THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, January 24, 2025 Page 19 OBITUARIES Paul McDonugh A longtime resident of Malden, passed away on Sunday, January 19th, at the age of 82. Paul was born in Boston in 1942, the son of Michael and Mary McDonagh. He was raised and educated in Boston, graduating from Mission Hill High School with the Class of 1960. Shortly after high school, Paul enlisted in the US Air Force, and served during the Vietnam War. Upon his discharge he returned to the Boston area. He began working at General Electric. Upon his retirement in 2002, he was the Shipping and Receiving Manager for the company. In 1986, Paul married his sweetheart, Barbara Goldsmith. The two settled down together and shared nearly 40 years of marriage. Paul enjoyed sailing and golf, and in years past was an avid tennis player. He also enjoyed vacationing in Punta Gorda, Florida. Paul was also a fan of all the Boston sports teams. Paul was a Past Commander of the American Legion in South Boston, the Past President of the GE Management Association, and a member of the Moose Lodge of Malden. A memorial service for Paul will be held at the Weir- MacCuish Golden Rule Funeral Home, 144 Salem St, Malden on Friday, January 24th, at 1PM with visitation beginning at 11AM. Committal in Forest Dale Cemetery, Malden. Dorothy L. (Crowley) Settemio Of Malden, passed away peacefully on January 11th, 2025 at the age of 95, a few weeks shy of her 96th Birthday. Dorothy was born in Melrose on January 27, 1929 to Edward and Henrietta (Duggan) Crowley. She was one of eight children. Dorothy or Dottie as she was affectionately known attended St. Mary's School and then Melrose High School graduating with the Class of 1947. Dottie could be found many days and weekends skating, sledding and generally having fun outdoors as a youngster. She was especially happy and proud of her high school days leading the Melrose High Football team onto the field as a Majorette for Melrose High School. Dottie retired from the City of Malden School Department Central Kitchen where she worked for 20 years. Dottie was married to the late Phil Dorn and had two handsome sons Philip and Brian. She later met her true love in Malden a man named Joseph Settemio with the nickname of Tiger. Dottie and Joe had been married for almost 58 years when he passed away in 2016, together they had their daughter Joanne. Dottie was funny, feisty, and a firecracker. Her laugh was loud, and she didn't care who heard it! She was a wonderful cook whose specialties included Italian food, especially her Italian meatballs and sauce, and her eggplant parm. Dottie was overjoyed when her grandson Christian was born. He was the apple of her and Papa Joe's eye. They were both so proud of him. Dottie was happy when everyone was sitting down at the kitchen table on Pearl Street in Malden enjoying her delicious cooking, laughing, and talking. Dorothy was the loving mother of the late Phillip Dorn of CA, the late Brian Dorn of Malden, and mother to Joanne Settemio of Melrose. She was the grandmother to Philip Michael Dorn of Ok, Carrie Beth Dorn of CA, and Christian Joseph Figueroa of Melrose. She also was the mother-in-law of Henry Figueroa of Melrose. Dottie was the caring sister to Robert Crowley of Reading, and her late siblings; Rosemary DeRoche, Catherine Fallon, Helen Stack, Madeline Lenehan, Edward Crowley, and George Crowley. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and her wonderful friends and neighbors from Edgeworth. Visiting hours were at the A. J. Spadafora Funeral Home, Malden on Saturday, January 18th Interment in Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose. Contributions in Dorothy's name may be made to Philip Dorn Respite Center, 2047 Arnold Industrial Way, Concord, CA 94520. Rev. John U. Paris Passed away peacefully at the Regina Cleri residence for retired priests, on January 15, 2025, he was 97 years old. He was the oldest and longest ordained priest in the Archdiocese of Boston. Born in the Eternal City on February 26, 1927, he was the son of Alessandro and Settimia Paris and was one of seven children. He was fondly known as "Padre Nino" in his hometown. He leaves his sister, Anna and his brother, Aristedamo in Anguillara-Sabazia (Roma); and many nieces and nephews. He was a member of the Clerics Regular of Somasca from his ordination to the priesthood on July 8, 1950. His original community was founded by St. Jerome Emiliani and they were dedicated to the care of the poor, the sick, and especially of orphans. His ordaining bishop was Archbishop Luigi Traglia, then the vice-regent of the Rome Diocese and later the pope's vicar general for the governance of the diocese. Father Paris arrived in the United States and served in several archdiocesan parishes, including St. Mary of the Annunciation, Cambridge (1965-1970); St. Angela Merici, Mattapan (19701974); Immaculate Conception Parish, Malden (1974-1983); and St. Peter Parish (Italian), also in Malden (19832004). He became a priest of the archdiocese with his incardination on March 19, 1979. He is widely known in the Malden area, especially so in the Italo-American community there. He worked on the St Rocco Feast in Malden for many years. He celebrated Mass at Malden Catholic High school after St. Peter’s Parish closed for the Xaverian Brothers and a small group of parisioners. However, his most enduring service OBITS | SEE PAGE 20 COMMUNITY SPOUSE PROTECTION OF ASSETS Therefore, in Massachusetts, the entire $157,920 may be kept and no spend down is necessary. The income of the communiM edicaid (MassHealth in Massachusetts) law provides certain protections for the spouse of a nursing home resident in order to make sure he or she has the minimum support necessary to live in the community. If the MassHealth applicant is married, the countable assets of both the community spouse and institutionalized spouse are totaled as of the date of “institutionalization”, the day on which the ill spouse enters either a hospital or a longterm care facility in which he or she then stays for at least 30 days. This is also commonly referred to as the “snapshot” date because MassHealth is taking a picture of the couple’s assets as of this date. For calendar year 2025, the community spouse may keep up to a maximum of $157,920. Called the “community spouse resource allowance”, this is the most that a state may allow a community spouse to retain without a hearing or a court order. Example: If a couple has $159,920 in countable assets on the date the applicant enters a nursing home, the institutionalized spouse will be eligible for MassHealth. The community spouse may keep $157,920 in his or her own name while the institutionalized spouse may keep up to $2,000 in his or her own name. ty spouse will continue undisturbed. He or she will not have to use his or her income to support the nursing home spouse receiving MassHealth benefits. What if most of the couple’s income is in the name of the institutionalized spouse, and the community spouse’s income is not sufficient to live on? In such cases, the community spouse is entitled to some or all of the monthly income of the institutionalized spouse. How much the community spouse is entitled to depends on what MassHealth determines to be the minimum income level for the community spouse. This figure, known as the minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance or MMMNA, is calculated for each community spouse according to a complicated formula based on his or her housing costs. From July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, the MMMNA may range from a low of $2,555 to a high of $3,948. If the community spouse’s income falls below his or her MMMNA, the shortfall is made up from the nursing home spouse’s income. In some instances community spouses may seek to retain more of the couple’s countable assets and/or some of the institutionalized spouse’s income by asking for a Fair Hearing with MassHealth. The spousal resource allowance is adjusted on January 1st of each year. It is important to know that for a married couple, there may not be a need to transfer assets directly to the children if the countable assets are at or below the $157,920 figure and one spouse is healthy and at home. Planning ahead of time with married couples is very important from an asset protection standpoint. Avoiding an unnecessary spend down is often critical in terms of maintaining some sense of financial stability for the community spouse. It is important to know all of the options available to you under the law. For example, there are numerous key exceptions to certain asset transfers that would otherwise constitute a disqualifying transfer under MassHealth rules. It is important to know whether or not you might fall under one of these exceptions. Obtaining MassHealth eligibility is no easy task. Caseworkers are often overburdened and many times take a long time before they even start to work on reviewing the application and all of the supporting documentation. Invariably, the caseworker will send out a Request For Information once the initial review of the application is completed. Denial notices are issued all of the time. Once a denial notice is issued, you must then file an appeal in order to preserve your initial application date and your benefit start date. It is submitted to the Board of Hearings. Most often, an appeal can be withdrawn upon providing the additional information requested by the caseworker and an agreement by the caseworker to approve the application. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a master’s degree in taxation.
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