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Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Home Held in Trust is Not a “Countable” Asset

Emily Misiaszek and her husband created an irrevocable trust during their lifetime, the corpus of which included their home.  The terms of the Irrevocable Trust granted the Misiaszeks the right, during their lifetime, a limited power of appointment to appoint all or any portion of the trust principal to a nonprofit or charitable organization over which they have no controlling interest.  When Ms. Misiaszek applied for MassHealth long-term care benefits, she was denied on the basis that the home was a countable asset.  The Massachusetts Office of Medicaid’s Board of Hearings affirmed MassHealth’s decision, but a Superior Court judge reversed the board’s ineligibility determination.

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the Superior Court decision and stated that “We conclude that under the terms of her trust, Misiaszek’s limited power of appointment does not allow her, in any circumstance, to appoint the trust principal for her benefit, and thus the trust principal is not ‘countable’ for purposes of determining her eligibility for MassHealth benefits.”

To read the full decision, please click here:  https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2021/07/23/b13059.pdf .

If you have questions regarding estate planning or trusts, please contact the Law Offices of Samuel S. Reidy for a free consultation.


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