Richard C. Barry is a Trust & Estate Attorney who focuses his practice on estate planning and trust and estate administration. He is the vice chairman of the Trust and Estate Department and has served as President of the firm. With more than 35 years of legal experience, Mr. Barry has been with Fletcher Tilton since 1997.
Mr. Barry earned his Bachelor’s degree from Boston College and graduated from Suffolk University Law School. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts.
A leading resource on sophisticated estate planning techniques, Mr. Barry has helped countless clients develop estate plans that avoid significant state and federal taxes. He counsels owners of closely held businesses on succession planning. Mr. Barry has lectured frequently on estate tax avoidance strategies and Medicaid planning.
Mr. Barry was named a Fellow for the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel for outstanding contributions to the field of trust and estate law and has been listed in Best Lawyers® for Trusts & Estates from 2009 through 2024. He was one of the attorneys responsible for drafting the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code (MUPC), which was enacted in 2009. He has since given numerous lectures on behalf of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education and the Massachusetts Bar Association about the MUPC.
Mr. Barry is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and Worcester County Bar Association. He is the past president of both the Estate and Business Planning Council of Worcester County and Central Massachusetts Planned Giving Council. Mr. Barry is also a former member of the Joint Massachusetts Bar Association/Boston Bar Association Committee on the Uniform Probate Code and of the Board of Trustees for the Reliant Medical Group Foundation.
Practice Areas
Education & Certifications
- Suffolk University Law School, J.D., cum laude
- Boston College, B.A., cum laude
Admissions
- Massachusetts Bar
Publications
Significant Representation & Achievements
- Fellow of American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- Listed in Super Lawyers® for Estate Planning and Probate from 2005 – 2024
- Listed in Best Lawyers® for Trusts & Estates, 2009 – 2024
- One of the attorneys responsible for drafting the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code (MUPC), which was enacted in 2009
Massachusetts Estate Tax Versus the Capital Gains Tax (To Gift or Not To Gift)
Both the federal and Massachusetts estate taxes are based on the value of a person’s assets on his or her date of death. Both taxes provide an unlimited marital deduction, which means that all assets passing to a surviving spouse are not subject to the estate tax. Under the federal estate tax, each person also…
The SECURE Act – How It Impacts Your Retirement Planning. What You Need To Know In a Nutshell
On December 20, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (“SECURE Act”) into law. If you have a retirement account and/or if you anticipate being named as a beneficiary of a retirement account, here is a summary of what you need to know about the…