# Estate Planning Attorney in Springfield, MA > Wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney and health care proxies for Western Massachusetts families, in plain language. Flat fee, quoted before you commit. [Canonical page](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/wills-estates/estate-planning/) --- - [Home](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/) - [How We Help](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/) - Probate & Estate Planning # Estate Planning in Springfield and Westfield: Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Health Care Proxies The four documents most families need, what each one does in Massachusetts, and when a trust is worth it. In plain language, from a firm that has written estate plans since 1988. [Call (413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Request a consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/?practiceArea=Probate%20%26%20Estate%20Planning) ## The short version - Most families need four documents: a will, a durable power of attorney, a health care proxy, and beneficiary forms and titles that agree with the will. Some also need a trust. - A will does not avoid probate. A funded revocable trust, joint ownership and named beneficiaries can keep assets out of it. - Massachusetts taxes estates over $2 million, a much lower line than the federal one, and a home plus a retirement account can cross it. - Most plans take one or two short meetings, and the fee is a flat fee quoted before you commit. On this page - [The four documents most families need](#the-four-documents-most-families-need) - [Wills](#wills) - [Trusts](#trusts) - [Durable power of attorney](#durable-power-of-attorney) - [Health care proxy](#health-care-proxy) - [Beneficiary designations and how property is titled](#beneficiary-designations-and-how-property-is-titled) - [The Massachusetts estate tax](#the-massachusetts-estate-tax) - [When to review your plan](#when-to-review-your-plan) - [How it works with us](#how-it-works-with-us) - [Talk to us about your plan](#talk-to-us-about-your-plan) Most people know they should have a will and have not got round to it. The usual reasons are that it feels morbid, that there is not enough to plan for, or that it sounds complicated and expensive. None of them holds up. An estate plan is a small set of documents that decide who inherits, who looks after your children, and who can act for you if an accident or illness leaves you unable to act yourself. Without one, a statute and a court decide those things instead. Dunn & Phillips has written estate plans for families across Western Massachusetts since 1988. [Haley Daigneault](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/team/haley-daigneault/), Senior Paralegal, works on estate planning matters here under attorney supervision, and the first conversation is free. ## The four documents most families need A complete plan for most families is four things. - **A will**, which says who inherits, who settles the estate and who raises your minor children. - **A durable power of attorney**, which names someone to handle your money and legal affairs if you cannot. - **A health care proxy**, which names someone to make medical decisions if a doctor finds you cannot make them. - **Beneficiary designations and titles that agree with the will.** Life insurance, retirement accounts, and anything held jointly pass by their own paperwork, not by the will, so they have to be checked too. Some families also need a **trust**. The sections below explain each document, and when a trust is worth the extra work. ## Wills A will names the people who inherit your property and the **personal representative**, the Massachusetts term for an executor, who will settle the estate. If you have children under 18, it is also where you name the guardian you want to raise them. That nomination is the one most parents care about most, and without it a court decides. A Massachusetts will has to be signed in front of two witnesses. We also have it signed with a notarized affidavit from the witnesses, which lets the court accept the will later without tracking them down. An improperly signed will can be worse than none, so this is one place where doing it right matters. What a will does not do is avoid probate. It is the set of instructions the Probate and Family Court follows, and property in your name alone still needs a probate case to pass to the people the will names. Our [probate page](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/wills-estates/probate/) explains what that process involves for your family. ## Trusts A **revocable living trust** is an arrangement you set up during your life. You transfer the house or accounts into it, you stay in control as trustee while you are alive and well, and a successor trustee you choose takes over when you die or become unable to manage your affairs. The trust's own terms say who receives what and when. A trust is worth it in a few situations: - **Keeping property out of probate.** Assets titled to a funded trust pass under the trust, without a court case, and without the details becoming public. - **Children or beneficiaries who should not receive everything at once.** A trust can hold an inheritance and pay it out over time, or for specific purposes. - **A beneficiary with special needs**, whose public benefits an outright inheritance could put at risk. - **The Massachusetts estate tax**, explained below. - **Property in more than one state**, which would otherwise need a probate case in each. A trust only controls what is actually in it. A trust that is signed but never funded, with the house still in your own name, leaves that house to go through probate under the will. Funding the trust, meaning retitling the deed and the accounts, is part of the work we do, not a step we leave to you. Many families do not need a trust. If a will, the other three documents and up-to-date beneficiary forms do the job, we will say so. ## Durable power of attorney A **durable power of attorney** names someone you trust to handle your financial and legal affairs: paying bills, managing accounts, dealing with insurers, and selling or refinancing property if that becomes necessary. "Durable" means it stays in effect after you lose capacity, which is the whole point of having one. Without one, if you are incapacitated, your family may have to petition the Probate and Family Court to be appointed your conservator before they can pay your mortgage or move money between your own accounts. That is slow, public and expensive, and it comes at exactly the moment your family is least able to manage it. ## Health care proxy A **health care proxy** names your health care agent, the person who makes medical decisions for you if a doctor determines that you cannot make them yourself. In Massachusetts it is signed with two adult witnesses. It is short, and it is the document hospitals ask for first. Talk with the person you name about what you would want, so they are not guessing under pressure, and name an alternate in case your first choice cannot be reached. Without a proxy, your family may have to ask a court to appoint a guardian before they can direct your care. Our post on [the health care proxy and power of attorney](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/blog/health-care-proxy-and-poa/) explains why every adult should have both, whatever their age or wealth. ## Beneficiary designations and how property is titled Much of what people own does not pass under their will at all: - **Life insurance and retirement accounts** pass to the beneficiary named on the account's own form. - **Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts** pass to the person named on them. - **A house held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship** passes to the surviving owner. If those designations are out of date, they win over the will. An ex-spouse can still be the named beneficiary of a retirement account, or a child born after the form was signed can be left off it. Checking every account and deed against the will is part of every plan we write. It is often where the largest asset in the estate is. ## The Massachusetts estate tax Massachusetts taxes estates worth more than **$2 million**. That threshold is far below the federal one, so families who would never owe federal estate tax can still owe Massachusetts tax. A house, a retirement account and a life insurance policy can add up to $2 million faster than people expect. Massachusetts also does not let a surviving spouse use the first spouse's unused exemption. A married couple who leave everything to each other outright can lose the first spouse's exemption entirely. Planning between spouses, usually with a trust, can keep both exemptions available. If your combined estate is near the line, it is worth a conversation. ## When to review your plan Review your plan whenever your life changes: - a marriage or a divorce; - a new child or grandchild; - a new home; - a move to Massachusetts from another state; - the death or falling-out of someone you named. A will written before a divorce, or a guardian nomination written before a second child, can say the opposite of what you would want today. Otherwise, a review every few years keeps the plan current. ## How it works with us Most plans take one or two short meetings, and then the signing. Before the first meeting, the free **Massachusetts Estate Planning Worksheet** below lists what to gather: the people you want to name, a rough list of what you own and how each item is titled, and the questions to think about in advance. Bring it, or bring what you have. At the first meeting we listen, tell you which documents fit your family, and explain them without the jargon. We quote estate planning as a **flat fee before you commit**, so you know the cost before any work begins. At the signing, we arrange the witnesses and the notary and give you the originals with a note of where each one should be kept. A document no one can find does not do its job. ## Talk to us about your plan Call us, and bring the worksheet if you have filled it in. We will tell you which documents your family needs, whether a trust makes sense, and what it costs. The first conversation is free. **Springfield:** 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108 **Phone:** (413) 787-9955 Last reviewed October 2026. Free worksheet - PDF ## Get the Massachusetts Estate Planning Worksheet What to gather and decide before you meet with us: your documents, people, and wishes, in one PDF worksheet. From a firm that has planned estates since 1988. [Download the worksheet (PDF)](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/downloads/dunn-phillips-estate-planning-worksheet.pdf) Saves to your device as a fillable PDF you can complete or print. It is free: no email required. Using this does not make us your attorneys. It is general information, not legal advice. [From our Insights Do I Need a Will If I Don't Own Much? A common question with a clear answer. Even modest estates benefit from a will and a few basic documents in Massachusetts.](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/blog/do-i-need-a-will/)[From our Insights Health Care Proxy and Power of Attorney: The Documents Everyone Needs These two documents protect you while you are alive, not just your estate after. What each one does in Massachusetts, and why every adult should have both.](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/blog/health-care-proxy-and-poa/)[From our Insights Do You Even Need Probate in Massachusetts If There's a Will? A will does not skip probate; it directs it. Whether your family needs a full probate in Massachusetts depends less on the will and more on how the property was titled. Here are the lighter paths and what passes outside court.](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/blog/do-i-need-probate/) Talk to us Bring your deed and any paperwork. We will tell you what your ownership actually is and what your options are. [(413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Request a consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/?practiceArea=Probate%20%26%20Estate%20Planning) Questions ## Estate planning FAQs What documents are in a basic Massachusetts estate plan?A will naming who inherits, who serves as personal representative and any guardian for minor children; a durable power of attorney for finances; and a health care proxy for medical decisions. Then the beneficiary forms on life insurance and retirement accounts, and the titles on the house and accounts, are checked so they do what the will says. Some families also need a trust. Do I need a trust, or is a will enough?Many families are well served by a will and the other three documents. A revocable living trust is worth it when you want to keep a house or accounts out of probate, keep the details private, plan for a child or beneficiary who should not receive everything at once, or plan around the Massachusetts estate tax. We tell you which applies to you, including when the answer is that you do not need one. Does a will avoid probate in Massachusetts?No. A will tells the Probate and Family Court who inherits and who should serve as personal representative, but property in your name alone still needs a probate case to pass. Assets in a funded trust, held jointly with survivorship, or paid to a named beneficiary pass outside probate. Does Massachusetts have an estate tax?Yes. A Massachusetts estate tax return is due when the estate is worth more than $2 million, far below the federal threshold. A house, a retirement account and life insurance can add up to that. Massachusetts also does not let a surviving spouse use the first spouse's unused exemption, so planning between spouses can matter even for estates that are not large. How long does it take to put a plan in place?Most plans take one or two short meetings, and the signing. The free estate planning worksheet lists what to gather beforehand, which shortens the first meeting. What does an estate plan cost?We quote estate planning as a flat fee before you commit, once we know which documents your family needs. Call us and we will tell you what fits and what it costs. How often should I update my plan?Whenever your life changes: a marriage, a divorce, a new child or grandchild, a new home, a move from another state, or the death of someone you named. Otherwise, a review every few years keeps it current. These answers are general information, not legal advice, and do not create an attorney-client relationship. More on probate & estate planning [Forcing a sale](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/wills-estates/force-sale-jointly-owned-property-massachusetts/)[Probate](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/wills-estates/probate/) Next step ## Talk it through with someone who handles these The first conversation is free and with a real member of our team. [Call (413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Request a consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/?practiceArea=Probate%20%26%20Estate%20Planning) This page is general information only, not legal advice for any specific situation, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Every matter depends on its own facts; for advice on your particular circumstances, talk to a licensed attorney. Published by Dunn & Phillips, P.C., 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108. Responsible attorney: Cornelius W. Phillips, III.