the demand for our services at the time of Medicaid application has diminished markedly. Despite the law change in Massachusetts (and Federal law), there are still steps we can take for asset protection for elders at the time of application including promissory notes, certain annuities and special needs trusts for certain family members - Medicaid planning is not entirely hopeless, but the best opportunities for elder law attorneys have been signed away by the governments lawyers and Congress. So, what is a lawyer to do?

We are not the type to passively sit by as other lawyers eat our lunch. We have been working diligently for the past several months re-tooling the asset protection aspects of our law firm to be more directly focused on the asset protection needs of high and ultra high net worth individuals who are concerned with protecting assets from all types of judgment creditors. This planning involves the use of trusts, corporate entities and legal jurisdictions where the laws favor the protection of assets (in exchange for bringing new cash to places perhaps not normally thought of as centers of the legal or financial world - like Nevada and Alaska).

In the coming weeks I will be participating in significant training and axe sharpening programs to help make sure that our law firm is on the cutting edge of asset protection, not only in the US but also in cooperation with certain off-shore legal jurisdictions where certain planning can be beneficial for particular clients. I leave shortly for a conference in Las Vegas where the Nevada trust industry will woo my estate planning asset protection attention. In a nutshell, asset protection involves transferring legal ownership of assets to another person, in most cases this person is a trustee and under the various state laws (such as Nevada asset protection law) at least of these trustees must be a Nevada trust company. By so transferring the legal ownership, as well as structuring the language and documentation of the trust so that it conforms with state law, you can achieve protection from certain types of creditors over time (in Nevada you can protect assets in as little as two years), including judgment creditors and even spouses in a divorce.

Our law firm works cooperatively with Nevada legal counsel to make sure that all asset protection documents conform to Nevada legal requirements as these are not Massachusetts documents. We will be revisiting this topic in much greater detail in the coming months as our law firm will be working diligently to bring our clients up to speed on this exciting estate planning opportunity. The main advantage of Nevada asset protection and other state and countries is the use of charging orders (how creditors are paid in the event of a claim) and certain tax benefits. Not only is this legal, but it is a prudent use of client's resources as it is one of the few ways that we can preserve estate tax planning opportunities while locking in the protection of assets.

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There's been a lot of buzz lately about the estate tax limits being raised by this Congress to lofty new levels. Once they raise estate tax exemption limits (estate taxes are taxes paid as part of the probate and non-probate administration processes to both Federal and Massachusetts tax authorities, currently estate taxes kick in at $2,000,000 for Federal purposes, Massachusetts law lowers this limit to collect Massachusetts a few more dollars), estate planning will become less of an exercise in tax avoidance and more targeted to special needs planning, trusts for various special purposes (like dynasty trusts, spendthrift trusts, asset protection, elder law and Medicaid planning, charitable trusts, really whatever estate planning lawyers can think up), and just simple will planning.

So what's going to be fun about that? Our legal clients will no longer be the near affluent seeking to minimize their estate taxes, but either we will have more of the super rich seeking lawyers who can minimize their estate taxes and help them avoid probate or we will have families with unique estate planning opportunities. An article that caught my eye talks about a unique way to dispose of your corpse by helping your alma mater raise a few new dollars. Colleges are now pushing for niches for cremains or full blown cemeteries on their properties. I wonder if the school's cheer leading squad, marching band and mascot can be hired to come to your funeral? Is your final resting place determined by your grade point average? If so, some students may find themselves near the campus laundry instead of on a nice bluff overlooking the quad.

Note to Middlebury College (my alma mater): you are already included in my estate planning; I send you a check or two every year and I volunteer a 100 or so hours a year interviewing new prospects between trying to be a lawyer in Massachusetts - so, you can't have my body too. Once my probate administration is over down at the Middlesex Probate Court, I want my family to rest comfortably knowing that all my debts have been paid and they can file my final probate account in peace. Thanks, but no thanks, I'm not paying any more tuition bills. **************LOS ANGELES -- The rooms in this college dorm have no electricity, no running water, and ceilings that are just 11 inches high. But the residents don't mind. They're dead. Draped in sky-blue marble, the honeycombed structure -- which is tucked behind a set of spooky glowing stones at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. -- is designed to house the cremated ashes of alumni, faculty, and pets.

The mini-cemetery is part of a small but growing trend on college campuses. This summer, Notre Dame will unveil a pair of limestone and brick mausoleums laced with full-body crypts selling for as much as $11,000. And the Citadel military college in South Carolina is adding 400 urn niches to a carillon tower that holds one of the Western Hemisphere's biggest collections of Dutch bells. The University of Southern California is also studying the idea of campus tombs for a proposed multifaith chapel.

Think of it as continuing ed for the dead -- or the ultimate college reunion. In today's mobile society, some people feel more connected to their alma mater than to their hometown, said cemetery consultant Mel Malkoff, who oversees Chapman's columbarium and is working on similar projects with other schools. "People look back on their college years and say, `Those were the best days of my life,' " Malkoff said. "Why not spend eternity there?" Hoping to cash in on such sentiments, some universities don't stop with enrollment space. They also offer custom urns -- or coffins blessed by monks. As odd as such practices might sound, they're rooted in the past. College graveyards were once fairly common, said historian David Sloane of USC, author of "The Last Great Necessity: Cemeteries in American History." In the early 1800s, before embalming became widespread, it was often impractical to ship home the body of a deceased student or professor. Iowa State University's 131-year-old dead zone holds about 800 corpses, mostly faculty but also two students, a night watchman, and his dog. Notre Dame's sprawling burial ground debuted in 1843, one year after the school was founded, along with a mortuary that helped subsidize tuition costs.

By the late 20th century, many longtime college cemeteries were languishing. The University of Virginia's 1828 graveyard ran out of room in the early 1960s, said Dr. Dearing Johns, a cardiology professor who heads the school's cemetery committee. School officials decided against expanding it -- until an alum who wanted to be buried on campus suggested a columbarium wall and paid for the construction with three friends. It's a great way to generate money," said columbarium chief Andrea Patenaude of the University of Richmond, which recently transformed a sliver of campus into a million-dollar serpentine wall carved with 2,900 niches priced at $3,000 each. A spider logo, depicting the school's mascot, climbs the bamboo gate leading to the wall. Duke University is charging $25,000 a pop to bury ashes in its new 2-acre memorial garden. Part of the motivation for Duke's program was that people had begun scattering ashes there on the sly. The profits will help finance the school's vast public gardens.

Chapman's dorm for the dead, with prices ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 per two-urn chamber, was built to help fund the school's new chapel. A meditative garden leads to the memorial, which sits behind a wall of white onyx that is illuminated from within to symbolize "the elusive separation between the living and the dead, a separation of a single breath," according to designer Susan Narduli. Colleges aren't the only institutions offering alternative burial space. A German soccer team recently announced plans to open a public cemetery next to its stadium, according to news reports. A similar idea was floated in San Diego a decade ago, when a businessman urged the Padres baseball team to install 70,000 cremation niches in the outfield wall of its new park. Despite a potential windfall of $175 million, Padres management balked at the proposal.**************** If Red Sox nation could put little cremains niches in the Green Monster with glass walls so you have an unobstructed view of Manny Ramirez running down fly balls... I might want to get half a dozen of those now just to stretch out and watch the game without getting beer spilled on me.

Since this is supposed to be a legal blog, there are a few things that you should know about the disposition of a corpse in Massachusetts. Under Massachusetts law your corpse is not the property of your executor or your probate estate. Your corpse belongs to your next of kin. Effectively there is an order of degrees or relations that Massachusetts law requires you to follow. Your spouse has first claim to your corpse (even that 24 hour romance in Vegas counts). We have had many a case of the new spouse (often known as the StepMonster, not to be confused with the Green Monster) burying or cremating their spouse completely contrary to the wishes of the family (and even the deceased spouse). After the spouse, the children have collective priority, an issue when they do not agree as to the disposition of the corpse. The most famous case happened in Red Sox Nation, when Ted Williams' family needed to go to probate court to decide whether the splendid splinter would be frozen or cremated. My advice as a lawyer is to pre-pay for your funeral. I have only had a couple of cases where the family would rather pay from their inheritance to arrange burial instead of taking the freebie.

NOTE - The response to the blog has been overwhelming, from best we can tell there are hundreds of regular readers already. I apologize again for using some words a little too much (you know the words: probate; Massachusetts law; Boston lawyer; real estate; estate planning; elder law; Medicaid), we expect that this will no longer be so necessary as the blog is added to its own server and web site soon. I also promise to bring you entries that relate to your interests and concerns. To do this, I need your input and ideas. Feel free to email me at Gosselin@GosselinLaw.com or add comments.

PS - The new building is near getting its permits, we expect the construction trailer to be on site next week and the fun to get started. To those that do not know, Gosselin & Associates, P.C. (from now forward to be known publicly as "Gosselin Law") is creating the largest and most modern law office ever in Winchester, Massachusetts (hey, can't fault me for bragging a little!). Seriously, we will have about 8,000sf of space, a conference facility seating about 60, several conference rooms, a full service kitchen, a gym with a personal trainer on staff, a children's room, all on site storage and a great parking lot - even a dog yard for my Australian Shepherd. My big headache at the moment is trying to figure out the difference between "Whisper Sage" and "Dusty Hemlock", those who know what this means, know what I mean. More construction updates as I get them. We hope to move in October or November.

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The other day I was asked how I became an elder law lawyer that handles real estate and probate matters. I responded in the usual manner that my father was a trial lawyer and my mother a nurse at a Massachusetts nursing home and I wanted to combine my quantitative aptitude with my interest in directly helping people. But, then I put a little more thought into what it was in my origins that passively educated me in dealing with real estate development, probate, elder law and other areas of Massachusetts law. It had a lot more to do with Saturday mornings.

There was this farm operated by old farmer Jones who was a fourth generation farmer. He had a hired man, Mike, that helped care for the animals. Mike had only been working there for a few months when farmer Jones' daughter's friends came by for a visit. You see the farm was right near a new interstate and would be a perfect place for a new shopping mall worth millions of dollars. But farmer Jones had no interest in real estate development, he wanted to keep the family farm for his children. Then farmer Jones' great-great grandfather showed up and started to scare all the animals and the Jones family as a spooky floating ghost. One of the friends that was visiting noticed that after the ghost showed his haunting face that there were footsteps with drops of glow-in-the-dark paint. She went with her dog to follow the tracks and after a few crazy chases around the farm - they caught the "ghost". He was unmasked by the gang of friends - it was Mike the caretaker! Apparently he thought he could force farmer Jones to sell the farm to him cheaply so he could build a shopping mall. Mike's comment? "I would have gotten away with it too, if not for those pesky kids and that dog!" Roh, Roh. Yes, Scooby Doo has more probate cases, real estate development schemes and legal problems than any cartoon in modern history.

Look closely next time you're watching the show or even the dreadful Scooby Doo movies. There's one movie from Hawai'i that is about a local kid scaring everyone away with evil spirits so he can scoop up their seaside village for real estate development. Another one where a well intending nephew is really trying to get title to the family's hotel. There isn't a Scooby Doo without a storyline that any Massachusetts lawyer wouldn't love.

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Practicing in the area of probate law in Massachusetts exposes me to so many good people. Well, most all of my clients and their families are good. It's their relatives that cause all the problems. Over several years of practice I have developed a set of baseline rules for dealing with people in probate cases; I like to call it the Gosselin Theory of Relativity. It boils down to this "friends for pleasure, strangers for business and relatives for no good reason at all." Let me share with you some true to life stories (with the names changed to protect the innocent).

Many years back I had written the estate plan (will and trust) of a then elderly woman of substantial means in the area North of Boston. "Mrs. Jones" had two children. "Elsa" was a loving daughter. She visited Mrs. Jones often and was her confidante and companion as Mrs. Jones' health declined. Elsa was more or less the model daughter. "Aurelius" was a greedy, lying, conniving germ of a man that was born to Mrs. Jones but took a wrong turn on the way out of the nursery. Mrs. Jones only saw him when he was on the lam or looking for a "loan." She never turned him away, but had a plan for him at her death. You see, her estate planning made provisions for Elsa, Elsa's children, even Aurelius' children - but it left nothing to Aurelius. Mrs. Jones, as is common, asked me to keep her papers for safekeeping, only telling Elsa and Aurelius that should something happen to her that they should contact me. Aurelius lived in a Mid-Atlantic state and drove through the night to reach my office at 8:30am.

He was waiting with his car idling for me to come in to work. "Are you Mrs. Jones' lawyer? She died yesterday. She was my mother. I want to know what I'm getting in the will." I knew this day was coming. My instructions were clear from Mrs. Jones that I was to give Aurelius any and all notices required under the probate law of Massachusetts, but nothing more. "You must be Aurelius," I said like any good lawyer who only asks questions fully knowing the answer before they are spoken. "I am so sorry to hear about your mother, she was a kind and thoughtful woman. Your mother's property was held entirely in a trust, her will is of no consequence, the trust is a private document and if there is any reason to contact you in the due course of its administration I will contact you, won't you confirm your address?" I succinctly responded.

After a variety of profanity, Aurelius stomped away. Wouldn't you know that when I called Elsa to inform her that I had met Aurelius her response to me was "Mr. Gosselin, why are you sorry about mother? She is right here with me." I'll be coming back to the theme of greed over the coming weeks, it is an unfortunate necessity of being a probate lawyer. [Housekeeping: I just want to let all of you know that this blogging thing is more time consuming than I ever imagined. So, please excuse short posts or gaps of time, it's my goal to produce a new blog every 3 days or less. Also, my webmaster tells me to make sure I use "magic" words in my blog, like probate, real estate, lawyer, elder law, Massachusetts, Boston, etc.", but I promise to use these terms in their proper context and from time to time to create blogs with no words like probate, elder law, Medicaid, estate planning, Massachusetts, real estate. :)]

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I believe the dead deserve the utmost respect and care - a sentiment Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones apparently does not share.

Mr. Rirchards has a longstanding reputation of doing anything once or more. Keith told reporters this week he mixed his father's ashes with cocaine and enjoyed snorting him a couple of years back. He now says he made it all up. That he is alive at all in order to joke in this manner is