A well-crafted estate plan protects a lifetime of work and ensures a family’s wishes are honored. Egan, Flanagan and Cohen has guided individuals, families, and fiduciaries across Western Massachusetts through both estate planning and estate administration for generations, bringing the same depth of experience to a modest estate as we do to a complex, multi-generational plan.
Planning built around what matters to you.
Our attorneys design wills, trusts, and comprehensive estate plans tailored to each client’s family, assets, and goals, from straightforward wills and powers of attorney to sophisticated trust structures designed to minimize tax exposure, protect assets, and provide for beneficiaries with special circumstances. We advise on gifting, fiduciary designations, health care directives, and powers of attorney for our individual clients, often tying these into succession planning for family-owned businesses, ensuring that every piece of a client’s plan works together rather than in isolation.
Administration handled with precision and care.
When a loved one passes away, our attorneys guide executors, personal representatives, trustees, and family members through every stage of probate and trust administration. We handle the petition and appointment process, marshal and inventory estate assets, prepare and file the required accountings and tax returns, resolve creditor claims, and oversee the distribution of assets to beneficiaries. Our attorneys and paralegals manage both the Probate and Family Court process and the practical, often difficult, work of settling a loved one’s affairs. We advise executors and trustees on their ongoing fiduciary duties, from investment decisions to distribution standards to periodic accountings, and we help fiduciaries navigate the administration process correctly the first time, reducing the risk of disputes or personal liability down the road.
Depth that matters when questions become disputes.
Because our Trusts and Estates attorneys work hand in hand with our Litigation group, clients benefit from planning and administration guidance informed by real courtroom experience so if disagreements do arise among heirs, beneficiaries, or fiduciaries, our clients have immediate access to litigators who are among the few in Western Massachusetts who actually try these probate litigation cases in court. That depth means our planning is built to hold up, our administration guidance reflects an understanding of where disputes most often begin, and our clients have somewhere to turn if informal resolution isn’t possible.
Comprehensive services include:
Planning:
- Wills and Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts
- Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives
- Estate and Gift Tax Planning
- Special Needs and Beneficiary Planning
- Business Succession Planning
Administration:
- Probate Petitions and Estate Administration
- Trust Administration and Fiduciary Counseling
- Estate and Fiduciary Accountings
- Estate and Trust Tax Filings
- Guardianships and Conservatorships
Whether the need is a first will for a growing family, a complex plan for a multi-generational estate, or guidance through the administration of a loved one’s estate, Egan, Flanagan and Cohen brings the accessibility of trusted local counsel to every client, family, and fiduciary we serve.
