For most people, their estate plan represents the most important set of legal documents they will ever create. Given the significance of your estate plan, care should be taken when selecting an estate planning attorney to assist you in the creation of your plan. The estate planning attorneys at DeBruyckere Law Offices understand how important your plan is to you which is why we are dedicated to helping our Essex County, Massachusetts friends and neighbors create a plan that achieves their current estate planning goals and that provides a solid foundation on which to build in the future.
Essex County, Massachusetts
Located in the very northeastern portion of Massachusetts, Essex County covers just over 800 square miles, with almost half of that being water. Like most of New England, Essex County has a long and rich history. The county was originally created by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered “that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires”. As was common at the time, the new county was named after the county in England by the same name. At the time, Essex County included the towns of Salem, Lynn, Wenham, and Ipswich as well as Rowley, Newbury, Gloucester, and Andover. In 1680, Haverhill and Salisbury, both located north of the Merrimack River, were annexed to Essex County. The ten large founding Massachusetts-based settlements were then subdivided over the centuries to produce Essex County’s modern composition of cities and towns. If you have ever wondered where the term “gerrymandering” came from, look no further than Essex County. The county is famous as the area that Elbridge Gerry, a Marblehead native, districted into a salamander-like shape in 1812 that gave rise to the word gerrymandering.
As of the 2010 Census, Essex County was home to 743,159 residents; however, the City of Boston is only times away, Essex County is considered part of the “Greater Boston” area, thereby doubling the overall population of the area. The areas rich and important history led to the county’s designation as the “Essex National Heritage Area” by the National Park Service.
DeBruyckere Law Offices in the Essex County, Massachusetts Community
The attorneys and staff at DeBruyckere Law Offices are honored to assist our friends and neighbors in the Essex County, Massachusetts community with their estate planning needs. Estate planning encompasses much more than just deciding what will happen to your assets when you are gone. It should also protect those assets and help them grow while you are alive as well ensure that they continue to provide for your loved ones when you are gone. Our goal is to help you create a plan that accomplishes all of that and more.
Although a successful estate plan requires a solid foundation, that foundation must then be built upon to fortify the foundation. The plan you create when you are young, single, and just beginning your career will not be sufficient to meet your needs later in life when you have a family and a larger estate to consider. Routine reviews and revisions are crucial to ensure that your estate plan reflects your life as it is now, not as it was several years ago. The focus of your initial estate plan, for example, may simply be to ensure that you do not leave behind an intestate estate. Consequently, a Last Will and Testament may be all you need. As you move through the various stages of your life, however, that Will may become inadequate to protect your assets and your loved ones. Deciding to marry and/or become a parent, for example, will necessitate additions to your initial plan as you now have a family to protect and provide for in your plan. At that point, you may decide to create a trust to protect your minor child’s inheritance, for example, as well as incorporate incapacity planning into your overall plan. As the value of your estate grows, you will need to consider tax avoidance and asset protection tools as well. Finally, as you look toward your “Golden Years,” you will want to incorporate your retirement plans into your estate plan and add Medicaid planning to your comprehensive estate plan along with funeral and burial planning tools to ensure that your final wishes are honored.
At DeBruyckere Law Offices our goal is to be with you every step of the way along your life’s journey. By developing a life-long relationship with you we believe we are able to do much more to protect you, your assets, and your loved ones.
Contact Us
If you have estate planning questions or concerns, or would like to get started creating your estate plan, contact the experienced Essex County, Massachusetts estate planning attorneys at DeBruyckere Law Offices by calling (978) 969-0331 to schedule your free consultation.
