THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, DECEmbEr 6, 2024 Page 19 SOUNDS | FROM PAGE 18 gifts for purchase along with baked goods. Join us for a fun weekend! Cliftondale Congregational Church events The Cliftondale Congregational Church acknowledges that the Christmas season is the “most wonderful time of the year” for many, and for others it is bittersweet or even painful. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, you are invited to join us to experience the hope, peace, joy and love of Christmas. Services are on Sundays at 10:45 a.m. in person and streaming on Facebook, and a Candlelight Christmas Eve Service will be held on December 24 at 7 p.m. On Saturday, December 14, at 7 p.m. the church is hosting a free Carols, Cocoa & Cookies event for the community. All are invited to join us at 50 Essex St. for these services and events. St. John’s Christmas Fair Dec. 7 St. John’s Episcopal Church, at 8 Prospect St., Saugus, plans to hold its annual Christmas Fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 7) The church is located near the Saugus Iron Works National Historical Site, at the corner of Central and Prospect Streets. The fair will feature holiday crafts tables, yard sale items, homemade candies and baked goods, lunch, books and puzzles, a raffle table, face painting, jewelry and knit items. Santa at Breakheart SunLINDERME AND GWYNN ESTATES: IMPLIED LIFE ESTATES T he tax court case in Linderme v. Commissioner, 52 T.C. 305 (1969) clearly states that the value of real estate can still be includable in the decedent’s taxable estate even if there was no actual reserved life estate on the deed itself. For example, if a 90 year old man deeded his home to his 3 children and reserved a life estate on the deed itself, the fair market value of the real estate would become the new cost basis going forward in the names of the three children. The reserved life estate on the deed itself leaves no question as to whether or not the home is to be included in the gross estate for estate tax purposes. Once included in the gross taxable estate, the step-up in cost basis is achieved thereby providing for the new cost basis to be equal to the fair market value of the home at the time of death. When there is no life estate language on the deed itself, you have to look at the facts and circumstances along with the Linderme case and the Gwynn case (437 F.2nd 1148 (4th Circuit, 1971) in order to determine if the home would still be includable in the gross taxable estate. So long as the fair market value of the home is not greater than $2million, and assuming there are no other assets owned at the time of death, there would be no Massachusetts estate tax to be paid. Certainly no federal estate tax with the new with the parent. In the Linderme case, the father paid all of the monthly operating costs such as real estate taxes, water and sewer, homeowner’s insurance, repairs, etc., until the day he moved to a nursing home. At that point in time, the home remained vacant. While in the nursing home, the son continued to pay the monthly expenses with the father’s own money. Upon the death of the fa$13.99million exemption amount as of 1-1-25. If the children sell for $2million, they would pay no capital gains tax as well. Therefore, as part of an estate plan/ tax plan, we want the value of the home to be includable in the taxable estate of the decedent. The reason is that once the property is included in the taxable estate, under Internal Revenue Code Section 1014(a), we can achieve a step-up in cost basis equal to the fair market value at the time of death. It’s as if the children paid $2million for the property thereby resulting in no capital gain upon a subsequent sale. In the Linderme and Gwynn cases, there was no reserved life estate on the deed itself. The court found that there was an understanding on the part of all parties that the parent was to live in the home until death. The parent lived in the house rent free until the date of death. None of the children resided in the house ther, the house was sold, estate bills were paid and the net proceeds were split among the three children. The Judge ruled that the decedent retained the possession and enjoyment of the home until the day he died. The Judge found that there was indeed an understanding of all parties that this was the case. He found that the value of the home should be includible in his taxable estate under Internal Revenue Code Section 2036(1)(a). The decedent had exclusive possession of the home. There are times when you really want the real estate to be includible in the taxable estate so that a very large future capital gains tax can be avoided. These are two court cases to keep in mind in order to avoid, or greatly minimize, any future capital gains tax. 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. day Come and meet Santa from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Breakheart Reservation at the Christopher P. Dunne Visitor Center at 177 Forest St. in Saugus. Take a photo of yourself and Santa with your phone or camera. Candy canes from Santa and light refreshments will be served while you enjoy a few minutes by the roaring fire. Saugus 4-1-1 set for March 1, 2025 The Saugus 4-1-1 Committee would like everyone to know that the Saugus 4-1-1 event will be taking place on March 1, 2025. Invitations to all new residents as well as nonprofits will be mailed out in January. “We are looking forward to having this wonderful event for new residents as well as those who have been here for years to learn what Saugus has to offer!” Selectman Corinne Riley wrote in an email recently. “Also, if you have a local business or service to promote, send your request or further inquiries Here’s what’s going on at the Saugus Public Library Five bucks for a bag of books! The New Friends of the Saugus Public Library are offering quite a bargain: $5 for a bag of books. Purchase a New Friends of the Saugus Public Library mesh book bag at the Main Desk for $5 and fill it with as many books as you’d like. Proceeds benefit the New Friends so they can support public library services in Saugus. Foreign language books for adults! Books will be located on the second floor past the Young Adult Fiction section. Spanish, Portuguese, French, Vietnamese, Arabic and Haitian Creole books will be available to check out. Read in your native language or practice a language that is new to you! Please come to the Teen Manga and Cosplay event in the Brooks Room at the Saugus Public Library on Monday, December 9 from 5:307:00 p.m. THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 20 LEGAL NOTICE SAUGUS BOARD OF SELECTMEN PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that the Saugus Board of Selectmen will conduct a Public Hearing on the request of Victor Ortega, 16 Sage Drive, Cranston, RI 02921 for a Common Victualer’s License to operate Cilantro’s Mexican Grill, to be located at 323 Main Street, Saugus, MA 01906. This Public Hearing will be held in the Saugus Town Hall Auditorium, second floor, 298 Central Street, Saugus, MA on December 17, 2024 at 7:05. Debra Panetta, Chairman Meredith K. Casagrande, Clerk December 6, 2024 to Saugus411@gmail.com. There are ‘Welcome Bags’ that are given out to the new residents with all kinds of information which could include your business or services offered to our Saugus residents. Stay tuned for further updates!” Selectman Riley is the driving force behind the nifty program, which had well-attended events at the Saugus Middle-High School last year and in 2022.
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