Estate planning in Massachusetts typically combines legal documents, such as a will, powers of attorney, and sometimes a trust, with account titling, beneficiary designations, and a review of the Massachusetts estate tax, which has a $2 million filing threshold. Your attorney and CPA advise on legal and tax questions, and rules may change.
Estate Planning Guide · Last reviewed October 28, 2026
A complete estate plan typically brings together your wishes for property, health care, decision-making authority, beneficiary designations, and the way assets are titled. It also needs to work with the financial plan and with the tax and legal guidance you receive from your own professionals.
The goal is not simply to create documents. It is to help keep the documents, accounts, insurance, real estate, and family intentions aligned. Individual circumstances, legal requirements, and tax consequences vary, so planning should be reviewed with qualified legal and tax professionals.
Yes. According to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, a Massachusetts estate tax return is required when a decedent's gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts exceeds $2,000,000, for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2023. Those estates are allowed a credit of up to $99,600 that may reduce the tax. The department also notes that the calculation steps changed for decedents dying on or after August 1, 2025, so any actual result is a question for your CPA.
The $2 million figure is a filing test and a credit, not a simple deduction followed by a flat rate, which is why a current estimate can be useful when evaluating the broader planning picture. Massachusetts also does not follow the federal exclusion. For 2026 the IRS lists a federal basic exclusion amount of $15,000,000, but the Department of Revenue states that federal estate tax changes after December 31, 2000 have no impact on the Massachusetts estate tax. A household can be well under the federal figure and still have a Massachusetts question.
Sources: Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Estate Tax Guide (page updated April 23, 2026) and FAQs: New Estate Tax Changes (page updated October 31, 2024); IRS, What's new: Estate and gift tax. Verified as of October 28, 2026. Thresholds, credits, and calculation steps may change.
In general, the Department of Revenue describes the gross estate broadly: property the decedent beneficially owned at death, whether held jointly or in the decedent's name alone, real or personal, wherever situated. Its Estate Tax Guide lists stocks, bank accounts, insurance, and pensions as examples of intangible property. The same guide separates probate property, which passes by will or intestacy, from nonprobate property, such as assets held jointly or in a trust and life insurance not payable to the estate. Whether a particular asset counts, and how it is valued, is a question for your CPA and estate attorney.
For families with substantial real estate, retirement accounts, concentrated business ownership, life insurance, or interests held through trusts and entities, the first task is often to establish a complete balance sheet. Account values alone may not tell the full story. Ownership, beneficiary designations, debt, liquidity needs, and the timing of a transfer can all create questions for the attorney and CPA to evaluate.
Start with a current inventory. Your estate may include more than an investment account: real estate, retirement accounts, life insurance you own, business interests, and other property can all matter.
Estimate your Massachusetts estate tax with the calculator →Wondering who pays tax when someone inherits? Read our focused comparison of estate tax versus inheritance tax in Massachusetts. Considering lifetime gifts? This educational explanation of how the federal lifetime gift tax exemption differs from the Massachusetts estate tax may help you prepare questions for your attorney and CPA. If a return may be involved, this guide explains who files a Massachusetts estate tax return, when it is due, and what information your CPA and attorney may ask for.
For a question-by-question checklist to prepare before meeting your professionals, read what Massachusetts pre-retirees may want to review in estate tax planning.
Not through a portability election. The Department of Revenue's Estate Tax Guide describes the $2,000,000 filing threshold and the $99,600 credit for each decedent's estate and describes no election that lets a surviving spouse add a first spouse's unused Massachusetts amount. For married couples, that makes the design and funding of the estate plan worth discussing with an estate planning attorney, CPA, and financial advisor as appropriate. A coordinated review may identify questions for those professionals, but it cannot determine the right legal or tax strategy for every family.
It is an income tax consideration rather than an estate tax. Massachusetts applies a 4% surtax to taxable income above an inflation-adjusted threshold, which is $1,107,750 for tax year 2026. A CPA can help explain how income, liquidity events, charitable decisions, and other planning choices may interact with a family's broader tax picture. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change.
Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Massachusetts 4% Surtax on Taxable Income (page updated June 1, 2026). Verified as of October 28, 2026.
In short: many plans start with a will, a durable power of attorney, and a health care proxy, and some add a revocable trust. Your estate attorney advises which documents fit your situation and prepares them.
An estate planning attorney can advise on the documents that fit your situation. For a sophisticated household, the documents should be read as an operating system rather than a stack of forms: they establish who has authority, how assets are controlled, and how decisions are carried out if a person becomes incapacitated or dies. Many plans include some combination of the following:
A will can state how certain property should be distributed and name guardians for minor children. It generally works alongside, rather than replaces, beneficiary designations and trust planning. An attorney can also explain how it coordinates with property that passes by title, contract, or trust terms.
A revocable trust may be used to hold assets and provide instructions for management or distribution. It can also establish successor trustee responsibilities and a process for administering assets. Its usefulness depends in part on whether assets are properly titled or transferred to the trust.
This document can designate someone to handle specified financial matters if you are unable to act. The scope and validity of the authority are legal questions for your attorney.
A health care proxy can name a person to make health care decisions if you cannot. Discuss its preparation and use with your attorney and health care providers.
Retirement accounts, life insurance, and many other accounts pass according to the beneficiary form on file, which may override what a will says. Review these forms whenever circumstances change and ask your attorney and CPA how they fit the overall plan.
How an account or property is titled, such as individually, jointly, or in a trust, may affect how it passes. Retitling is often a follow-up step after documents are signed, and your attorney can advise on what ownership fits your plan.
Estate planning often involves several professionals with different responsibilities. Your estate attorney prepares legal documents and provides legal advice. Your CPA advises on tax matters and prepares tax returns. Michael Cammarata, CFP®, helps coordinate the financial planning and investment information those professionals may need, while you remain in control of whom you engage and the decisions you make.
Coordination is particularly useful when a family has multiple account types, several generations of beneficiaries, closely held business interests, or a plan that has not been reviewed since a major change in assets, family circumstances, residency, or tax law. A structured review can organize the facts and identify decisions that merit legal or tax advice. It does not substitute for that advice.
Your attorney explains the options the law may allow and drafts and finalizes any will, trust, or other legal document.
Your CPA reviews estate, gift, and income tax effects and prepares any tax returns.
The advisor organizes the balance sheet, titling, and beneficiary information, and tracks open items between your attorney and CPA.
Family, asset values, and tax rules change, which may call for another review with your professionals.
Coordination can include organizing an asset and beneficiary inventory, identifying questions for your attorney or CPA, reviewing whether account ownership is consistent with signed documents, and helping keep the financial plan aligned as circumstances change. It does not replace legal or tax advice. If retirement-account distributions or Social Security timing are part of the conversation, review the related retirement income planning service.
To understand the financial advisor's role alongside your attorney and CPA, see how a financial advisor coordinates estate planning in Massachusetts. Estate questions also connect to income, investments, and tax planning, which the comprehensive financial planning overview describes. If you are comparing advisors, read what a fiduciary financial advisor is and how it differs from other advisors. Households with a business interest may also review the Massachusetts business owner retirement planning guide for questions to bring to their professionals.
A trust document alone may not carry out its intended role if assets are never retitled or beneficiary designations are left inconsistent with the plan. This is often called an unfunded trust. Reviewing account registration, beneficiaries, insurance ownership, and other asset details with the appropriate professionals can help surface follow-up items. For a checklist by account type, see how a Massachusetts trust may be funded and who coordinates each step.
For married Massachusetts families exploring how both spouses' estate tax exemptions may be considered, read our educational A/B trust planning guide, and for the marital trust piece of that structure, see what a QTIP trust is and what the requirements may be. For a plain-English overview of the trust categories you may hear about, see the main types of trusts Massachusetts families review. Any trust structure should be evaluated and drafted by a qualified estate planning attorney for your specific circumstances.
Costs depend on the household, the documents involved, and the professionals engaged, so this guide does not publish a typical figure. Before you hire anyone, ask your estate attorney for a written fee quote that states what is included, such as which documents are prepared and whether signing and funding support are covered. Ask your CPA about fees for any estate or fiduciary tax work, and ask any financial advisor how they are paid. The services, fees, and business practices of MSA Financial are described in its Form ADV Part 2A, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
These are educational examples of items a household may want to raise with its estate attorney and CPA. They are not a review of any particular plan.
Gaps a periodic review may surface
Addressing any of these may involve cost, time, and legal or tax review, and the right approach depends on individual circumstances.
These questions are educational starting points. Your professionals can answer them for your situation.
Questions to bring to your professionals
Costs depend on the household, the documents involved, and the professionals engaged, so this guide does not give a typical figure. Ask your estate attorney for a written fee quote that states what is included, and ask your CPA and any financial advisor how they are paid.
Common documents include a will, a durable power of attorney, a health care proxy, and sometimes a revocable trust, along with beneficiary designations and the way accounts are titled. Your attorney advises which of these fit your situation and prepares them.
It depends on the household, and your attorney is the right person to advise. Property passed by a will generally goes through the court-supervised probate process, while property properly transferred to a trust is generally administered under the trust's terms. A trust may involve upfront cost, retitling work, and ongoing administration, so ask your attorney how each option may apply to your home.
Yes. For Massachusetts residents dying on or after January 1, 2023, the Department of Revenue requires a return when the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts exceeds $2,000,000, and allows a credit of up to $99,600. The federal exclusion is a separate system. Figures were verified against official sources as of October 28, 2026 and may change.
The Department of Revenue tests the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts against $2,000,000. Its definitions describe the gross estate as property the decedent beneficially owned at death, whether held jointly or alone, real or personal, wherever situated. Whether a specific asset counts, and how it is valued, is a question for your CPA and estate attorney. Figures were verified as of October 28, 2026 and may change.
A financial advisor may help organize your balance sheet, review account ownership and beneficiary designations, and coordinate follow-up among the professionals you choose. An advisor does not replace an estate attorney, who drafts legal documents, or a CPA, who advises on tax and prepares returns. Michael Cammarata, CFP®, is not an attorney or CPA.
Many households review on a regular schedule and after events such as retirement, a move, a marriage, a death in the family, a sale of a business, an inheritance, or a change in the law. Ask your attorney and CPA what schedule fits your circumstances.
This guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute individualized legal, tax, or investment advice. It does not recommend any strategy for any reader. Investment advisory services are offered through MSA Financial, LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser (CRD #107768). MSA Financial is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Michael Cammarata is not an attorney or CPA and does not provide legal or tax advice. He does not draft legal documents or prepare tax returns. He coordinates with clients' existing estate attorneys and CPAs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances, and legal and tax advice should be obtained from your own attorney and CPA. The Massachusetts and federal tax figures were verified against mass.gov and irs.gov as of October 28, 2026 and may change.