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The Law Office of Debra Rahmin Silberstein, located in Andover, Massachusetts, specializes in matters involving estate planning, estate administration, and elder law. Principal areas include simple and complex estate planning for individuals and businesses, including preparation of wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney and related matters; estate administration; tax related matters; charitable giving; and elder law.

Attorney Silberstein also brings over twenty-five (25) years of legal experience in probate and charitable litigation matters and also accepts limited matters in these areas of law.

For more information, please click on one of the links listed on the left or bottom of this page.

69 Park Street, 2nd Floor

(Northmark Bank Building)

Andover, Massachusetts 01810

Phone: (978) 474 - 4700

Fax: (978) 474 - 4701

E-mail: debra@debrasilberstein.com

Attorney Silberstein can be reached for information and consultation

Attorney and Counsellor at Law

Debra Rahmin Silberstein, Esq.

JANUARY 2012 NEWS:

Cable TV Show: Starting the week of January 4, 2012, I will appear on the cable TV show, Boomer Being: Elder Care and the Law. The show will be on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m., Thursdays at 9:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. The show will run through the month of January.

MUPC: As many of you know Massachusetts adopted the Uniform Probate Code, M.G.L.C. 190B, however, implementation originally scheduled for January 2, 2012 has been delayed until March 31, 2012. The Uniform Probate Code is intended to simplify and streamline the probate process. I expect there will be some initial lag time as the Probate Courts adjust to the changes.

Federal Estate and Gift Tax: The current federal estate and gift tax exemption will be reduced from the current $5 million to $1 million on December 31, 2012 barring any changes. There is increased concern about the ability of Congress and/or the supercommittee to agree on such changes. Representative Jim McDermott, D-Wash., recently introduced legislation to set estate tax rates to a maximum marginal rate of 55 percent with a $1 million/$2 million exemption for individuals/couples in 2013. The estate tax rates would be indexed for inflation as of 2000, making the McDermott plan more generous than what is slated to occur under current law after 2012. It is too early to tell what if any changes will be made and what role the estate tax will play in the work of the supercommittee. Current law (combined with low interest rates) remains advantageous for estate tax minimization and leveraging benefits of the current federal gift tax exemption.

Updated Web Site: We are in the process of updating our website, www.debrasilberstein.com. Please look for our launch sometime this month.