THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, June 26, 2026 Page 9 MUSINGS | FROM PAGE 6 a place to sit, air conditioned, and it had waiter service. Wow! All is good…the pickles…and how much meat do they actually go through each day? Veniero’s bakery on 342 E. 11th Street was sweet! They deserve a plug. Peter romanticized about the Black Forest Cake as his annual birthday dessert. My chocolate cream filled cannoli with chocolate chips inside a chocolate crusted shell was epic. Danny’s strawberry shortcake was the size of someone’s head. Joe couldn’t finish his cake! Well, we had all just splurged on a ‘sangwich’ that weighed a pound! Again, an air-conditioned and tasty rest before we journeyed back to the train, interrupted by a street length movie set we had to navigate. “We talked about films and the movies Malden used to attract. What happened? Old school music and partying was a topic. Harbor House was on the list. Green Street boys were everywhere back in the day. They could hoop and party! That was a Malden combo back then. We always talk about the timeless Gary Cherone and how talented he is, able to stay relevant and good! Ageless. We talked about Chic…we also talked about Dom Fermano, and how helpful he was to me when I was Principal and to Joe at the City of Malden. Little did we know he would pass a few days later. “We loved just sitting, watching, and listening. The architecture is special. People are in a hurry. If you think Malden is having issues with motorized bikes and motorized scooters, don’t go to New York… and if you do go, wait for the Walk Sign!! Joe is the unofficial line leader. He gets us to where we need to be, and on time! New York has more tree lined streets than I thought…important the day we went. We go because we can, we want to, and because it feels right. Coming back to Malden feels even better.” Thank you, Mr. Brown. As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” — NYC is chaos the moment you exit Penn Station. Loud, abrasive, physically intense, bright, flashy, gaudy and garish. But there are rare pockets of “serenity” if you just so happen to stumble across one. We found one in the middle of the chaos but sorta, kinda tucked away. A majestic ancient house of worship plopped in the middle of the island with towering shade trees dotting the expansive front entrance was one such place. Under these inviting branches artists created, lovers courted and construction workers gathered around their lunch pails. Those trees silent witness to the everyday mishigas that make up a NYC day— the good, bad and the (at times) very ugly; serenity and peace of mind discovered amongst the chaos, a welcome sight indeed for four Malden boys (of a certain age) in NYC. Postscript: not to be confused with Simon & Garfunkel’s 1970 ode to Paul’s loneliness, “The Only Living Boy in New York” from their fifth and final studio album as a duo, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” because it ain’t possible to be lonely in NYC. One last gratuitous aside. LOL. —Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate. He can be reached at PeteL39@aol. com for comments, compliments or criticisms. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Advocate Call now! 617-387-2200 advertise on the web at www.advocatenews.net DYING WITHOUT A WILL It should be noted that properI The World’s First Hearing Aids With Touchscreen Controls. No tiny buttons. No apps. No prescriptions. Call 844-497-3476 to get your 45-day risk free trial. Revolutionary technology with touchscreen control. Hearing modes for any environment. Multiple models to choose from. Portable charging case. 48-hour battery life. UV cleaning. Background noise cancellation. 45-day risk free trial. n Massachusetts, the legal profession refers to a person that dies without a Will as a person that dies “intestate”. A person who dies with a validly executed Will is said to die “testate”. The law in force at the time of the decedent’s death is what governs “statutory” decent and distribution under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code (MUPC). If you do not have a Will, one must look to the (MUPC) in order to determine the identity of the persons who will be considered your heirs at law and what will be the size of their statutory share of your estate. Mass General Laws, Chapter 190B. The MUPC applies to all property not disposed of by Will either because there was no Will or, if there was a Will, there was no residuary clause. Often times, people will exeAtom X cute Wills in order to disinherit others. For example, in order to insure that an unmarried decedent leaves all of his or her assets to his or her lifelong partner, it is important to execute a Will to accomplish this. Otherwise, surviving brothers and sisters as well as children of deceased brothers and sisters would receive under the intestacy statute assuming the decedent has no parents and no children. ty held in Trust, life insurance proceeds, qualified retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, and annuities, for example, do not constitute part of one’s probate estate. Therefore, the Will does not affect the ultimate disposition of these assets. The beneficiary designation is controlling. That is why it is so important to provide for secondary beneficiary designations in the event the primary beneficiary predeceases you. By statute, your surviving spouse is considered your heir. If you die without a Will and you are married with children of that marriage, the MUPC provides that your surviving spouse will take all of the probate assets. If you are married with no children and no parents, your surviving spouse will also take all of the probate assets. If you are dealing with a second marriage and if one or both spouses have children from a previous marriage, the MUPC provides for a much different outcome in order to make sure that all parties receive a portion of the probate estate. (i.e. the spouse of the second marriage and children of the decedent from a previous marriage. If you die without a surviving spouse and you die with children surviving you, then your property will pass to your children in equal shares, the children of any deceased child to take their parent’s share “by right of representation”. If you die with no surviving spouse and with no surviving children or grandchildren, your property will pass to your parents in equal shares. If you die with no surviving spouse, no surviving children and grandchildern and no surviving parents, then your property will pass to your surviving brothers and sisters, in equal shares, the children of deceased brothers and sisters to take their parent’s share “by right or representation”. If you die with no surviving spouse, no children, no grandchildren, no parents, no siblings, and no blood nieces and nephews, then your property passes to the nearest blood relatives based upon “degrees of kindred”. Only if you die without having any kindred will your property “escheat” to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If is important to execute a Will. There are numerous benefits to having one. There are numerous unintended outcomes as a result of not having one. Provisions for guardianship of minor children, specific bequests, specific burial wishes, charitable bequests, selection of Executors, wrongful death lawsuits, and Medical malpractice lawsuits are just some of the other reasons why Wills are important. You would want to name the individuals that would receive the proceeds of a wrongful death lawsuit or a Mesothelioma lawsuit, for example. It’s not a good idea to not execute a Will, even if you believe that all assets are held in Trust, are held as joint tenants with rights of survivorship or have named beneficiaries. 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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