Attorney Melissa L. Green highlights seven common estate planning traps that show up over time, along with seven questions you can use as a simple audit.
Legal Insights
What Is a SLAT and Is It Right for Your Estate Plan?
A Spousal Lifetime Access Trust can move millions out of your taxable estate while your spouse retains access to those assets. That’s a powerful combination, but it comes with real strings attached.
Know the Rules on Obtaining Special Permits for Accessory Dwelling Units
Special permits for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) aren’t handed out at the building department counter. Here’s what the process looks like in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and how to avoid the mistakes that derail approvals.
What Happens When a Neighbor Claims Your Land as Their Own? Understanding Adverse Possession and How to Stop It Before It Starts
Learn what adverse possession is, why the law allows it, and the specific legal requirements a claimant must meet in RI, MA, and CT.
Legal Protections for Home Buyers in Competitive Bidding Wars
Real estate bidding wars feel like a sprint with no rules. Someone is always willing to go higher, waive more contingencies, or close faster. But in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, the law does set some ground rules for how sellers, agents, and developers must behave, even when a property has a dozen offers on the table.
Dynasty Trusts and Multi-Generational Wealth: Can You Actually Skip the Estate Tax for Your Grandchildren?
The short answer is: yes, with serious caveats. The longer answer involves the generation-skipping transfer tax, a federal exemption that may be cut in half by 2026, and some meaningful differences in how Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut treat these trusts. Let’s work through all of it.
Personal Watercraft Accidents and Liability Issues
With the weather warming up, many residents of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut are taking to the water. But what if an accident occurs? A maritime attorney explains who pays, who’s responsible, and why the rules on the water are not the same as the rules on the road.
Boundary Dispute Resolution Between Neighboring Property Owners
Do good fences make good neighbors? Or are property laws more important? Experienced real estate attorneys explain how to resolve property line disputes before they become expensive litigation
When a Business Partner Wants Out: Legal Steps That Protect Everyone
This is not a situation you want to navigate on instinct. Here is what the process looks like when you do it right.