Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning in the Merrimack Valley

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Although many of our business clients depend upon Eno, Boulay, Martin & Donahue to help them plan for their families' security and their own retirement years, any individual or family can benefit from an experienced lawyer's estate planning advice. To learn how our counsel can help you make sound decisions concerning your future arrangements, contact us in Lowell.

Our estate planning attorneys advise people from all walks of life in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We can prepare any or all of the following instruments to express your intentions as to your assets and your own future care:

Last Will and Testament. A carefully considered and properly executed will can not only articulate your preferences for the disposition of your assets after your death, but can also appoint a guardian for minor children, specify your preferred funeral arrangements, and prevent any future confusion as to how you want your life celebrated and remembered.

Powers of Attorney. Durable financial and medical powers of attorney should be regarded as essential for people who would like to spare their family from such painful and difficult decisions as whether to seek appointment of a guardian in the event of incompetence or make medical treatment decisions for you under extreme conditions. Naming trusted persons to manage your financial affairs or health care if you become unable to do so yourself is the only secure way to avoid deeply divisive family disagreements about your own values and intentions.

Advance Directives to Physicians. Also known as living wills, these instruments specify the circumstances — if any — under which you would prefer to have medical treatment, nutrition or life support suspended. A living will can make your preferences clear to physicians and family members alike even if you are in an extended coma or persistent vegetative state.

Most people will also benefit from a discussion of Medicaid eligibility with an experienced estate planning attorney. The sooner you consider how to finance the health care and assisted living needs that many senior citizens will face, the wider your options will be for alternatives to nursing home care or a sharply reduced quality of life.

We also advise clients about such estate planning issues as business management succession planning, irrevocable life insurance trusts, estate tax liability minimization strategies, revocable living trusts, special needs trusts, charitable remainder trusts, and other instruments designed to protect and maximize the value of your assets while avoiding the need for probate or achieving other important family goals.

For additional information about our estate planning practice, contact a lawyer at Eno, Boulay, Martin & Donahue in Lowell.