Page 16 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, July 19, 2024 BEACON | FROM PAGE 15 “We will never achieve racial equity in Massachusetts without addressing the systemic biases in our systems, including our criminal legal system— and giving our children a fair shot at life from birth onward,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “By raising the age today, I am proud that the Senate is making the commonwealth a fairer place for young people who should not be judged for their whole life by a mistake they made as an 18-year-old.” “As the former Senate Chair of the Joint Task Force on Emerging Adults in the Massachusetts Criminal Justice System, I heard from stakeholders across the juvenile and criminal justice systems about the countless public safety benefi ts of raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction,” said Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “Including 18-year-olds in the juvenile system will help ensure all high-schoolers have access to the high-quality rehabilitative programming available through the Department of Youth Services, which will help reduce recidivism and have a long-term positive impact on public safety.” “This amendment to an Economic Development bill sought to raise the juvenile age of criminal prosecution to 19 years old,” said Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) who opposed the amendment. “First, criminal justice policy shouldn’t be snuck into an economic develLEGAL NOTICE City of Everett PLANNING BOARD 484 BROADWAY EVERETT, MA 02149 opment bill. Second, the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court identifi ed numerous concerns about raising the juvenile age … including increased fi nancial costs to the court system; increased delays with justice in the juvenile court, including child welfare and protection cases that are already backlogged by 13,000 cases; and concerns about the mixing of minors and “emerging adults” in a juvenile detention center causing challenges with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act which is supposed to prevent children from being in ‘sight and sound’ contact with adults.“ Fattman continued, [“There are] concerns from numerBEACON | SEE PAGE 18 Settlor Control Over An Irrevocable Trust I n determining whether the principal of an irrevocable Trust can be withdrawn by the Settlor, or given to the Settlor by the Trustee, or is in any other way “available” to the Settlor when seeking eligibility for MassHealth benefi ts or SSI benefi ts, the fact that the Settlor may reserve some rights or powers over the irrevocable Trust should not be a relevant factor. If Congress had made a determination that any aspect of a Settlor’s control over an irrevocable Trust would affect whether or not the assets housed in such a Trust would be countable for MassHealth or SSI purposes, it would have specifi cally stated so in federal Medicaid and SSI Trust laws. Congress has not so stated. Congress has long been LEGAL NOTICE EVERETT PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS: TO CREATE A NEW SECTION 36 OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE ENTITLED “MASTER PLANNED DEVELOPMENT”; TO CREATE A NEW SECTION 37 OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE ENTITLED “EVERETT DOCKLANDS INNOVATION DISTRICT”; TO PERFORM AMENDMENTS TO THE ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF EVERETT TO RE-ZONE CERTAIN PARCELS INTO THE EVERETT DOCKLANDS INNOVATION DISTRICT In accordance with M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Section 5 and Section 12 of the City of Everett Zoning Ordinance (Revised Ordinances, Appendix A), the Everett Planning Board shall conduct the required public hearing for a submitted zoning ordinance. Said public hearing shall be held during a regular meeting of the Planning Board, scheduled on Monday, August 5, 2024 at 6:00PM in the Speaker George Keverian Room at Everett City Hall, Third Floor, 484 Broadway, Everett, MA 02149. At said meeting, the public shall be allowed to speak on the proposed amendments to the City of Everett’s Zoning Ordinance, which contemplates to create a new Section 36 (“Master Planned Development”), Section 37 (“Everett Docklands Innovation District”), and to perform amendments to the existing Zoning Map for the City of Everett to re-zone certain parcels of land into the aforementioned Everett Docklands Innovation District. A copy of the proposed zoning amendment is on file and available in the Office of the City Clerk and the Department of Planning and Development, both located at City Hall, 484 Broadway, Everett, MA 02149 and can be inspected online anytime at: http://www.cityofeverett.com/449/Planning-Board and/or by request during regular City Hall business hours by contacting The Planning and Development Office at 617-394-2334. All persons interested in or wishing to be heard on the applications may attend and participate in the virtual hearing designated above in accordance with the information for public participation that will be included on the Agenda of the meeting that will be posted in accordance with the Open Meeting Law under Planning Board at: http://www.cityofeverett.com/AgendaCenter. Questions and comments can be directed in advance of the public hearing to Matt Lattanzi of the Department of Planning & Development at Matt.Lattanzi@ci.everett.ma.us or 617-394-2230. Frederick Cafasso Chairman July 19, 26, 2024 aware that a Settlor can reserve diff erent aspects of control over an irrevocable Trust. When Congress passed the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, many years prior to passing the current Medicaid Trust laws in 1985 and 1993, Congress had already dealt with control by Settlors in the Trust income taxation area with the well-known “grantor-type” Trust rules. The provisions of Internal Revenue Code sections 671-679, the “grantor-type” Trust rules, are very detailed, and indicate that Congress is very much aware that there are many varieties of Trust provisions where Settlors can reserve varying degrees of control over irrevocable Trusts. In proper statutory interpretation of federal laws, Congress is presumed to know about other laws it has passed. In the Medicaid context, if Congress had been concerned about trust control issues and wanted state agencies, such as MassHealth, to make a complicated review of irrevocable Trusts, Congress could have simply pointed to the “grantor-type” Trust rules. When passing federal Medicaid Trust laws, Congress did not indicate concern for control issues by making any cross-reference to the grantor-type Trust rules, or inserting provisions directly in the federal Medicaid Trust law prohibiting any degree of control by the Settlor. When passing federal Medicaid Trust laws, Congress simply allowed each state to implement their own debtor-creditor laws. MassHealth had been attempting to redefi ne well-settled Trust law in an attempt to deny MassHealth benefi ts. Its legal department was attempting to stretch any legal theory it could come up with to the point of the theory being nonsensical. From a pure Trust law standpoint, the vast majority of Elder Law/Trust Law attorneys believe that these attempts to interpret Trust law in such a way as to achieve MassHealth’s end goal of not approving MassHealth applications, represented a lack of good faith and a defi nite lack of administration consistency on the part of MassHealth. Elder Law attorneys depend upon consistency by hearing offi cers who end up reviewing irrevocable Trusts and rendering decisions on the countability of assets housed in them for eligibility purposes. The bar advocacy for applicants has done an outstanding job in Massachusetts over the last ten years in fi nally achieving the goal of having clients being able to successfully transfer assets to irrevocable trusts that are properly drafted without having to deal with continuous challenges by MassHealth based upon unjustifiable legal positions. Asset protection planning is a perfectly permissible objective of any family. I have yet to have a tax client come to my offi ce and say to me “I want to pay more in income taxes this year than the law requires me to”. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certifi ed Public Accountant, Certifi ed Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation. RESNEK | SEE PAGE МС DIRESNEK| FROM PAGE МС BEACON | FROM PAGE МС LORETO | FROM PAGE МС
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