CONNELLY LAW
Serving Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut
401-724-9400
Serving Southern New England
Since 1970
Connelly Law is a Rhode Island elder law attorney specializing in estate planning and probate law as well as a variety of fiduciary services
ESTATE PLANNING
PROBATE
TRUST and WILLS
MEDICAID PLANNING
Southern New England's Certified Elder Law Attorney
Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut Certified Elder Law Attorney
About Connelly Law
At Connelly Law, elder law is about more than documents and legal decisions. It is about protecting the people you love, preserving what you have worked a lifetime to build, and preparing for the challenges that can come with aging.
Led by Certified Elder Law Attorney RJ Connelly III, Connelly Law provides experienced, compassionate guidance to older adults and their families throughout Rhode Island, Eastern Connecticut, Southeastern Massachusetts, and Martha's Vineyard. We help clients navigate estate planning, Medicaid and long-term care planning, asset protection, guardianships, probate and estate administration, and other complex issues affecting older adults and their families.
Every family's circumstances are different. We start by listening, understanding your concerns, and developing practical legal strategies tailored to your needs and goals. Whether you are planning well in advance or facing an unexpected long-term care crisis, we help you understand your options, protect what matters, and move forward with greater confidence.
When the decisions are important, experienced guidance matters. Connelly Law is here to help you plan, protect, and prepare for what comes next.
Estate Planning
At Connelly Law, we believe estate planning begins with family. It is about protecting the people you love, preserving what you have worked a lifetime to build, and making thoughtful decisions today that can provide security and peace of mind for tomorrow.
As we grow older, those decisions often become more important. Questions about health,
independence, long-term care, finances, the family home, and who will step in if help is needed can become very real concerns for seniors and their families. A thoughtfully designed estate plan can provide direction in these moments, helping ensure your wishes are known and the people you trust have the authority they may need to act on your behalf.
Our approach is highly personal. We take the time to understand your circumstances, your concerns, your family relationships, and what you hope to accomplish. From wills and trusts to powers of attorney, health care planning, asset protection, and planning for future generations, we work to create an estate plan that reflects not simply what you own, but what matters to you.
For adult children helping aging parents, estate planning can also bring reassurance. Knowing you've discussed important decisions, have documents in place, and have clearly expressed your wishes can reduce uncertainty when families face illness, incapacity, or other unexpected changes.
At Connelly Law, our goal is not simply to prepare documents. We help families prepare for life. Through thoughtful planning, experienced guidance, and a genuine understanding of the concerns facing seniors and those who care for them, we help clients protect their independence, their families, and the legacy they hope to leave behind. Because a good estate plan does more than protect assets. It protects the people, values, and wishes behind them.
Medicaid Planning
At Connelly Law, we understand that long-term care planning is about far more than finances. It is about protecting a lifetime of hard work, preserving dignity and independence, providing for a spouse, and helping families make difficult decisions about the care and future of someone they love.
Our firm leads the way in Medicaid Planning and Medicaid Crisis Planning in Southern New England, helping seniors and their families navigate the complex financial and legal issues that arise when long-term care becomes necessary. Whether you plan well in advance or face an unexpected need for nursing home care, our team helps you understand your options and develop a strategy tailored to your family's circumstances.
We understand that long-term care planning is about far more than finances. It is about protecting a lifetime of hard work, preserving dignity and independence, providing for a spouse, and helping families make difficult decisions about the care and future of someone they love.
Long-term care planning can feel overwhelming. Families may worry about protecting the family home, preserving savings, providing financial security for a spouse, or leaving something behind for children and grandchildren. We approach these concerns with both experience and compassion, recognizing that behind every financial decision is a family trying to do what is best for someone they care about.
Our legal and fiduciary professionals develop thoughtful planning strategies designed to protect assets, address long-term care needs, and preserve financial security whenever possible. Just as importantly, we help families understand their choices so they can make informed decisions with greater confidence and peace of mind. At Connelly Law, Medicaid planning is not simply about protecting assets. It is about protecting families, preserving choices, and helping seniors face the future with dignity and security.
Probate
When a loved one passes away, families are often left with more than grief. They may have property to protect, financial affairs to resolve, creditors and expenses to address, and an estate to settle. For someone who has never served as an executor or personal representative, those responsibilities can quickly feel overwhelming.
At Connelly Law we help families navigate probate and estate administration with clarity, compassion, and practical guidance. Whether we assist a family member entrusted with settling an estate or serve in a fiduciary capacity ourselves, our goal is to ensure important responsibilities are handled carefully and respectfully.
Our services include probate and decedent estate administration, assistance to executors and personal representatives, and, when appropriate, serving in a fiduciary capacity. We help families understand what needs to be done, work
through the legal and administrative requirements, and provide guidance as the estate moves toward resolution.
Our work also extends to guardianships and conservatorships, particularly when an older or vulnerable individual can no longer safely manage certain personal or financial matters independently. These situations can be especially difficult for families because they touch upon deeply personal questions involving independence, dignity, safety, and care. We approach them with sensitivity to both the needs of the individual and the concerns of those who love them.
We recognize that probate and fiduciary matters are ultimately about people, not paperwork. Our role is to help families navigate difficult transitions, protect the interests and dignity of those involved, and provide steady guidance when it is needed most.
Professional Fiduciary Services
An older adult may need help managing finances, legal matters, property, health care, or everyday responsibilities. Sometimes family members live far away, have their own responsibilities, or simply can't take on the complex duties involved. In other circumstances, an individual may prefer the independence and continuity that comes from appointing an experienced professional rather than placing that responsibility on a loved one. At Connelly Law, our professional fiduciary services are built around a simple principle: protect the individual while preserving dignity, independence, and quality of life whenever possible.
Our legal and fiduciary professionals can serve in trusted roles such as trustee, executor or personal representative, agent under a power of attorney, guardian, conservator, and other court-appointed or privately designated fiduciary capacities.
Depending upon the particular appointment and the needs of the individual, our work may involve managing finances and assets, overseeing property and household matters, paying bills and expenses, maintaining appropriate records, coordinating with accountants and other professionals, addressing insurance and benefit matters, and helping ensure that important financial and administrative responsibilities are not overlooked.
For seniors who need additional support, our role can extend beyond managing assets. Fiduciary service often requires understanding the entire person and the circumstances surrounding them. We work with families, caregivers, health care providers, social service professionals, residential communities, and others involved in an individual's care when appropriate, always guided by the responsibilities of the fiduciary role and the needs and wishes of the person we serve.
We also provide professional administration of trusts and decedent estates, helping carry out the instructions in estate planning documents and manage the responsibilities that arise after death. When families select Connelly Law to serve as fiduciary, they gain an experienced professional resource to manage responsibilities that can otherwise be time-consuming, complicated, and emotionally difficult.
Most importantly, we understand that fiduciary service is about much more than managing money or completing paperwork. It is about accepting responsibility for another person's well-being, property, wishes, and legacy. That responsibility deserves patience, careful judgment, professionalism, and respect.
Why Families Choose Connelly Law
Families often come to Connelly Law during important transitions in life. They may be planning for the future, helping an aging parent, facing the possibility of long-term care, protecting a family home and life savings, or trying to make the right decisions for someone whose needs are changing. These are deeply personal matters, and we believe the guidance families receive should be equally personal.
Led by Attorney RJ Connelly III, our legal and fiduciary team brings extensive experience in elder law, estate planning, Medicaid and long-term care planning, probate and trust administration, guardianships, and professional fiduciary services. Attorney Connelly is licensed to practice in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, allowing our firm to assist families whose lives, property, and planning needs may extend across Southern New England.
What distinguishes our approach, however, goes beyond legal knowledge. We take the time to understand the person behind the plan: their family, their
concerns, their independence, and the legacy they hope to protect. For an older adult, that may mean planning for future care while preserving dignity and personal choice. For a spouse or adult child, it may mean finding answers when a loved one's health or circumstances begin to change. And for a family that has lost someone, it may mean having experienced guidance through probate, estate administration, and the responsibilities that follow.
Our goal is to help families look beyond the immediate legal issue and consider the larger picture. We explain options in understandable terms, anticipate concerns that may arise, and work with clients to develop practical strategies that protect both the individual and the people who depend upon them.
At Connelly Law, we recognize that elder law is ultimately about people, not simply assets and documents. It is about protecting independence, providing for those you love, preparing for life's uncertainties, and helping families find greater confidence during times of change. Because when a family entrusts us with its future, we understand the responsibility that comes with that trust.
Experience to guide you. Compassion to understand you. A commitment to protecting what matters most.
Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut Certified Elder Law Attorney
Contact us!
Award Winning Certified Elder Law Attorney
"With over thirty years of experience in elder law, Connelly Law stands out as one of the premier law firms in Southern New England focusing on the needs of older adults and those with disabilities. Our services include asset protection, probate, Medicaid planning, estate planning, and professional fiduciary services. Call us today!"
"Southern New England's Certified Elder Law Attorney"
Call Connelly Law Today
Certified Elder Law Attorney
Phone: 401-724-9400
Fax: 401-724-3046
Our office locations
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CONNELLY LAW
Eastern Connecticut
Barring Emergency needs, all Connecticut appointments will be held through ZOOM or WebEx. Appointments at our main office also available.
860-440-7600
Rhode Island - Main Office
372 Broadway
Pawtucket, RI 02860
401-724-9400
Southeastern Massachusetts
Central Massachusetts
Martha's Vineyard
by special appointment or in our main office
508-316-2396
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This website includes general information about legal issues, issues affecting seniors and developments in the law. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and must not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You need to contact a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction for advice on specific legal issues and/or problems.