USA – MASSACHUSETTS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Patricia M. Annino, Rimon Law
Trend: Massachusetts continues incremental modernisation A . Probate and Family Court case management is becoming more structured The Probate Court system has adopted standing orders that represent procedural rather than substan - tive probate-law changes, but they reflect a clear trend toward earlier judicial management; differentiated case tracks; more predictable handling of contested matters; continued use of remote proceedings where appropriate; and pressure to avoid fragmented or repeatedly continued trials. For ordinary uncontested estates, this may not transform administration. For will contests, fiduciary removal proceedings, contested accounts and trust litigation, it is meaningful. B . Guardian and conservator oversight The Office of Adult Guardianship and Conservatorship Oversight became effective in February 2025. Its pur - pose is to monitor adult guardianships and the filing of conservatorship accounts. This supports a broader planning trend. Incapacity planning can no longer be treated as the routine execution of a health-care proxy and durable power of attorney. Clients increasingly need careful planning for: successor agents; financial abuse; diminished capacity; family conflict; oversight of agents; digital access; revocable-trust succession; co-ordination among healthcare and financial deci - sion-makers; and whether court-supervised guardian - ship or conservatorship can realistically be avoided. Emerging Areas to Watch A . Digital assets may finally receive a statutory framework Massachusetts remains one of the few jurisdictions that has not enacted comprehensive uniform fiduci - ary-access legislation. Massachusetts may be moving toward comprehensive fiduciary-access legislation, but no such statute had been enacted as of the date of writing (August 2026). But the issue advanced substantially during the 2025–2026 legislative session. House Bill 4639, a new draft of the fiduciary-access legislation, was reported favourably and ordered to a third reading in November 2025. A related Senate bill was reported favourably and referred to Senate Ways and Means in January 2026. The proposed legislation would establish rules
governing fiduciary access to digital assets and elec - tronic communications for personal representatives, trustees, agents and conservators, while retaining duties of care, loyalty and confidentiality. B . Reform of the surviving spouse ’ s elective share remains unfinished Massachusetts continues to operate under a long- standing elective-share statute rather than a modern augmented-estate system. It continues to consider proposals. A 2025 bill proposed replacing the current framework with an augmented-estate approach that would reach specified non-probate transfers, but the proposal was sent to a study order in March 2026 rather than enacted. The trend is therefore for con - tinued pressure for reform, but without – yet – any actual reform. That matters because the existing law creates uncer - tainty and planning complexity involving revocable trusts, joint property, beneficiary designations, lifetime transfers, second marriages, disinheritance planning, and waivers in prenuptial and post-nuptial agree - ments. Massachusetts practitioners increasingly work with multi-disciplinary advisory teams that include accountants, investment advisers, family office pro - fessionals and family enterprise consultants. As planning becomes more sophisticated co-ordination among advisers has become increasingly important. *** Massachusetts private wealth practice is becoming increasingly sophisticated. While tax planning remains central, practitioners now devote equal attention to fiduciary structure, trust administration, income taxa - tion, multi state planning and long-term governance. These developments suggest that future reform in Massachusetts is less likely to focus on creating new planning vehicles and more on improving the admin - istration and flexibility of existing ones.
778 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook