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.
Danvers is in Essex County.
More Guardianship 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 clients across Massachusetts from Manchester-by-the-Sea, most from North Shore towns such as Beverly, Gloucester and Salem. Prepares wills, revocable and special needs trusts, trust funding, powers of attorney, health care proxies, deeds, homestead protection and guardianship nominations. Founder Lindsey E. Egan offers full representation or behind-the-scenes drafting.
Serves Essex County from offices in Salem and Gloucester. Helps personal representatives through probate and estate administration (inventory, paying creditors, tax filings and disputes) and represents challengers, executors and trustees in will and trust contests. Founded by A. John Porcello, the firm is run by his children, attorneys Jean G. Porcello-Giusto and Anthony S. Porcello.
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 and Settling an Estate in Massachusetts
Free Massachusetts forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for Massachusetts.
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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Free
Healthcare Power of Attorney
Massachusetts requires 2M.G.L. c. 201D § 2Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses for a healthcare power of attorney; notarization is not requiredM.G.L. c. 201D § 2Verified Oct 15, 2026View source.
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Free
Financial Power of Attorney
Massachusetts requires explicit durability language for a power of attorney to survive incapacityM.G.L. c. 190B §§ 5-501 to 5-507; c. 183 §§ 29, 32Verified Oct 21, 2026View source, and it is signed with no witness or notary requirementM.G.L. c. 190B §§ 5-501 to 5-507; c. 183 §§ 29, 32Verified Oct 21, 2026View source.
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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Massachusetts
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in Massachusetts: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool.
How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?
In Massachusetts, four years at a public university cost about $117,036NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source and the cost of living is 6% above the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 17, 2026View source; the state levies an estate taxM.G.L. c. 65C § 2A; St. 2023, c. 50; St. 2024, c. 206, § 13; St. 2025, c. 9, § 35Verified Sep 15, 2026View source above $2,000,000M.G.L. c. 65C § 2A; St. 2023, c. 50; St. 2024, c. 206, § 13; St. 2025, c. 9, § 35Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
An attorney-prepared revocable 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 and a simple will $1,161Estimate: 3 hours at $387, Clio's Massachusetts Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,322Estimate: 6 hours at $387, Clio's Massachusetts Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
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Who Inherits Without a Will?
Without a will in Massachusetts, a surviving spouse takes the entire estateM.G.L. c. 190B § 2-102Verified Oct 21, 2026View source when every child of either spouse is a child of both, and descendants divide what passes to them per capita at each generationM.G.L. c. 190B § 2-106Verified Oct 21, 2026View source.
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