Areas of Practice

Businesses

We advise clients in business matters including:

Corporations
Limited Liability Companies
Partnerships
Sole Proprietorships
Non-profit organizations, including applications for tax exempt status

Elder Law

Elders often have concerns unique to their situation in life. We advise elders and their families on such issues including:

Long-Term Care Needs
Trusts
Life Estates
Gifts
Long-Term Care Insurance
Reverse Mortgages
Medicaid. Medicare. and Veterans Benefits

Estate Planning

Our firm develops and prepares comprehensive estate plans designed to meet our clients’ needs. Our firm can represent you in the development of estate plans ranging from simple Wills to sophisticated Trusts.

Trusts
Wills
Probate Avoidance
Health Care Proxy
Durable Power of Attorney
Nomination of a Guardian for minor children
Non-traditional families
Estate Tax minimization
Irrevocable Trusts for protection of assets, including Medicaid Planning
Planning with Life Insurance
Planning for Pets
Planning for Artistic Works
Planning with Charities
Planning for Land Conservation
Planning for Business Succession
Disability and Special Needs Planning

Estate & Trust Administration

We have represented people in all types of estate and trust administration matters including:

Probate of Will
Administration of Estate (Person died without a Will)
Trust Administration, including Special Needs Trusts
Advising Trustees

Guardianships & Conservatorships

A member of your family, or a friend, may be unable to care for himself or herself, or to manage his or her financial affairs. This can occur often among elderly people, but may also be due to mental illness or disability or accident. In those cases it may be necessary to seek court appointment of a guardian, to direct the person’s medical and personal needs, or a conservator, to direct the person’s financial affairs.

Our experience in this area, developed over many years, enables us to act quickly to get the court appointment needed. Often this can be accompanied by asset protection and estate planning, particularly for the elderly, to protect the person’s assets from being used up for medical or nursing home care; allowing more of those assets to be saved for the person’s family.
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Long Term Care Planning

Medicaid applicants and their spouses may protect savings by spending them on non-countable assets. Medicaid applicants and their spouses may be able to preserve assets by transforming countable assets into non-countable income by using the funds to purchase an annuity. Advance planning may be advisable and the use of trusts in might be considered.

Long-term care insurance is a viable alternative for long-term care planning.
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Municipal Practice

For more than thirty years we have represented towns and other local agencies, as well as individuals, in all aspects of municipal law. Attorney Crotty has been town counsel to several towns during his career, and continues to represent the Town of Fairhaven, the Carver-Marion-Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District, and the Mattapoisett River Valley Water District.

Our municipal law practice includes advising clients on local laws and representing clients before local boards, in administrative hearings and in the courts.

Among the types of cases we have handled are:

Zoning disputes
Employment and civil service
Contractor disputes
Pension claims
Personal injury involving municipal employees
Property damage claims

Personal Injury

We have represented injured people in all types of personal injury cases, including:

Wrongful death
Catastrophic injuries
Medical malpractice
Slip and fall
Lead paint
Motor vehicle and motorcycle accidents
Assault/battery

The firm also regularly defends our municipal, corporate and private clients in personal injury suits.

Attorney Crotty at one time acted as insurance defense counsel for a large Massachusetts insurer and that experience has provided him with a unique understanding of both the plaintiff’s and insurer’s sides of a personal injury claim. In fact, he is often asked by plaintiff’s attorneys, defense lawyers and insurers to act as mediator and arbitrators in insurance disputes.
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Probate Litigation

Disputes occasionally arise, often between family members, with regard to the correct disposition of an estate.

We have extensive experience in handling estate disputes. Some of the issues which may occur are:

Whether a Will or Trust was properly executed;
Whether the decedent was competent;
Did someone unduly influence the decedent to do something;
How should the property be distributed under a Will or Trust.

If you have concerns about an estate matter, we can review the situation for you and advise you on your rights, and help you decide whether to pursue a claim.
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Real Estate

We advise clients on real estate matters, including

Selling a Home
Buying a Home
Landlord/Tenant
Homestead
Conservation Easements