What does a closing attorney
do in Massachusetts?

By David Clermont, Esq. · Published August 21, 2026

Massachusetts is one of a handful of states where a licensed attorney must conduct a real estate closing. Someone will be doing that job at your closing. The useful question is what the job actually consists of, and whose interests that person was hired to protect.

Why an attorney is required at all

In 2011 the Supreme Judicial Court decided Real Estate Bar Association v. National Real Estate Information Services and settled a question that had been argued for years: conducting a Massachusetts real estate closing is the practice of law. Drafting the deed, certifying title, and overseeing the transfer are not clerical tasks that a title company employee can perform under remote supervision. An attorney has to be meaningfully involved.

The practical result is that every Massachusetts closing has an attorney at it. What varies — and what most buyers never think to ask about — is which party that attorney represents.

The work, in order

Reviewing the purchase and sale agreement. This is the first and most valuable thing an attorney does for you, and the one most often skipped. The offer to purchase gets replaced by a purchase and sale agreement, and the P&S is where the inspection contingency, the financing contingency, the deadline for each, the definition of what fixtures convey, and the consequences of missing a date all get fixed. Once signed, those terms are the deal. Standard-form P&S agreements in Massachusetts are drafted from the seller's side.

Examining title. The attorney traces ownership of the property back through the registry of deeds, typically fifty years, looking for anything that clouds the title: mortgages that were paid off but never discharged, liens, easements, restrictions, boundary descriptions that no longer match the ground, and estates that were never properly probated when an owner died. Old, long-held houses generate the most findings.

Clearing what the exam turns up. Most title defects are fixable given lead time — a discharge obtained from a lender, a probate gap resolved, an affidavit recorded. This is why the examination happens early rather than the week of closing.

Obtaining title insurance. The lender requires a policy protecting its mortgage. An owner's policy, which protects your equity, is optional and separate.

Preparing the closing documents. The deed, the closing disclosure and settlement statement, the discharge of the seller's mortgage, the homestead declaration, and — where the property is held in a trust or an entity — the certificates confirming the signer's authority.

Conducting the closing and disbursing funds. Signatures, then the payoff of the seller's mortgage, the real estate commissions, the excise tax, and the balance to the seller.

Recording. The deed and mortgage are recorded at the registry of deeds for the county where the property sits. For Dracut, Lowell, Chelmsford, and Tyngsborough that is the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds in Lowell; for Andover it is Essex North, in Lawrence.

Whose attorney is it?

If you are financing the purchase, your lender will require a closing attorney and will usually name one from its approved list. That attorney's client is the lender. Their obligation runs to making sure the mortgage is valid, properly recorded, and in first position.

There is a great deal that duty does not cover. The lender's attorney has no obligation to tell you that the septic certificate is about to expire, that the P&S gives you five days to complete an inspection that realistically takes ten, that the deed describes a parcel that does not match the survey, or that the fence you liked is on the neighbor's land. Those are your problems, and they need someone whose job is you.

Retaining your own attorney does not mean paying twice for the same work. The two roles are different, and in many transactions a buyer's attorney is also acceptable to the lender as the closing attorney, which consolidates both.

What it costs

Attorney fees for a residential closing are typically a flat fee, quoted before the work starts. They are one line among the closing costs, which also include recording fees, the title insurance premiums, the lender's own charges, and the Massachusetts deed excise stamps — currently $4.56 per $1,000 of the sale price, customarily paid by the seller.

The timeline

Thirty to forty-five days from accepted offer to closing is the norm for a financed purchase, with the lender's underwriting setting most of the pace. Cash purchases can move considerably faster. Title problems are the most common cause of delay, which is the whole argument for starting the examination the week the P&S is signed rather than the week before closing.

Questions we get asked

General information about Massachusetts law, current as of publication — not legal advice, and not a substitute for talking through your own circumstances with an attorney. Reading this page does not create an attorney–client relationship.

Keep reading

• What to check before you sign the P&S
• Our real estate practice
• Closings in Dracut