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MA Revocable or Living Trust
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A trust added to a will or a separate Living Trust (MA revocable living trust) can be more nuanced than a will without a trust provision

​On the other hand, a 'MA Living Trust' allows for either immediate distribution on a person's death or, instead, a provision that one or more beneficiaries will receive the money over time. 

With this added 'time element' that a trust can provide if you want that arrangement, the trust concept can be used for many different types of purposes. While there are business uses of a trust, the personal trust is more common. This is called a 'Living Trust' or a 'Revocable Trust.' Sometimes an irrevocable trust will be used instead, but usually created after MA Living Trust is created.

Choice: Will or trust?
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​Before around 1970, a Will was the more frequently used document in Massachusetts (and nationwide) estate planning. 

Compared to having no estate planning at all, having a Will can be useful.

The major benefit of having at least a Will is that you can change the rules that apply under state law when you have no Will. Without a Will, the law dictates whom will receive your assets at your death, and whom will likely be in charge of your affairs. 

But a Will may not help you make a more nuanced estate plan that the minimal state law provides. 

• For example, if you leave assets to a child under 18, the law dictates that a person hold it for them and then the child receives it at 18 years old.
• Yet depending on a beneficiary's maturity, mental, and physical health, leaving assets outright, in one lump sum, may not be a wise choice.

This is because a Will generally lacks including the element of time - that is - it doesn't generally use the concept of a trust - an arrangement in which one person holds the property for the benefit of another person until the second person can handle it. Think minors. Think drug addicts. Think alcoholics. 

About Joel Bernstein
 
Massachusetts estate planning, using wills and particularly trusts, has been the sole focus of my practice for 27 years. I am highly experienced, having handling more than 2,700 wills and trusts over my career.
 
I began my law practice in 1980 in Vermont, where I became involved in real estate conveyancing as in-house lawyer for the famed Hawk Mountain Corporation. I computerized their deed system and became nationally known for my automation approach in 1985.
 
Seeing the beauty of the Green Mountain state led me to a lifelong study of all aspects of property law. So after earning an Environmental Law degree in Vermont, I moved to the Boston area in 1985 to marry a woman from Wellesley and earn a Masters of Tax Law.
 
In 1992, I learned about revocable living trusts (the modern approach to estate planning) from the San Diego-based American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. I studied with its founder Robert Armstrong, was appointed a director of the organization—and enjoyed visiting San Diego for its weather!
 
1992 is also the year that I opened my law firm in Lexington and began giving public talks about Massachusetts revocable living trusts. Also in the 1990s, I served on the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. 
 
To this day, I start each morning with a cup of coffee and 45 minutes of reading about the law, focusing on wills, trusts, and the post-death administration of these estate-planning approaches. Through this regular, early-morning study, I’ve avoided trying to master too many areas of the law. I still love to read the law every morning.
 
And I still love my wife.
 
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Law Office of Joel A. Bernstein – Lexington, MA  (1992-present) Principal
• Applied Legal Systems – Weston, MA  (1989-1992) Principal
• Kopelman and Paige – Boston, MA (1986-1989) Associate Attorney
• Scheier, Scheier and Graham – Acton, MA (1984-1986)  Associate Attorney
• Hawk Mountain Corporation – Pittsfield, VT (1982-1984) Attorney
• Practice of Law – Burlington, VT  (1980-1982)
  
  

PUBLICATIONS & Public speaking engagements

• Addressed American Bar Association meetings on both the East and West Coasts including Chicago, Baltimore, Dallas, and Massachusetts Conveyancers’ Association on Use of Technology in Document Creation
• Taught courses to both attorneys and accountants on Trust Basics, Post-Death Administration, and Retirement Distribution Strategies for the nonprofit MA Foundation for Continuing Education and for Blue Cross/Blue Shield
• Former technology columnist for the American Bar Association’s Probate and Property Journal
• In the national treatise, A Trustees Handbook, editor Professor Charles Rounds, Jr. of Suffolk University refers to my work in the automation of post-death administration of trusts
• 300 public and private talks, given for  Charles Schwab and other financial institutions

 
MA Wills and Trusts: The only law we practice, in plain English
​781 863-8606 • email: joel@JBernsteinlaw.com