Learn More At Our Seminars And Lectures
MassNAELA Elder Law Institute – 05/02/25
Mastering Trusts: From Alphabet Soup to Strategic Planning
To Register contact Clarence Richardson at [email protected] or 617-566-5640 or click the link below.
Topics:
- Decoding the Acronyms – A deep dive into A-B and A-B-C Trusts, ILITs, IIOTs, IDGTs, SLATs, and SNTs;
- Determining Grantor vs. Non-Grantor Trust Status – Key factors, IRS rules, and tax implications in trust classification;
- Tax Implications & Benefits – Exploring how different trusts impact estate, gift, and income taxes;
- Asset Protection & Wealth Preservation – Using trusts to shield assets and ensure generational wealth transfer;
- Strategic Trust Selection – Identifying the right trust(s) based on client needs, goals, and family dynamics; and
- Trust Planning for Retirement Assets – How to structure trusts to hold IRAs and other retirement accounts under the SECURE Act.
Live Conference
Date: FRIDAY, May 2nd, 2025
Time: 9:00 A.M. – 4:30P.M.
Location: MCLE
Address: 10 Winter Place Boston, MA 02108
Presenter
Institute Chair – Gina Barry, Esq. CELA
Speaker
Hyaman G. Darling, Esq. CELA
Meredith H. Greene. Esq.
Karen Johnson, Esq.
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M.
Debra R. Silberstein, Esq.
Angelina Stafford, Esq.
Mark Worthington, Esq., CELA
The Foundation for Continuing Education – 05/13/25
Medicaid Planning Update – 2024
What’s New with Medicaid and What Needs to be Reviewed
To Register, contact Rick Solano at 978-468-6528 or click the link below.
From last minute Medicaid eligibility tips for the unplanned to drafting and taxation of irrevocable income only trusts and testamentary trusts for the advanced planner.
Description:
Last Minute Medicaid Techniques: Come Learn How:
- To protect the primary residence for married and single folks;
- To make countable rental property non-countable;
- To make countable vacation property non-countable;
- To protect life insurance policies (whole life vs term life);
- To protect excess resources through Medicaid annuities and pooled trusts with a full discussion of the recently decided SJC decision in the Dermody case regarding annuities;
- To differentiate countable vs non-countable assets;
- To deal with the caretaker child exception, related rules, and recent fair hearing decisions regarding the same;
- Medicaid liens operate and how they can actually be a good thing;
- The five year lookback period operates and related exceptions to it vs the penalty period;
- Special needs trusts and sole benefit trusts operate
- To get a family worth $2 million eligible for Medicaid last minute when one spouse gets sick.
Drafting and Taxation of Irrevocable Income Only Trusts: Come Learn
- How to draft irrevocable trusts to withstand MassHealth scrutiny;
- Frequent arguments made by MassHealth;
- How the Hirvi settlement is helping to support irrevocable trusts, administrative consistency, and due process;
- How eligibility operations memo 20-04 is helping practitioners to better draft trusts and how it operates;
- How the Fournier v. Sudders case reads and its benefit to drafting these irrevocable trusts
- About other recent fair hearing decisions;
- How the limited power of appointment operates;
- The grantor trust rules for income tax purposes;
- How 26 U.S.C §1014(a) and step up in basis works with these trusts;
- Gift tax consequences of these trusts 26 CFR § 25.2511(c) Estate tax consequences of these trusts including drafting of the marital and remainder shares to both protect assets and shelter for estate taxes;
- About eligibility operations memo 19-12 re-defining calculation of life estate and remainder values and the Medicaid and income tax consequences (planning pointer and operation memo is currently being drafted to fix this problem and we’ll discuss it);
Testamentary Trusts, IRAs, and Life Insurance:
- How trust and transfer rules apply to testamentary trusts, how to draft them, and how they operate;
- Estate tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA coupled with a testamentary trust;
- Income tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA vs naming the surviving spouse
- To calculate the RMDs after naming the estate as the designated beneficiary under the Secure Act vs surviving spouse;
- The Medicaid benefits and protections from naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of the IRA
- The estate tax and Medicaid benefits of naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
Live Conference
Date: TUESDAY, May 13th, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Marriott Courtyard
Address: 10 Campanelli Drive Rout Andover, MA
I93 to River RoadExit 42
Speaker
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
Thomas J. McKinnon, Esq., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
CPE Credits: 4
Boston Tax Institute – 05/20/25
What’s New or Needs Review in Medicaid Planning?
DESCRIPTION:
From last minute Medicaid eligibility tips for the unplanned to drafting and taxation of irrevocable income only trusts and testamentary trusts for the advanced planner. A little something for everyone!
Last Minute Medicaid Techniques: Come Learn How a couple worth $2.4M with no planning can become eligible for Medicaid when one spouse becomes ill by understanding how:
- To protect the primary residence for married and single folks; and related fair hearings regarding valuations of house;
- To make countable rental and vacation property non-countable; and related lien rules with examples and positive results;
- To protect life insurance policies (whole life vs term life);
- The SJC decision in Dermody impacts protecting assets through Medicaid annuities;
- To differentiate countable vs non-countable assets: from bank accounts to brokerage accounts;
- To deal with the caretaker child exception, related rules, and recent fair hearing decisions regarding the same;
- The five-year lookback period operates and related exceptions to it vs the penalty period;
- While pooled trust are a thing of the past half a loaf planning maybe making a comeback.
Drafting and Taxation of Irrevocable Income Only Trusts:
- How to draft irrevocable trusts to withstand MassHealth scrutiny;
- Frequent arguments made by MassHealth;
- How the Hirvi settlement is helping to support irrevocable trusts, administrative consistency, and due process;
- How eligibility operations memo 20-04 is helping practitioners to better draft trusts and how it operates;
- How the SJC decision in Fournier v. Sudders case reads and its benefit to drafting these irrevocable trusts
- About other recent fair hearing decisions;
- How the limited power of appointment operates;
- The grantor trust rules for income tax purposes;
- How 26 U.S.C §1014(a) and step up in basis works with these trusts;
- Gift tax consequences of these trusts 26 CFR § 25.2511(c)
- Estate tax consequences of these trusts including drafting of the marital and remainder shares to both protect assets and shelter for estate taxes;
- A return to the IRS tables for life estate and remainder value calculations with related examples.
Testamentary Trusts, IRAs, and Life Insurance:
- How trust and transfer rules do not apply to testamentary trusts, how to draft them, and how they operate;
- Estate tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA coupled with a testamentary trust following the SECURE 2.0 Act;
- Income tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA vs naming the surviving spouse;
- To calculate the RMDs after naming the estate as the designated beneficiary under the Secure Act vs surviving spouse;
- The Medicaid benefits and protections from naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of the IRA
- The estate tax and Medicaid benefits of naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
This course is approved for up to 100% reimbursement by the Mass Workforce Training Program
Zoom Live Video Conference
Date: TUESDAY, May 20th, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Speakers
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
Thomas J. McKinnon, Esq., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
CPE Credits: 4
The Foundation for Continuing Education – 05/27/25
Estate Planning Essentials: Federal & MA Issues (706, 709, & M-706 Workshop)
To Register, contact Rick Solano at 978-468-6528 or click the link below.
DESCRIPTION:
It appears that the Biden Administration attempt to pass the 99.5% Act has failed. While there still may be future attempts, it appears the exemption would not fall back more than the current legislation’s 2026 level. We will explore the latest legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 which introduced a variety of new planning opportunities – it is all about the basis. Massachusetts, however, continues to limit its exemption to $1,000,000, although there has been some legislation reintroduced to Beacon Hill to increase this exemption to $2,000,000 – stay tuned. In this program, we will guide you through the proper preparation of federal and state estate tax returns, as well as any necessary gift tax returns, including a discussion of the pros and cons of the portability election and how it works, the QTIP election for the state, and even the potential benefits of a federal QTIP election, coupled with gifting assets flush with basis by the surviving spouse to reduce the future Massachusetts estate tax. Finally, we will explore the recent Supreme Judicial Court decision in the Schaffer case showing how not making a federal QTIP election, even without gifting by the surviving spouse, could lower the estate tax of the surviving spouse.
Using a hypothetical example we will guide you through schedule by schedule the preparation of a federal and Massachusetts estate tax return along with an explanation of the different estate planning techniques you may encounter when preparing these returns as well as whether they are included in the estate or not, such as revocable trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, first and second to die variety, Medicaid income only trusts, limited liability companies, and much more with special attention paid to a joint trust and the application of § 1014(e) to the trust and the possible double step-up in basis through a combination of the federal QTIP election and portability. So, sharpen your pencil and come to this hypothetical-packed session ready to “do the math.”
Live Conference
Date: TUESDAY, May 27th, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Marriott Courtyard Natick
Address: 342 Speen Street Natick, MA
Speaker
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
CPE Credits: 4
Boston Tax Institute – 06/12/25
Estate Planning Essentials: Federal & MA Issues (706, 709, & M-706 Workshop)
DESCRIPTION:
It appears that the Biden Administration attempt to pass the 99.5% Act has failed. While there still may be future attempts, it appears the exemption would not fall back more than the current legislation’s 2026 level. We will explore the latest legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 which introduced a variety of new planning opportunities – it is all about the basis. Massachusetts, however, continues to limit its exemption to $1,000,000, although there has been some legislation reintroduced to Beacon Hill to increase this exemption to $2,000,000 – stay tuned. In this program, we will guide you through the proper preparation of federal and state estate tax returns, as well as any necessary gift tax returns, including a discussion of the pros and cons of the portability election and how it works, the QTIP election for the state, and even the potential benefits of a federal QTIP election, coupled with gifting assets flush with basis by the surviving spouse to reduce the future Massachusetts estate tax. Finally, we will explore the recent Supreme Judicial Court decision in the Schaffer case showing how not making a federal QTIP election, even without gifting by the surviving spouse, could lower the estate tax of the surviving spouse.
Using a hypothetical example we will guide you through schedule by schedule the preparation of a federal and Massachusetts estate tax return along with an explanation of the different estate planning techniques you may encounter when preparing these returns as well as whether they are included in the estate or not, such as revocable trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, first and second to die variety, Medicaid income only trusts, limited liability companies, and much more with special attention paid to a joint trust and the application of § 1014(e) to the trust and the possible double step-up in basis through a combination of the federal QTIP election and portability. So, sharpen your pencil and come to this hypothetical-packed session ready to “do the math.”
Zoom Live Video Conference
Date: THURSDAY, June 12th, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Speakers
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
Thomas J. McKinnon, Esq., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham
CPE Credits: 4
MCLE – Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education – 12/09/25
Drafting Successful Medicaid Trusts
DESCRIPTION:
Creating an effective Medicaid trust requires not only a deep understanding of trust law, but also of estate and tax planning. You must know how to draft trust terms that will get approved—not always easy when it seems unclear what the state will—and will not—allow. Using the right language and key terms is vital—and more challenging than ever.
This program provides a review and analysis of recent and current Medicaid trust cases both at the Fair Hearing stage and Superior Court stage. The analysis explores the current arguments the state is making, which includes attacks on the limited power of appointment to charities or children, the argument that nominee realty trusts are revocable, the power to loan money to the donor, the power to terminate the trust, and several others. Learn about the grantor powers that are the safest to use and which ones are being challenged by the state. Hear a discussion of the income tax benefits of making the trust a grantor trust and the importance of keeping the §121 capital gains exclusion. Learn when it might be okay to not make the trust a grantor trust in an effort to reduce the risk of the state challenging the trust, along with the pros and cons of such advice and the circumstances when such advice may be appropriate.
Learn what paragraphs should be in these irrevocable trusts, and which ones to avoid. You also learn how to draft around current challenges and make arguments to distinguish your trust from the Cohen, Doherty, and most recent Braiterman cases that MassHealth uses to attack these Medicaid trusts. We also explore the stepup basis rules and the estate and gift tax rules as they relate to drafting these trusts. More specifically, learn how to draft a QTIP share and a remainder share into these trusts to obtain both estate tax reduction and nursing home protection at the same time.
Finally, we walk through when to use life estates, the two ways to create life estates, and the related income and gift tax issues associated with them. You come away with an in-depth understanding of how these trusts work, how best to draft them, and related estate, income, and gift tax implications associated with using them.
Agenda & Materials
- Welcome and Introduction
- How to Draft and Use Medicaid Income Only Trusts in Your Practice
- How to Make a Medicaid Trust into a Grantor Trust and the Related Income Tax Benefits
- When and Why It Could Make Sense to Not Make the Trust a Grantor Trust
- Life Estates and How to Use Them with Medicaid Trusts in Light of Daley
- Medicaid Trusts: Income, Estate, and Gift Tax Planning
- Drafting Bypass Trusts and Marital Shares in Medicaid Trusts to Accomplish Estate Tax Savings at the Same Time
- Current Fair Hearing Decisions and On-Going Superior Court Cases Dealing with These Trusts and Related Arguments Being Made
- “Ask the Experts” Q&A Session and Key Takeaways
Live Webcast
Date: TUESDAY, December 9th, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Live Webcast, www.mcle.org, Live Webcast
Speaker
Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., Cushing & Dolan, PC, Waltham
CPE Credits: 3.0