Page 8 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, SEpTEmbER 5, 2025 STADIUM | FROM PAGE 4 ments are already approved and funded, with only the details left to be worked out. “Transportation options were talked about before the stadium,” DiDomenico said. “If that foundation wasn’t laid, it would take longer to put these measures into action. There’d be no way to put it in under present conditions. If we were to put the stadium in as it is now, I’d take a back seat.” Bilello also spoke about how early in the process the siting is. “By no means has a stadium been approved,” he said. “All the legislation did was remove the DPA status. There are many steps to go. The next steps are state permitting and local review, and public engagement is a part of the process.” “This is just the start of the public process,” Revolution Vice President of Marketing & Community Relations Cathal Conlon added. “Everything is conceptual now. We have to start the actual planning and there are opportunities for public input in the future.” About 100 people attended the forum, with many offering remarks after the various presentations from the Revolution. Many reiterated their opinions for or against the project from earlier forums, but Conlon feels comments have become less against the project and more about getting information and providing input as to how the stadium may be used for the benefit of the community and what might be included in a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers mentioned the need for public restrooms and trash receptacles in any park, The Kraft Group funding a community center and public safety facilities and establishment of a Community Action Board to oversee community access and use of the park and stadiSTADIUM | SEE PAGE 12 The Fournier Mass Supreme Judicial Court Case T his July 23, 2021, decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld well settled Trust law and has provided 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 RestateJ& • Reliable Mowing Service • Spring & Fall Cleanups • Mulch & Edging • Sod or Seed Lawns • Shrub Planting & Trimming • Water & Sewer Repairs Joe Pierotti, Jr. S LANDSCAPE & MASONRY CO. Masonry - Asphalt • Brick or Block Steps • Brick or Block Walls • Concrete or Brick Paver Patios & Walkways • Brick Re-Pointing • Asphalt Paving www.JandSlandscape-masonry.com • Senior Discount • Free Estimates • Licensed & Insured 617-389-1490 Designing and Constructing Ideas that are “Grounds for Success” Landscaping ment (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 had, for a period of about 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 had been in complete contradiction with well settled case law and statutory law. Its arguments had 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 Fournier case, 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 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. A provision in an irrevocable Trust providing for the Settlor to use, occupy and possess the underlying real estate is key to being able to claim a residential real estate tax exemption in a City or Town that provides for one, without the necessity of reserving a life estate in the deed going into the irrevocable Trust. A provision in an irrevocable Trust allowing for the Trustee to distribute principal to a class of beneficiaries consisting of the descendants of the Settlor likewise would be upheld based upon the Fournier case reasoning, as the Settlor would not be able to benefit from such a provision and would not, under any circumstances, have a right to receive any principal distributions. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation.
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