Areas of Practice
Click an area of practice to learn more:
Businesses | Elder Law | Estate Planning | Estate & Trust Administration
Guardianships & Conservatorships | Long Term Care Planning | Municipal Practice
Personal Injury | Probate Litigation | Real Estate
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 and the Carver-Marion-Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal 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 has 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