THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 9, 2026 Page 19 Learn about health care planning at the library DALEY AND NADEAU SUPREME COURT CASES the prior judgments that were in favor of MassHealth. As a result, the applicants become eligible for MassHealth benefits. In other words, these trust provisions have passed muster insofar as the highest court in the land is concerned. MassHealth had presented O n May 30, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) handed down a pretty big blow to MassHealth by ruling in favor of the appellants. The SJC decided to hear the Daley case and the Nadeau case at the same time as the issues in both cases were so intricately related. This favorable decision was due to the endless work by members of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys as well as assistance from the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Massachusetts Real Estate Bar Association. The Daley case involved the transfer of a remainder interest in real estate into an irrevocable trust with a retained life estate in the deed itself on the part of the applicant. The Nadeau case involved simply a transfer of the entire fee simple interest in real estate into an irrevocable trust without a retention of a life estate in the deed itself on the part of the applicant. The court held in both cases that the real estate housed in each of the irrevocable trusts was not a countable asset and reversed what virtually every elder law attorney believed to have been an outrageous argument by claiming that the Health Care Financing Agency (HCFA) Transmittal 64 in effect contained language that should lead to the conclusion that a right to use, occupy and possess real estate held in an irrevocable Trust was a “payment” to a MassHealth applicant/nursing home resident. The SJC rebuked MassHealth’s argument unequivocally. In a nutshell, the SJC stated a use and occupancy right does not rise to the level of a Trustee being able to sell the underlying real estate and use the net sales proceeds therefrom to pay for nursing home care. I always insert a use and occupancy right in irrevocable Trusts that I draft. Another reason to include such a provision is to obtain the real estate exemption that several cities and towns in Massachusetts provide to homeowners. The homeowner must also be either the Trustee of the irrevocable Trust in order to maintain legal title, or if a child is the Trustee, the homeowner must then reserve a life estate in the deed that transfers the home into the irrevocable Trust. The SJC also indicated that a reserved life estate in and of itself does not render the underlying real estate a “countable” asset for MassHealth eligibility purposes. It went on to say, regarding the Daley Trust, that the remainder interest that was transferred into the irrevocable Trust itself was not a “countable” asset as well. It was great news at that time for elderly applicants who had placed their home in an irrevocable Trust that included a provision for use and occupancy. The SJC could have gone a lot further in this case in setting MassHealth straight on many other issues pertaining to irrevocable Trusts. However, subsequent court cases, such as the Fournier Mass Supreme Judicial Court case, helped greatly to prevent MassHealth from taking legal positions with virtually no statutory or case law support. MassHealth at least has to think twice before making an unreasonable and legally-flawed argument in an attempt to attack an otherwise properly drafted irrevocable Trust. It simply lost too many very important court cases and at least for now, decided to change its policy. The Massachusetts elder bar is continually voraciously advocating on behalf of the elderly community. 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. REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS BUYER1 Akara, Vivian Bakshi, Avinash Chen, Hui Di Eustis, Rachel A He, Yuxin Lin, Siyi Warner, Denise Zheng, Ting Hao Chen, Stephanie Lin Campos, Mathews F He, Yongxin Lin, Jiaming BUYER2 SELLER1 Nguyen, Thu Mint Realty Group LLC Mei, Jieping Tran, John Mei, Steve J & Margaret Russell Lt Russell, Kevin J Wang, Ping Nguyen, John Garcia, Antonio C Brocious, Nicole Lannett Defreitas, Joao Dasilva, Oziel N ow’s the time! Stop by the Malden Public Library on Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 10 a.m.11 a.m. to learn about how to get started on your personal health care plan with Honoring Choices Massachusetts. Who is this program for? All adults! A Health Care Proxy and Personal Directive are documents that determine a loved one who can make medical decisions for you in the event that you can’t, and describe what kind of care you do and don’t want. These matters might seem a little daunting at first, which is why a trained professional from Honoring Choices Massachusetts will be leading a presentation and answering questions on the process. You can register at bit.ly/ mpl-plan or by calling 781-3240218. If you have questions, contact Katie at kwalsh@maldenpubliclibrary.org. - LEGAL NOTICE - City of Malden Massachusetts Board of Appeal 215 Pleasant Street Malden, Massachusetts 02148 Telephone 781-397-7000 x2104 MALDEN BOARD OF APPEAL PUBLIC HEARING The Malden Board of Appeal will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 6:30 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada) at Malden City Hall, 215 Pleasant St, Room #106 Herbert L Jackson Council Chambers, Malden, MA Petition 26-008 by 616 Broadway Holding LLC on behalf of Delight Medicals Inc., seeking a variance under Code of the City of Malden as amended – Title 4 Section 4.16.090 (C) Table of Intensity Regulations: Specifically: Regulation of Signs; By District as per plans SGER-078291-2026 at the property known as and numbered 616 Broadway., Malden, MA and also known by City Assessor’s Parcel ID #160-625-501 Additional information, Petition & plans available for public review in the Office of Inspectional Services, 215 Pleasant St., 3rd floor, Malden, MA or online at www.cityofmalden.org or https://maldenma-energovweb.tylerhost.net/apps/SelfService#/ home Nathaniel Cramer, Chair October 09, 16, 2026 Copyrighted material previously published in Banker & Tradesman/The Commercial Record, a weekly trade newspaper. It is reprinted with permission from the publisher, The Warren Group. For a searchable database of real estate transactions and property information visit: www.thewarrengroup.com. SELLER2 ADDRESS 130 Elwell St 37 Bent Ave 29 Wyoming Ave 74 Seaview Ave 57 High St CITY Malden Malden Malden Malden Malden 36-38 Wentworth St Malden 81 Cross St 82 West St Malden Malden DATE 09.18.26 09.16.26 09.15.26 09.15.26 09.18.26 09.14.26 09.16.26 09.14.26 PRICE 768000 682000 1100000 675000 580000 919000 925000 890000
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