How we work

MA Wills and Trusts: The only law we practice (Attorney Joel Bernstein) is a different kind of law firm. You won’t find a stuffy atmosphere or an imperious attitude here. We take a personal approach to legal services.

Communication is central to this approach. I want to give you the time you need to craft the best estate plan for your particular circumstances. We’ll start with this:

An Initial “Plain English” Session with Joel Bernstein

Your initial meeting will be with me personally—not a junior attorney—in a quiet, focused, and confidential environment. I intentionally do not place a phone or computer in the conference room, so I can focus with complete attention on your needs, and I similarly ask you to leave your cell phone in your pocket or purse.

This initial meeting has two purposes:

To educate you about estate-planning law and what would happen if you died with your current (or no) estate plan in place, and
To determine if there is potential for a good working relationship between you and our firm.

I will listen and give you my thoughts, based on my in-depth knowledge and 27 years of experience. I’ll assess your financial situation and your estate plan options, and I’ll discuss with you what you want to happen in all areas in the event of your death. Based on our discussion, I will begin to design a plan to give you peace of mind, knowing your family will be taken care of in the ways you want.

You can expect this session to last about an hour. This meeting is all about you, your family, and what you want to accomplish. For this reason, we charge a nominal fee ($150) for the appointment that you can apply toward your estate-planning documents if you have us start them within two weeks of the meeting.

Efficiency through Automation

I built my practice on cutting-edge automation, and I continue to use technology to ensure accuracy—and keep your expenses down. Document templates save time, while enabling me to customize them to fit your needs. And our databases help ensure consistency and minimize errors.

Ongoing Communication

My office doesn’t stop working for you, even when your documents are complete. For 26 years, we’ve updated our clients twice a year on law changes—informing them about how these changes affect their own lives, as well. And every month, I’ll send you an email with a link to an article that’s relevant to estate planning.

Post-Death Administration

When someone passes away and there is a will involved, it going into probate. If a trust is involved, it’s called post-death administration. Managing a trust comes with legal duties that can be time-consuming and overwhelming, especially when you are dealing with the responsibilities and emotions caused by the death of a loved one. If you are the trustee, we can help make the responsibilities of trust administration are more manageable. And if probate is required, we can help with that, too.

Call our office at 781/863-8606 to schedule your initial estate-planning session and ask to speak with Barbara, our Client Services Director. Or, for a quicker scheduling, ask for Cindy. They will schedule a time that works for you. We even have evening appointments available to make planning as convenient for you as possible.

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