Serves Essex County and Greater Boston from Beverly. Handles probate and estate administration through final accounting and closing, including estate, fiduciary income and inheritance tax returns, and acts as executor or trustee. Attorney Peter E. Bernardin is also a Certified Public Accountant and a past chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association Probate Council.
Gloucester is in Essex County.
More Asset Protection Firms in Essex County
Serves the Merrimack Valley from Methuen. Handles estate and probate litigation, including will contests, and guardianship petitions for minors and incapacitated adults, alongside wills, trusts and powers of attorney. Founded by Anthony DiFruscia in 1967, with interpretive services for Spanish- and Italian-speaking clients.
Serves Essex and Middlesex counties from offices in Newburyport and Westford. Drafts wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, life insurance trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts and asset protection trusts, and builds succession plans for business owners, work the firm has done since 1984. Founder Susan Rogers Finneran practiced at Shearman & Sterling and Bingham McCutchen.
Serves families across Massachusetts and New Hampshire from Andover, with a second office in Rye, NH. Attorneys Carah Kiley, Thomas Kiley, Jr. and Thomas Kiley, Sr. handle informal, formal, late and limited formal probate and voluntary administration, administer trusts through final distribution, and litigate will contests, trust disputes and breach of fiduciary duty claims.
Probate in Essex County
Probate Court Record
Essex County Probate and Family Court
Essex County
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM
Office
36 Federal Street, Salem, MA 01970
Website
E-filing
Filing in person
Walk-ins accepted
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Essex County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Essex County? →Settling an estate in Essex County →
Forms for Planning Your Estate in Massachusetts
Free forms for planning your estate in Massachusetts: will, living trust, pour-over will, powers of attorney and TOD deed. Prepare each form for Massachusetts.
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Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Pour-Over Will
In Massachusetts, a pour-over will is signed before 2M.G.L. c. 190B § 2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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Free
Transfer on Death Deed
Transfer real property to a beneficiary upon your death without probate. Available in 34 states and the District of Columbia.
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Free
Last Will and Testament
In Massachusetts, a will is signed before 2M.G.L. c. 190B § 2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyM.G.L. c. 190B § 2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source.
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Tools for Planning Your Estate in Massachusetts
Free tools for planning your estate in Massachusetts: will and trust costs, trust or TOD deed, and the signing rules. Run each tool for Massachusetts.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
In Massachusetts, a will-based plan pays probate attorney fees of typically 2.2%Modeled estimate under No specific statute for general probate attorney fees; reasonable compensation subject to court review. M.G.L. c. 190B § 3-720 covers litigation expense reimbursement only.: the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.5%Modeled estimate under No specific statute for general probate attorney fees; reasonable compensation subject to court review. M.G.L. c. 190B § 3-720 covers litigation expense reimbursement only.: the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate; a funded revocable trust keeps those assets out of probate and off that fee.
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How Much Does a Revocable Living Trust Cost?
An attorney-prepared revocable living trust in Massachusetts runs $3,920Estimate: 10 hours at $392, Clio's Massachusetts Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,880Estimate: 15 hours at $392, Clio's Massachusetts Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for an individual, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
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Do I Need a TOD Deed?
Massachusetts does not authorize transfer on death deeds; sole-name real property goes through probate, at least 6 months for a simple estate, unless held in a trust or with a right of survivorship.
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Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?
Massachusetts automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorceM.G.L. c. 190B, § 2-804Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.
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