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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUly 28, 2023 Page 21 THE SOUNDS | FROM PAGE 20 news announcements, freelance articles and courtesy photos from the community. Our deadline is noon Wednesday. If you have a story idea, an article or photo to submit, please email me at mvoge@ comcast.net or leave a message at 978-683-7773. Let us become your hometown newspaper. The Saugus Advocate is available in the Saugus Public Library, the Saugus Senior Center, Saugus Town Hall, local convenience stores and restaurants throughout town. Let’s hear it! Got an idea, passing thought or gripe you would like to share with The Saugus Advocate? I’m always interested in your feedback. It’s been six and a half years since I began work at The Saugus Advocate. I’m always interested in hearing readers’ suggestions for possible stories or good candidates for “The Advocate Asks” interview of the week. Feel free to email me at mvoge@ comcast.net. Do you have some interesting views on an issue that you want to express to the community? Submit your idea. If I like it, we can meet for a 15to 20-minute interview over a drink at a local coffee shop. And I’ll buy the coffee or tea. Or, if you prefer to continue practicing social distancing and be interviewed from the safety of your home on the phone or via email, I will provide that option to you as the nation recovers from the Coronavirus crisis. If it’s a nice day, my preferred site for a coffee and interview would be the picnic area of the Saugus Iron Works - LEGAL NOTICE - COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS THE TRIAL COURT PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT Essex Probate and Family Court 36 Federal Street Salem, MA 01970 (978) 744-1020 Docket No. ES23P2251EA Estate of: MAUREEN D. PUGLIELLI Date of Death: 02/17/2023 CITATION ON PETITION FOR FORMAL ADJUDICATION To all interested persons: A Petition for Formal Adjudication of Will with Appointment of Personal Representative has been filed by Jacqueline Dawley of Topsfield, MA requesting that the Court enter a formal Decree and Order and for such other relief as requested in the Petition. The Petitioner requests that: Jacqueline Dawley of Topsfield, MA be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve Without Surety on the bond in unsupervised administration. IMPORTANT NOTICE You have the right to obtain a copy of the Petition from the Petitioner or at the Court. You have a right to object to this proceeding. To do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance and objection at this Court before: 10:00 a.m. on the return day of 08/28/2023. This is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline by which you must file a written appearance and objection if you object to this proceeding. If you fail to file a timely written appearance and objection followed by an affidavit of objections within thirty (30) days of the return date, action may be taken without further notice to you. UNSUPERVISED ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE MASSACHUSETTS UNIFORM PROBATE CODE (MUPC) A Personal Representative appointed under the MUPC in an unsupervised administration is not required to file an inventory or annual accounts with the Court. Persons interested in the estate are entitled to notice regarding the administration directly from the Personal Representative and may petition the Court in any matter relating to the estate, including the distribution of assets and expenses of administration. WITNESS, Hon. Frances M. Giordano, First Justice of this Court. Date: July 21, 2023 PAMELA A. CASEY O’BRIEN REGISTER OF PROBATE July 28, 2023 CASH VALUE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES I f applying for MassHealth it is important to realize that MassHealth will count the cash value in a whole life, universal life or variable universal life insurance policy if the face value of the policy is greater than $1,500. This is important as the community spouse can have no more than $148,620 in countable assets and the nursing home spouse can only have $2,000 or less in countable assets in order to be eligible for MassHealth long-term care benefits. If the community spouse has two cash value life insurance policies and each has a face value of $800, then the total face value would exceed $1,500 thereby rendering the cash value of both policies a countable asset. If the cash value policies are owned by the spouse applying for MassHealth benefits, ownership of the policies can be transferred to the community spouse in order to reduce the nursing home spouse’s countable assets to less than $2,000. There is no disqualifying transfer when one spouse transfers countable assets to the other spouse. However, the community spouse’s total countable assets cannot exceed $148,620, including the total cash value of all of the life insurance policies. An advanced planning strategy might be to transfer ownership of the policies to the children in order to commence the five year look back period. Each of your children could also be the beneficiary of each life insurance policy. This will serve to remove the countable asset out of the name(s) of the parent(s) when you feel confident neither of the parents will be applying for MassHealth benefits prior to the expiration of the five year look back period. If the policies are paid up with no more required premiums to be paid, the life insurance policies can be transferred to an irrevocable trust as well in order to commence the five year look back period. Keep in mind that since term insurance policies have no cash value, they are not countable assets for MassHealth eligibility purposes. The community spouse would certainly want to make sure that the children are named the beneficiaries of the life insurance policy and not the spouse who is entering a nursing home who is either applying for MassHealth benefits or who is already on MassHealth. Another option would be for the community spouse to name his or her estate as the beneficiary of the life insurance policies (cash value or term) and include a testamentary trust provision in his or her Will that would provide discretionary distributions of income and principal for the nursing home spouse. Assets in such a testamentary trust would not be a countable asset for MassHealth purposes and income and principal distributions would serve to provide supplemental benefits to the nursing home spouse that would not be provided by MassHealth or any other governmental programs. With advanced planning, you can transfer ownership of any life insurance policy to an irrevocable trust in order to remove the policy from the countable resource pool. Five years after such a transfer, the cash value in any life insurance policy will no longer be countable. If the insured were to die, the death benefit would be paid to the Trust and the surviving spouse would be entitled to the income generated from the investment of the life insurance proceeds, but not be entitled to receive any principal. It is always good to review your life insurance policies in order to determine if any advanced planning strategies should be employed. 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. Town will begin sewer project next week T he Department of Public Works is scheduled to begin work next week on a sewer project that is part of ongoing programs of improving town facilities and the infrastructure. This work will include sewer line cleaning and lining and sewer manhole rehabilitation. “The purpose of this effort is to eliminate sources of clean water leaking into the sewer system which strains its capacity, can cause sanitary sewer overflows and increase the Town’s costs for transportation and treatment of these flows,” Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree said in a press release this week. “The project will also improve the structural integrity of these areas. This work will generally take place in the area bounded by Hamilton Street, Hanson Road, Bisbee Road, Fairmount Ave…” Crabtree said. “This work will begin on July 31 [next Monday] and should be completed by Dec. 30, 2023.” The end date is contingent on the weather. “During these construction efforts, parking will be limited in the work zones. Traffic detours will be established as required to allow for this work to proceed.” “We thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation during this construction project which will result in better quality and more reliable infrastructure for our customers,” Crabtree said. Residents who have any questions are encouraged to contact the Saugus DPW at 781-231-4143.

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