Page 22 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021 OBITUARIES Margaret F. “Marge” (Grindle) Fonzi 865 Main Street, Malden on Friday, July 30 at 11:30am. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visitation will be held on Friday morning from 9-11:30am prior to the service. Elisabetta (Iocco) Fortunato and his wife, Michelle of Merrimac. Loving Nana of Jennifer and Brian Helmar, Frank M. Marchillo, Stephen and Kimberly Marchillo, Eric Nyman, Nicole and Brian Dimond, Jodi Cardillo, Zachary, Rachael, Benjamin and Morgan Hall and great-Nana of Kloey Cardillo, Chelsi and McKenna Dimond, Nathan Helmar and Brody Marchillo. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Josephine’s memory to “Cops for Kids with Cancer”, C/O EPD, 45 Elm Street, Everett, MA 02149, would be sincerely appreciated. Passed away on July 27, 2021. She was 91 years old. Margaret was born and raised in Maine. She was a graduate of the Shepherd Gill Nursing School and worked for many years at the Dexter House Nursing Home as an LPN. Marge and her late husband Dan raised their three children in Everett before moving to Wilmington. She was very crafty and loved to sew, quilt and knit. There likely isn’t a family member or friend without a piece of her handiwork in their home. Lovingly known as “Gram”, Margaret loved being with her family and friends and especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by all. Margaret was preceded in death by her late husband Daniel D. Fonzi. She was the beloved mother of Judy Sheehan and her husband Dennis of NH, Daniel “Bucci” Fonzi of Wilmington and Kenneth Fonzi and his late wife Diane of Lowell. Margaret was the sister of the late Betty Osgood. She was the cherished grandmother of Michelle Rozopoulos and her husband George, Daniel Fonzi and his wife Angela, Kenneth “KC” Fonzi and his fiancé Sida Chen, Erin Robbins and her husband Joseph, Candace Fonzi, Meagan Fonzi and Andrew Fonzi and the great-grandmother of 6 great-grandchildren. Margaret also leaves many nieces and nephews. A Funeral Service will be held at the A. J. Spadafora Funeral Home, Gaetano Sacco “YOUR FINANCIAL FOCUS” JOSEPH D. CATALDO SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT RECENT CASE A BIG BOOST TO UPHOLDING WELL SETTLED TRUST LAW A Passed away on Friday, July 23, 2021 at the age of 86. She was the beloved wife of the late Pietro Fortunato. Loving daughter of the late Rocco and Concetta Iocco, loving sister of the late Antonio, Nicoletta and Lidia. Loving sister-in-law of the late Nicolo and Giustina DiRico. Loving daughter-in-law of the late Maddalena Iocco. Loving sister-in-law of Angelo Tummino. Loving Aunt of Domenico and Maria DiRico, Marilyn DiRico Staff, Steve and Elaine Tummino, Peter and Maria Tummino and Mark and Ellen Tummino. Loving best friend of Serafina Mastrocola. Also survived by many relatives and friends. Elisabetta was born in Orsogna, Italy and was a member of Orsogna Women’s Club. She loved cooking and singing at St. Anthony’s Church choir as well as singing with the Orsogna Choir. In lieu of flowers, donations in Elisabetta’s memory may be made to the charity of your choice. Josephine E. (DiGregorio) Hall July 23, 2021 decision by the Massachusetts Of Everett entered into eternal rest on Monday, July 26, 2021 at home surrounded by her loving family. She was 96 years old. Born in Everett, Josephine remained a lifelong resident. Her family was her greatest joy and was very proud of all their accomplishments. Beloved wife of the late Clarence M. “Bob” Hall. Dear and devoted mother of Janet Marchillo and her husband, Frank of Wilmington, Diane Nyman and her husband, Paul and Irene Cardillo and her husband, Paul of Everett and Robert Hall Passed comfortably at home, early Friday morning, July 23, 2021, surrounded by his loving family. Gaetano immigrated with his wife and daughters to the North End of Boston from Venticano, AV Italy in 1974. He worked tirelessly to provide, and make a better life, for his family, eventually buying his first home and settling in Everett. Upon retiring, he loved tending his garden, taking his wife shopping and spending time with his children and grandchildren through every milestone life provided. Gaetano was an avid fan of Italian soccer, action movies and all things authentic and Italian. Papa is, and will forever be in our hearts. Gaetano is survived by his wife of 61 years, Maria Grazia Sacco (Barletta), who he cherished till his last breath, beloved father of Maria and her husband Michele Vigorito of Saugus, Josephine and her husband Adam Foster of Everett. Loving grandfather of Michael Vigorito Jr., Alessandra, Gaetano and Graziella Foster whom he lived each day for. He was a devoted brother to the late Pasquale Sacco and his wife Donata of Brighton. Gaetano is survived by brother Lorenzo Sacco and his loving sisters Giulia Sacco, Carmelina Sacco, Elena Sacco & Filomena Sacco and sisterin-law Rosina Perry of Roslindale. He leaves behind so many people that he truly loved, his cousins whom he always said were more like brothers and sisters to him. Cherished uncle of many beloved nieces and nephews. He also cherished all his dear friends and neighbors. Gaetano has done so much in his 91 years of life but the one thing that he was most proud of was being a family man. He loved his family! In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CHA Foundation (Cambridge Health Alliance/Whidden Hospital). Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld well settled Trust law and now provides the elder bar with more certainty in drafting irrevocable trusts in the context of Medicaid planning. MassHealth’s legal department could not persuade the SJC that a special or limited power of appointment contained in the applicant’s irrevocable trust caused the trust principal to be countable thereby resulting in ineligibility for MassHealth benefits for the applicant. The SJC cited the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers, Section 17.2 (2011) and many Superior Court and Appellate Court cases as grounds for its decision against MassHealth. The benefits of this SJC case for the elderly in Massachusetts are profound. MassHealth has over the last 10 years or so been attacking almost any provision contained in an irrevocable trust in order to deny MassHealth benefits, even though so many of its legal arguments have been in complete contradiction with well settled case law and statutory law. Its arguments seemed to be more based upon its own ideology as to desired outcomes as opposed to them being based upon the actual law. In the case at hand, the applicant and her husband were the Settlors of an irrevocable trust. There was a provision in the trust granting the applicant, during her lifetime, a limited power of appointment to appoint all or any portion of the trust principal to a nonprofit or charitable organization over which she has no controlling interest. MassHealth argued that the applicant could appoint the trust principal to a nonprofit nursing home in order to pay for her nursing home care, and as a result, the entire principal of the trust was countable thereby making the applicant ineligible for MassHealth benefits. The SJC went on to state that since the applicant possessed a special or limited power of appointment, she could not appoint to an otherwise permissible beneficiary in any way that could benefit herself. As a matter of trust common law, statutory law and case law, a special or limited power of appointment, by definition, can never be utilized by the Donee of the power to benefit himself or herself in any way. After MassHealth appealed the Superior Court decision, the SJC took the case directly from the Superior Court thereby bypassing the Appeals Court altogether. The SJC also made it clear that a use and occupancy provision contained in an irrevocable trust likewise did not make the trust principal countable. The decision also made it clear that a trust instrument must be read as a whole in order to determine the Settlor’s intent when he or she executed the document. Trust provisions should not be read in isolation. Rather, they should be read in the context of reading the Trust instrument as a whole. Only then can you determine the Settlor’s intent when creating the Trust. This was an impactful opinion rendered by the SJC based upon excellent legal reasoning. Thank you to the Mass Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Mass Bar Association. A job well done.
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