Icon Law Blog

Estate Planning Without Immediate Family

For some people, deciding what will happen to their assets after they pass away is easy. They simply leave their possessions to a surviving spouse or their children. For those in Massachusetts without children or any immediate family members at all, the decisions that come along with estate planning can be more complex.

Understanding Trusts Can Prevent Tax Issues

Individuals preparing estate plans that include trusts must understand the different tax implications to ensure that their surviving family members are taken care of and their assets are distributed according to their wishes. Trusts can be a convenient way to ensure a spouse or child is provided for over the long term. They allow a person to distribute wealth according to specific terms set forth and can often be more difficult to challenge than a will.

Estate Planning Should Include Digital Assets

The legal field is still playing catch up when it comes to laws and regulations governing what happens to online accounts after someone dies, and user-service agreements and privacy laws can make gaining access to these accounts even more difficult. Digital accounts can include website domain names, emails, online bank accounts, documents in cloud storage and social media accounts, and even though these are housed on the Internet, they do have value, sometimes financial and other times sentimental.

Awards & Recognition