Eileen Y. Lee Breger

Eileen Y. Lee Breger concentrates her practice on estate planning, tax strategies, special needs planning, long-term care planning, and estate and trust administration. As an attorney, she takes a practical and personalized approach and frequently works with:

• Families on their estate planning, including blended families
• High net-worth families in need of asset protection, business succession planning and gift and estate tax strategies
• Families providing for special-needs family members
• Elders in need of long-term care planning
• Personal Representatives and Trustees on probate matters, estate settlement and ongoing trust administration.

Eileen has a broad range of estate planning clients. “Everyone needs an estate plan,” she says, “from a simple plan, such as a young couple naming a guardian for their minor children, to an upgraded plan for a couple nearing retirement, which might include tax and asset-protection measures.” Regardless of the age or type of client, Eileen takes time to listen to her client’s goals and to design a plan that is tailored to the client’s individualized needs, yet is balanced and not overly complicated. She sees her role as a trusted adviser and, where there’s a conflict, she is a mediator, working to de-escalate and help work things out between the involved parties.

With her special needs planning practice, Eileen assists those who want to leave assets to a beneficiary who may have a developmental or intellectual disability. Through the planning, she establishes special needs trusts that provide for the beneficiary’s lifetime needs while allowing continued access to government assistance.

Eileen is also involved in the community, including serving on the board of Realizing Children’s Strengths (RCS) Learning Center, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide the highest-quality individualized behavioral and educational services for children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities.

Before Bowditch

Prior to joining Bowditch & Dewey, Eileen practiced at a MetroWest estate planning law firm. Before that, she was a judicial intern at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, in the chambers of Judge Torruella. She also previously served as a judicial intern for Judge Judith Fabricant of the Massachusetts Superior Court and as a law clerk for the Department of the Interior (assigned to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Rhode Island. During law school, Eileen represented family law clients as a student attorney in the Boston College Law School Civil Litigation Clinic.

Besides work

“During the warmer months, I have a large flower garden, including perennial succulents, which are interesting because of their shape and novelty.” Additionally, Eileen and her husband like to travel, especially to the islands of Hawaii.