FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 16, 2022
OLD COLONY LAW OPENS IN HADLEY
Route 9 Law Practice Focuses on Estate Planning
HADLEY, MA — Old Colony Law celebrated its grand opening this month. The law firm provides estate planning services for residents and families in the Pioneer Valley and throughout Western Massachusetts.
Managing attorneys, wife-and-husband Claire Crowley and Ben Palkowski of Northampton, relocated to the area after spending the last three years in Washington, D.C. They are both graduates of the University of New Hampshire School of Law.
“We’re excited to be back home here in New England and to be serving our friends, neighbors and this community” said Crowley, who previously worked at a trusts and estates law practice for approximately ten years. “Embarking on the estate planning process can be intimidating, but it doesn’t really have to be. That’s why our practice has adopted an approach to estate planning that breaks the process down for our clients into four manageable steps,” she continued.
Surveys routinely reveal that well in excess of 50% of Americans die without a will or estate plan in place. Crowley and Palkowski expect Old Colony Law’s approach to introduce more people to the estate planning process and to encourage folks to begin thinking about key decisions, such as the postmortem distribution of their assets; which trusted individuals to appoint to attend to financial affairs or to make health care decisions on their behalf in the event of incapacity; and who to serve as guardians for any minor children.
“Estate planning entails making very personal choices. But when someone fails to make certain decisions or doesn’t make those decisions properly, they could be unwittingly inviting the courts and the government to make those decision for them after they’re gone,” said Palkowski, who previously worked as a tax and health care lobbyist. “And while the average person doesn’t need to engage in the same planning as the ultra-wealthy, most welcome the notion of minimizing, deferring or potentially altogether avoiding the tax assessed on their estate,” he continued.
Old Colony Law is located at Hadley Park Plaza on Route 9 in Hadley, open Monday through Saturday by appointment for free consultations, and handicap accessible. More information is available at https://oldcolonylaw.com.
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