Protecting Your Assets, LLC was founded by Attorney Stephen T. DiGregorio to help you protect the things that matter most to you: your family, your home, your money and other personal property, and your future health needs. We are a boutique firm providing estate planning, elder law, and asset protection legal services that will allow you to avoid probate, shield your assets from potential creditors, and bring peace of mind to your entire family. We pride ourselves on giving attentive service to every client. Your telephone calls and emails are promptly returned - call us today and ask about our Guarantee. Upon request, we can arrange evening or weekend appointments, and we can make arrangements to come to your home or workplace if you are unable to visit our Lynnfield office. Mr. DiGregorio is a participating attorney in the AARP Legal Services Network.
Wills Trusts Revocable living trusts for probate avoidance & basic estate planning Irrevocable Medicaid qualifying trusts (protection from nursing home expenses) Supplemental Needs Trusts for disabled or special needs children Asset protection trusts (protection from lawsuits) Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) to minimize estate taxEstate tax planning trusts for married couples (Credit Shelter Trusts) Probate of Estates Power of Attorney documents Health Care Proxies Living Wills HIPAA Releases Homesteads Nursing Home/Medicaid Planning Prenuptial Agreements Cohabitation Agreements for Unmarried Persons Formation of Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)
Payment method
check, master card, visa
Location
We are located in the Lynnfield Woods Office Park on Rte 1 South in Lynnfield.
Amenities
Free Parking Elevator Handicap Access
Associations
Massachusetts Bar Association Boston Bar Association Board of Directors, Essex County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Business Networking International Senior Services Resource Council Board of Directors, Essex County Estate Planning Council Participating attorney in the AARP Legal Services Network.
Prenuptial agreements cannot regulate issues relating to the children of the marriage such as custody, visitation, and child support.
Child Custody and Visitation
Adoption
Premarital Agreement
A prenuptial agreement is a valuable tool in preventing disputes over division of property in the event of divorce. They are recognized and enforced in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, provided that they are drafted and executed properly. Both parties should have lawyers represent them to ensure that the agreement itself is legally sound, but just as important, when a judge is asked to enforce a prenuptial agreement, one of the factors in his or her decision is whether each party had independent legal representation.
Guardianship
When you create the trust you will appoint one or more successor trustees who can take over the management of the trust for you quickly, smoothly, and privately without any court intervention. This way, you avoid a costly, time-consuming, and embarrassing guardianship or conservatorship proceeding.
Spousal Support
A prenuptial agreement is a contract entered into by both parties prior to marriage, providing clarification of property and financial rights and obligations of each spouse. Its purpose is to protect assets of the individuals gained prior to and/or during the marriage in the event of divorce. The agreement can address a multitude of issues, but most commonly includes provisions for division of property and for spousal support (alimony).
Limited liability companies are a powerful and relatively new form of business entity. They grant members both a significant amount of management flexibility and the strong personal asset protection of limited liability. They are, however, one of many options one has when establishing a new business. As always, it is best to consult with a licensed attorney to help review your options and choose the best structure based on your personal and business needs. Call us today so we may assist you in establishing your new LLC.
We have previously suggested that many people can benefit from the avoidance of probate, we have also mentioned that record keeping can help to make estate administration easier on the personal representative. Murphy v. Prescott serves as an excellent example of why this is true.
Wills
As mentioned in the last two parts of this weekly series, will contests are an annoying and potentially costly consequence of improper execution or the creation of a pretermitted heir. There are a few ways to help limit the possibility of a will contest, the simplest and most straight-forward being the no-contest clause.
Trusts
If you do not execute a valid Massachusetts Will, you will be leaving the distribution of your Estate up to the Probate Court. The Probate Court will refer to Massachusetts General Laws, but the default plan laid out for you by the Massachusetts legislature will not likely reflect what you would have chosen if you had executed a Will ahead of time. If we design a plan for you that includes the use of a Living Trust, then, upon your death, your Will would be drafted in a way that will leave any part of your Estate not already transferred to your Living Trust before your death to your Living Trust. This is why it is referred to as a pourover Will. Your Will “pours over” any assets in your Probate Estate into your Living Trust. The Trustee of your Living Trust will then manage your Estate according to your instructions. A pour-over Will functions as a safety net to insure that property owned in your individual name at the time of your death (rather than in the name of your Living Trust) will ultimately be managed by your Trustee as provided in your Living Trust. However, it is advisable to have your Estate avoid Probate Court altogether by transferring all of your assets to your Living Trust prior to your death. Your Will should serve mainly as a backup document that ensures that all the assets of your Estate are ultimately controlled by your Living Trust.