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.
Andover is in Essex County.
More Trust Administration Firms in Essex County
Serves Essex County, from Cape Ann to the Merrimack Valley, from offices in Gloucester, Topsfield and North Andover. Handles probate and estate and trust administration for families settling an estate, alongside wills, trusts, special needs trusts and Medicaid crisis planning.
Serves Essex County from a restored circa 1806 Federal period house in downtown Newburyport. Handles estates, probate and trust administration, alongside wills, trusts, Medicaid trusts and estate tax planning with marital and credit shelter trusts. Attorney Grace Gonzalez Connolly speaks Spanish and French.
Serves Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk counties from Danvers. Attorney Jonathan M. White helps executors with probate filings, estate inventories, creditor notices, tax returns and will disputes, and guides trustees from acceptance through final accounting and distribution. Estate administration is billed at a flat fee, with deferred payment available when the estate includes real estate.
Serves Middlesex and Essex counties from offices in Wakefield and Newburyport. Represents personal representatives and trustees through estate and trust administration, from appointment petitions to inventories, accounts, and estate tax returns, and litigates will contests and trust disputes. Founded in 1945; its elder law attorneys also complete MassHealth applications.
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.
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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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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 Do I Settle a Trust?
Settling a trust in Massachusetts happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's Uniform Trust CodeM.G.L. c. 203E § 101 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries within 30 daysMGL c. 203E §§ 813, 1005Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.
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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?
In Massachusetts, trustee compensation follows "reasonable compensation" (UTC § 708 or equivalent)Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 203E, § 708Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount.
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How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in Massachusetts: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 90 daysMGL c. 190B §§ 3-706, 3-707, 3-708Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 12 monthsMGL c. 190B §§ 3-306, 3-801, 3-803, 3-804, 3-805, 3-806Verified Oct 18, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 6 months to 9 months.
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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?
Massachusetts requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 1040M.G.L. c. 62, § 4(b), (d); Mass. Const. Amend. Art. XLIV, as amended by Amend. Art. CXXI (Fair Share Amendment)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in Massachusetts take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular ratesM.G.L. c. 62 § 2(b)(3) (Part C gross income = gain from capital assets held > 1 year); § 4(c) (Part C taxed at the Part B rate; 3% on qualifying MA small-business stock held ≥ 3 years); § 4(a)(1) (Part A: 12% on capital gains, 8.5% on assets held ≤ 1 year); § 4(b) (Part B rate, floor 5%); § 4(d) (4% surtax above the indexed $1M threshold)Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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