Massachusetts

Massachusetts estates go to the Probate and Family Court of the county where the deceased
lived, under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code ("MUPC"), in force since 2012. There
are three routes and the difference between them is substantial.

Informal, formal, voluntary

• Informal probate is decided by a magistrate on the paperwork, with no hearing, and an
  order can issue as early as seven days after death. This is the normal route for an
  uncontested estate with a clean original will.
• Formal probate goes before a judge, with a citation, a return date and notice by
  publication and post. It is required where the original will is missing, an heir's
  whereabouts are unknown, a minor is involved, or someone objects.
• Voluntary administration handles very small estates — personal property of about
  $25,000 or less, disregarding one vehicle, and no real estate. Confirm the current
  threshold.

The Massachusetts estate tax reaches ordinary homeowners

Massachusetts is one of a minority of states with its own estate tax, and the threshold is low
relative to house prices here. The exemption is $2 million, raised from $1 million for
deaths from 1 January 2023.

The same reform fixed the notorious cliff. Under the old law, going a dollar over the
threshold taxed the whole estate from the first dollar. A credit of $99,600 now means
only the value above $2 million is effectively taxed. Rates run to roughly 16%.

One thing to check with an adviser: the federal portability rules do not apply to the
Massachusetts tax, so a couple cannot assume the survivor inherits the first spouse's unused
exemption. Planning still matters here.

Before distributing

Let the creditor period run, file the Massachusetts and federal returns, and obtain any release
of estate tax lien needed before real estate changes hands.

A Massachusetts will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another at their
direction and in their presence), and signed by two witnesses who each saw the testator sign
or acknowledge the signature. The testator must be 18 or older and of sound mind.

Massachusetts deliberately refused holographic wills

This is a point of genuine legislative intent rather than oversight. When Massachusetts adopted
the Uniform Probate Code in 2012, the UPC's own provision authorising holographic wills was
specifically left out. The legislature looked at the option and declined it.

So a handwritten will with no witnesses is invalid in Massachusetts, however plainly it
expresses what the person wanted. There is no curative provision to rescue it either. Two
witnesses, every time.

Self-prove it, or expect formal probate

Attach a self-proving affidavit before a notary. Without one, an informal probate can still
proceed if the will has an attestation clause, but a missing original or an unprovable
signature pushes the estate into formal probate before a judge — slower, dearer, and
entirely avoidable.

Plan around the $2 million threshold

A house in eastern Massachusetts plus a retirement account clears $2 million without the family
feeling wealthy. Because the state exemption is not portable between spouses, leaving everything
outright to the survivor can waste one exemption entirely. Credit shelter trust planning remains
routine here long after it became unnecessary federally.

Also

• Name an alternate personal representative and request appointment without surety.
• A surviving spouse has statutory rights whatever the will says.
• Review after a marriage, divorce, birth or a move to Massachusetts.

Yes. A Massachusetts personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for
services performed. The MUPC sets no percentage and there is no tariff to fall back on.

What "reasonable" means here

The size and complexity of the estate, the time actually spent, the skill the work required,
the responsibility assumed, any special expertise brought to it, and the results achieved. A
large estate of index funds and a bank account does not justify a large fee simply because it
is large.

Records decide it

With no statutory percentage, contemporaneous time records are the whole argument. Keep
dated entries of what was done and how long it took, from the first week. A representative who
proposes a percentage and cannot show the work is in a poor position if anyone objects.

How it gets approved

Either all the interested persons agree in writing, or the Probate and Family Court allows
it on an accounting. Under the MUPC an informally appointed representative can act with very
little court contact — which means nobody reviews the fee as you go, not that the fee is
approved. Settle it in writing before taking it.

If the will fixes the figure

A will provision governs where the representative accepts on those terms. The representative
may also renounce the will's figure before appointment and take reasonable compensation
instead — useful where the sum was set decades ago.

The tax angle

Compensation is taxable income to the representative; an inheritance is not. But a fee is a
deductible administration expense against the Massachusetts estate tax. Where the estate is
over the $2 million threshold, taking a fee can reduce estate tax while creating income tax
— arithmetic worth doing properly with an accountant rather than guessing.

A Massachusetts personal representative is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable
expenses of administration, separately from compensation. Where the estate approaches the
$2 million estate tax threshold these are also deductible against it, so recording them
carefully has a cash value.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, the headstone, and a reasonable reception.
• Probate and Family Court filing fees, certified letters of authority, certified death
  certificates, and publication where formal probate is required.
• Attorney's fees, and accountant's fees for the final Form 1040, any Form 1041, and the
  Massachusetts estate tax return where one is due.
• Appraisals. These matter more than in a no-estate-tax state, because the valuation decides
  whether the estate is taxable at all.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale: insurance, property tax, utilities, security,
  maintenance, landscaping and snow removal.
• Winterising a property — keeping heat on and pipes drained through a New England winter.
  A frozen pipe in an empty house is a large, avoidable loss to the estate.
• Condominium fees, which continue regardless.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping contents, including a Cape or island
  property.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate, including ferries.
• Surety bond premiums, where surety was not waived.

Normally not claimable

• The representative's lost wages, meals near home, or personal spending.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account and run everything through it. Under informal administration
nobody audits you as you go, so your own ledger is the only record — and it supports both the
estate tax deductions and your fee.

Most Massachusetts estates are handled by a family member appointed informally, with a lawyer
retained for the filings. The state estate tax creates a case for professional help that does
not exist in most of the country.

Consider a professional when

• The estate is near or above the $2 million exemption. This is the Massachusetts case, and
  it catches ordinary homeowners. The return, the valuation choices, the deduction planning and
  the lack of spousal portability all reward getting it right at rates up to about 16%.
• The original will is missing, an heir cannot be located, or a minor is interested — any of
  which forces formal probate before a judge rather than a magistrate.
• The estate holds an operating business, or rental or seasonal property that has to keep
  running.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a will contest looks likely.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated, so a trust runs for years.
• MassHealth estate recovery is in play against the family home, which needs handling early
  and carefully.
• The named representative lives out of state and cannot readily attend a county Probate and
  Family Court.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage with a minimum annual fee. Attorneys
generally bill hourly. Ask for either in writing.

Middle ground

Appoint a family member, ask for appointment without surety, and let them retain a probate
attorney and an accountant at the estate's expense. If the estate might be taxable, engage the
accountant in the first month — the valuation and deduction decisions are made early.

A named representative who does not want the job can decline before appointment.