Page 16 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2024 BEACON | FROM Page 15 QUOTABLE QUOTES — By The SETTLOR CONTROL OVER AN IRREVOCABLE TRUST I n determining whether the principal of an irrevocable Trust can be withdrawn by the Settlor, or given to the Settlor by the Trustee, or is in any other way “available” to the Settlor when seeking eligibility for MassHealth benefi ts or SSI benefi ts, the fact that the Settlor may reserve some rights or powers over the irrevocable Trust should not be a relevant factor. If Congress had made a determination that any aspect of a Settlor’s control over an irrevocable Trust would affect whether or not the assets housed in such a Trust would be countable for MassHealth or SSI purposes, it would have specifi cally stated so in federal Medicaid and SSI Trust laws. Congress has not so stated. Congress has long been aware that a Settlor can reserve diff erent aspects of control over an irrevocable Trust. When Congress passed the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, many years prior to passing the current Medicaid Trust laws in 1985 and 1993, Congress had already dealt with control by Settlors in the Trust income taxation area with the well-known “grantor-type” Trust rules. The provisions of Internal Revenue Code sections 671-679, the “grantortype” Trust rules, are very detailed, and indicate that Congress is very much aware that there are many varieties of Trust provisions where Settlors can reserve varying degrees of control over irrevocable Trusts. In proper statutory interpretation of federal laws, Congress is presumed to know about other laws it has passed. In the Medicaid context, if Congress had been concerned about trust control issues and wanted state agencies, such as MassHealth, to make a complicated review of irrevocable Trusts, Congress could have simply pointed to the “grantor-type” Trust rules. When passing federal Medicaid Trust laws, Congress did not indicate concern for control issues by making any cross-reference to the grantor-type Trust rules, or inserting provisions directly in the federal Medicaid Trust law prohibiting any degree of control by the Settlor. When passing federal Medicaid Trust laws, Congress simply allowed each state to implement their own debtor-creditor laws. MassHealth had been attempting to redefi ne well-settled Trust law in an attempt to deny MassHealth benefi ts. Its legal department was attempting to stretch any legal theory it couldcome up with to the point of the theory being nonsensical. From a pure Trust law standpoint, the vast majority of Elder Law/Trust Law attorneys believe that these attempts to interpret Trust law in such a way as to achieve MassHealth’s end goal of not approving MassHealth applications, represented a lack of good faith and a definite lack of administration consistency on the part of MassHealth. Elder Law attorneys depend upon consistency by hearing offi cers who end up reviewing irrevocable Trusts and rendering decisions on the countability of assets housed in them for eligibility purposes. The bar advocacy for applicants has done an outstanding job in Massachusetts over the last ten years in fi nally achieving the goal of having clients being able to successfully transfer assets to irrevocable trusts that are properly drafted without having to deal with continuous challenges by MassHealth based upon unjustifi able legal positions. Asset protection planning is a perfectly permissible objective of any family. I have yet to have a tax client come to my offi ce and say to me “I want to pay more in income taxes this year than the law requires me to”. 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. Numbers Edition Last week marked the 1-year anniversary of a bill signed into law in 2023 that allows undocumented/illegal immigrants to apply for a learner’s permit and Massachusetts standard driver’s license. The law requires an applicant “without legal presence” in the United States - LEGAL NOTICE - Date of Death: To all persons interested in the above captioned estate, by Petition of Petitioner of a Will has been admitted to informal probate. of has been informally appointed as the Personal Representative of the estate to serve on the bond. ~ Legal Notice ~ COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS THE TRIAL COURT PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT DEPARTMENT DIVORCE SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION AND MAILING vs. To the Defendant: STEPHANIE EVERETT REGISTER OF PROBATE to provide the Registry of Motor Vehicles with a foreign passport and at least one of fi ve other documents: a driver’s license from another state, a foreign driver’s license, a birth certificate, a foreign national identifi cation card or a marriage certifi cate or divorce decree from any U.S. state. Here are the numbers: 183,825 ---Number of new learner’s permits issued from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024 — an increase of 113,441 over the 70,384 issued in the same time period from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023. 128,075 ---Number of new driver’s licenses issued from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024 — an increase of $72,926 over the 55,149 issued in the same time period from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023 35 ---Number of languages in which people are tested to obtain learner’s permits. 100 ---Number of languages in which in-person and phone assistance is available. 250 ---Number of new employees hired to handle the thousands of additional applications for learner’s permits and driver’s licenses. HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Sena er matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been fi led. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session. During the week July 8-12. the House met for a total of four hours and 43 minutes and the Senate met for a total of twelve hours and 49 minutes. Mon. July 8 House 11:01 a.m. to 11:10 a.m. Senate 11:16 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Tues. July 9 No House session No Senate session Wed. July 10 House 11:02 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. No Senate session Thurs. July 11 House 11:01 a.m. to 11:47 a.m. Senate 11:01 a.m. to 11:46 p.m. Fri. July 12 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com Bob founded Beacon Hill Roll Call in 1975 and was inducted into the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA) Hall of Fame in 2019.
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