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Articles & Insights · A Better Question Can Change the Plan.
What You Haven’t Asked About Your Estate Plan May Matter Most.
You know whom you want to help. But do you know what could weaken the inheritance you leave—or which planning choices come with a tradeoff? Start with the concern on your mind. Find useful reading, then turn it into a question about your own plan.
What Would You Like to Understand Better?
Choose your concern. Find a recommended article, see why the issue matters, and identify the question to bring to your Estate Planning Strategy Session.
Change your question at any time. Your reading recommendation and next-step guidance will change with it.
START HERE: YOUR RECOMMENDED READING
How can I help protect the inheritance I leave to my loved ones?
You Worked Hard to Build It. What Happens After They Receive It?
Start with our article on Wealth Protection Planning. It connects the transfer of wealth with questions about control, incapacity, taxes, and risks facing the people who receive it.
Read with one person in mind: someone you want your planning to help. What would you want that inheritance to make possible for them?
Wealth Protection Planning
Published April 17, 2026 · Boyd & Boyd, P.C.
WHY THIS QUESTION MATTERS
The Transfer Is a Moment. The Inheritance Has a Future.
You make a plan today. Someone may receive the benefit years from now, then live with its consequences for years afterward. Their responsibilities, relationships, and finances can change along the way.
That sequence is why the conversation should continue beyond who receives the assets. Ask how the proposed arrangement supports that person and which particular risks it is intended to address.
WHAT TO ASK AFTER READING
Replace a Broad Promise With a Specific Question.
Protection from a lawsuit, creditor, divorce-related concern, or poor financial decision requires a specific discussion. The word “Trust” does not settle all of those questions.
After reading, write down the risk that concerns you most. Then ask what the proposed plan can address, what conditions matter, and what limitations remain.
FROM READING TO YOUR NEXT DECISION
Make the Conversation About the Future You Want.
Request a free Estate Planning Strategy Session. Begin with the loved one you are thinking about and the concern the article helped you identify.
START HERE: YOUR RECOMMENDED READING
Could reducing Estate Taxes leave my family with a larger tax bill later?
A Tax Saving Today Deserves a Second Question: What Happens Later?
Start with our discussion of Credit Shelter Trusts and the second step-up in cost basis. It examines why an Estate Tax objective should be considered alongside potential capital gains when beneficiaries later sell inherited property.
Read to understand the tradeoff. The article is an educational discussion, not a conclusion that a particular Trust should be used or changed for every family.
Planning for the Wrong Tax: How Credit Shelter Trusts Can Destroy the 2nd Step-Up
Published February 28, 2026 · Boyd & Boyd, P.C.
WHY THIS QUESTION MATTERS
The Tax Conversation Does Not End at the First Death.
A couple makes a plan. At the first death, its terms guide what happens to assets. Years can pass before the survivor’s death; a beneficiary may then sell property still later.
These are different decision points. A coordinated review asks how the plan works across that sequence, rather than judging its success by a single tax result.
WHAT TO ASK AFTER READING
Compare the Consequences Before Choosing the Technique.
Which assets have substantial appreciation? What basis treatment may apply? What is the Estate Tax exposure, and when might beneficiaries sell?
The comparison can change with the assets, the Trust terms, and the law. Paying some Estate Tax can sometimes accompany a better overall tax result; a personal analysis is needed to determine whether that tradeoff makes sense.
FROM READING TO YOUR NEXT DECISION
Bring the Tradeoff Into Your Own Planning Discussion.
Request a free Estate Planning Strategy Session. Ask how Estate Taxes and future income or capital gains taxes should be considered together in your plan.
START HERE: YOUR RECOMMENDED READING
Does a Trust designed for one purpose protect me from other risks?
Before You Rely on a Trust, Ask What It Was Built to Do.
Start with our article comparing Medicaid Planning Trusts and Asset Protection Trusts in Massachusetts. It explains why a planning purpose must be identified before evaluating a claim about protection.
Use the article to frame your questions. Whether an arrangement fits your needs requires analysis of its terms, your circumstances, and the applicable law.
2 Reasons Medicaid Planning Trusts In Massachusetts Are Not Asset Protection Trusts
Published December 24, 2025 · Boyd & Boyd, P.C.
WHY THIS QUESTION MATTERS
A Tool Can Solve One Problem Without Solving the Next.
The planning conversation begins with a concern. A particular arrangement is proposed to address it. Later, a different concern arises, and the family may assume the same arrangement already handles that problem.
That assumption deserves a review. Matching the tool to the purpose means asking what it accomplishes, what it changes, and what it leaves for other parts of the plan.
WHAT TO ASK AFTER READING
Ask for the Connection Between the Tool and Your Goal.
What result is the Trust intended to pursue? How does it affect control and access? Which risks require separate planning?
If you cannot explain that connection clearly, begin there. Understanding the purpose is more useful than collecting another unfamiliar Trust name.
FROM READING TO YOUR NEXT DECISION
Start With Your Objective, Then Evaluate the Trust.
Request a free Estate Planning Strategy Session. Tell our team what you want to accomplish and what you understand—or do not yet understand—about your existing plan.
A REVIEWER’S EXPERIENCE WITH OUR FIRM
Understand the Planning for Your Loved Ones
★★★★★ 5-Star Google Review
“He has helped us establish and understand the trusts we need to ensure the best for our sons”
— Nelson Frew
Review excerpts reflect individual experiences and do not guarantee an outcome for another family.
A REVIEWER’S EXPERIENCE WITH OUR FIRM
A More Informed Planning Experience
★★★★★ 5-Star Google Review
“Everyone was extremely helpful during the entire process and we feel confident that we have a sensible and comprehensive estate plan.”
— Pamela Gordon
Review excerpts reflect individual experiences and do not guarantee an outcome for another family.
A REVIEWER’S EXPERIENCE WITH OUR FIRM
A Process You Can Understand
★★★★★ 5-Star Google Review
“Boyd & Boyd takes the time to walk you through the entire process of creating the trust that is best for you.”
— Edward Breen
Review excerpts reflect individual experiences and do not guarantee an outcome for another family.
Your Questions Belong at the Center of the Plan.
F. Keats Boyd III and Whitney N. Tashjian help families connect Estate Planning and Wealth Protection choices with their goals. Boyd & Boyd, P.C. serves families nationwide through appropriate arrangements, including signing in Massachusetts or working with co-counsel licensed in the client’s home state.
Make Your Reading Useful
Where should I start reading?
Choose the question that matches your current concern. The page recommends an existing Boyd & Boyd, P.C. article and highlights questions to consider after reading.
Does an article tell me whether my own plan needs to change?
No. Articles provide general education. A recommendation about your plan requires review of your circumstances, documents, and applicable law. Publication dates appear with each recommendation.
What is the next step if an article raises a concern?
Request a free Estate Planning Strategy Session. Tell our team which article you read and what question you would like to discuss. Any legal engagement is a separate decision with an agreed scope and fee.
Can I contact the firm if I live outside Massachusetts?
Yes. We assist families nationwide through appropriate arrangements. Families may come to Massachusetts to sign, or we may work with co-counsel licensed where they reside.
FREE ESTATE PLANNING STRATEGY SESSION
Turn “I Want to Protect Them” Into a Clearer Planning Conversation.
Request your free Estate Planning Strategy Session to discuss the inheritance you intend to leave and the particular risks you want your planning to address.
What Would a Clearer Understanding Let You Do?
Focus on what matters to your family: move from a general worry to a specific planning question.
Take a more informed part in the decision: ask what a recommendation accomplishes, what tradeoffs it carries, and why it fits your goals.
Choose a useful next step: discuss whether our services are appropriate for the concern you have identified.
The Estate Planning Strategy Session is free. It begins a discussion of your goals and questions. Any legal representation, document review, or planning work requires a separate agreed scope, fee arrangement, and engagement.
(508) 444-9688 · Tell our team the question that brought you here.
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© 2026 Boyd & Boyd, P.C.
General information only. Legal advice depends on your circumstances and an attorney-client engagement.