Purchase and Sale negotiations;
Lending;
Commercial Underwriting;
21E issues;
Zoning issues;
Research and Title issues;
Landlord & Tenant; &
Closing issues

With respect to Residential issues, Attorney Ceruolo has practiced through busy and poor markets; thus, his experience allows him to quickly address the following types of issues:

Purchase and Sale negotiations;
Short Sales;
Real Estate Owned Properties;
Lending;
Residential Underwriting;
Title and research;
Landlord & Tenant; &
Closing issues.

• You may stop using the services of our office at any time;
• You may accept or reject the offer of mortgage assistance we obtain from your lender.
• Our office is not associated with the government; our service is not approved by the government or your lender;
• If you accept the offer from your lender and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.

Let Dave Ceruolo’s experience work for you!

Attorney David Ceruolo is well versed in the area of Massachusetts Probate Law with respect to estates and elder guardianships. 

Attorney Ceruolo possesses the knowledge and compassion to properly advise families with respect to the estates of deceased loved ones.  Once all the necessary data is collected by his office staff,  Attorney Ceruolo aggressively works in order to complete all necessary filings so that the estate is properly addressed in the Massachusetts Probate Courts.

In addition, Attorney Ceruolo possesses vast experience with elder guardianship matters.  He quickly responds as the family requests and meets with his clients to completely explain the guardianship process under the new Massachusetts rules.  Once his clients are fully informed, Attorney Ceruolo vigorously completes the necessary petitions in order to obtain the final order from the court.

David Ceruolo has been preparing estate plans for families throughout his career. Below is a summary of simple estate plan issues for your reference.

• The maker of the will (called testator) must be at least 18 years old;

• The maker of the will must be of sound mind;

• The will must be written;

• The will must be witnessed by two competent persons in a special manner provided by law.  A beneficiary of a will or spouse of a beneficiary should not be a witness, because the beneficiary may lose benefits under the will as a result;

• The technical requirements for the execution of a will must be followed precisely.

• If the deceased person leaves issue (children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc.) the surviving husband or wife takes one-half of the personal property and one-half of the real estate.  The balance goes to the issue.

• If the person leaves issue but no spouse, all real and personal property goes to the issue.

• If the deceased person leaves no issue, but there are kindred (those, other than issue, who are related by blood), the surviving husband or wife takes all of the first $200,000 and one-half of the remaining personal property and one-half of the remaining real estate.  The balance goes to the kindred.

• If the deceased person leaves no issue and no kindred, the surviving husband or wife takes all of the personal property and all of the real estate.

• If the deceased person leaves no spouse, no issue and no kindred, all of his property passes to the state.

• The person you chose as your health care agent will be called upon to make decisions about your medical care only if your health care providers determine that you are unable to make or communicate such choices for yourself.  For example, you were unconscious. 

• Your agent is required to make decisions that are consistent with your religious or moral beliefs, including any instructions you may have put in a living will.

•   If your wishes are not clear, or if they fail to address the particular circumstance, your agent may exercise independent judgment about your medical treatment, taking into account your best interests.  If you wish, you may write your health care proxy so as to place limits on your agent’s authority, or to list your preferences about different treatments.

Power of Attorney
Powers of Attorney are simply formal agencies by which an authorized person (called the Attorney-in-Fact) acts or holds the power to act on behalf of another appointing person (called the Principal).  Thus the Principal appoints the Attorney-in-Fact to act on his/her behalf. 

• Powers of Attorney are created in writing with a notarized signature of the appointing person (again, the Principal).  The holder of the power (again, the Attorney in Fact) ordinarily does not need to sign the instrument for it to be valid.

Reasons for creating a Power of Attorney:

• Powers may be created as a convenience in order to complete a transaction in the absence of the Principal.  Real estate closings often are conducted in the absence of a principal provided that the Attorney in Fact can present the Principal’s original power of attorney.

• Another example, individuals who travel frequently may grant someone else the authority to manage their bank accounts or pay certain debts while they are away.  Yet another example, Powers of Attorney are usually signed as part of an individual’s estate plan to allow family members to act on the individual’s behalf.

REAL ESTATE

Life Estate
In a simple estate plan, a Life Estate is created by drafting a new deed which transfers all of the remainder legal interest in a property to another person(s), while the legal interest for life rights to use, occupy or obtain income from the property is retained by the person(s) making the transfer.

Benefits

• Protects the grantor (person transferring);
• Step-up basis at death;
• Reduced value for MassHealth transfer purposes;
• No Probate – no estate recovery;
• Currently able to obtain reverse mortgage from most lenders.

Disadvantages

• Loss of independence – cannot refinance or sell without signatures of others;
• If the property is sold, a portion of the proceeds must be paid to the life tenant;
• Portion paid to the life tenant will be eligible for the capital gains exclusion but will also be a countable asset for MassHealth;
• Portion paid to life tenant may be subject to recovery under lifetime lien.

Homestead
Homestead laws are designed to benefit the homestead declarant and his or her family by protecting the family residence from the claims of creditors.  In Massachusetts there are two separate kinds of homestead, (i) the regular homestead and (ii) the Elderly/disabled homestead; are both covered under General Laws Chapter 188. 
Note, the Homestead law has recently been revised as of March, 2011. The main highlights are as follows: 
THE REGULAR HOMESTEAD

1. An individual receives an automatic $125,000.00 exemption on his/her primary residence.  The exemption is for an individual and his/her family;
2. The $125,000 is apportioned according to the number of owners;
3. An individual may “declare” a homestead by filing the necessary document at the registry of deeds; if an individual files a homestead, he/she and family receives a $500,000.00 exemption on a primary residence;
4. Family includes married individuals, non-title spouse and minor children;
5. Joint tenant & tenant in common owners may all file for homestead protection, but receive an apportioned $500,000.00 exemption(they do not receive $500,000.00 each);
6. Trusts may now receive the homestead protections.

THE ELDERLY/DISABLED HOMESTEAD
The second kind of homestead in Massachusetts applies to elderly and disabled persons and is set forth in G.L. c. 188. This type of homestead also provides protection in the amount of the first $500,000 of equity realized in the property. The statute defines elderly persons to be individuals who are sixty-two years of age or older. The Law provides that each individual who qualifies under this section will, upon the filing of a declaration, receive homestead protection. For disabled persons, the law also requires a certificate of disability as set forth in the statute.
The elderly-and-disabled-persons homestead may provide spouses together with a larger dollar exemption than the regular homestead in circumstances where each of the spouses records a claim of an exemption as an elderly or disabled person.  Thus, the protection may be considered stacked on the same property.

TRUSTS
A trust is a legal relationship set up by a donor (the person forming the trust) under which one or more persons (the trustee) holds property (often under a written instrument) for the benefit of one or more others (the beneficiary).

People are motivated to create trusts for various reasons:

• To provide for management of assets both before and after death as part of a comprehensive estate plan;

• To protect the beneficiary by giving control of the trust fund to the trustee and by limiting the beneficiary’s rights to receive income or principal;

• To reduce income or estate taxes by transferring to another both the benefit and tax liability of certain property;

• To assure stand-by protection in the event of illness or disability; and

• To help reduce administration and probate costs and delays at death.

If you are thinking of creating a trust for the benefit of yourself or another, you should ask:   What do I  hope to accomplish?  Will a trust help?  How much will it cost to establish and administer such a trust?  Whom shall I select as trustee?

REALTY/NOMINEE TRUSTS

Some QUICK facts about Medicaid:

RESOURCE ALLOWANCE
Resource allowance for any individual:          $2,000.00
This means that an individual applying for Medicaid benefits cannot have any more than $2000 – total – in his/her name.

LOOKBACK PROVISION
The division wants to look at what has been transferred.  The “look-back” was recently changed from 3 years to 5 years. The Division asks an applicant, or his/her family, to provide the last 5 years of evidence for finances and bank statements.

PENALTY PERIOD
What if a transfer is made during the 5 year look back?  The Division will penalize the applicant in time.  The amount of the transfer is divided by $7680.00 to determine the amount of months for disqualification.  Once we have the months, the penalty now begins on the date of admission in the NH and at such time as the individual is eligible for Medicaid “but for” the transfer – or the first day of the month during which the assets have been transferred – whichever period is the later.

SPOUSES
At the time of the MassHealth application, it makes no difference in whose name each asset is held, whether in the sick spouse’s name alone, the community spouse’s name alone, or in joint names:  all assets of the couple regardless of the title of ownership are added toward the total limit of $109,560.00.  Thus, the community spouse is able to keep up to $109,560.00 of the couples’ assets.

Attorney Dave Ceruolo has been practicing in the area of Massachusetts Landlord and Tenant law for ten years.  He has handled the most difficult of situations while representing both landlords and tenants. 

With respect to property owners, whether the issue arises from non-payment of rent or some other reason, Attorney Ceruolo is able to provide advice and strategies to ensure that his clients are in the best position to be successful.  In this instance, a landlord possesses the ability to control the initial path of the pending legal action: a Landlord may elect a direct position or a less direct stance.  When a direct stance is elected, Attorney Ceruolo has the network of constables which guarantees that the tenants are properly served with the correct notification of termination.  Further, he will provide you with an actual schedule of the upcoming court events and advise his client with the goal of constructing a strong case.  As an alternative to the hard stance, Attorney Ceruolo is also able advise his clients concerning the art of negotiation in order to effectively settle the pending matter, which saves his clients time and money.