Legal Question in Elder Law in Massachusetts

A ninety-year-old man living in Florida has found his affairs are now too difficult to manage. His daughter works and lives in Massachusetts, but has taken a leave of absence from her job to take care of him. It's starting to become overwhelming so she is looking into putting him in a nursing facility, but would much rather he be in Massachusetts where she and other family could visit him regularly, rather than leave him in Florida where either she would have to stay nearby and leave her job or he would rarely have any visitors. His neurologist has diagnosed him with a form of dementia, but he has not been declared mentally incompetent. If he were put in a nursing home in Massachusetts would that be considered to be his domicile? He is a high net worth individual and being subject to the MA estate tax would be very costly.


Asked on 12/02/10, 7:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Yes he would be deemed a Massachusetts Resident for Tax purposes. However, you might consider NH which may allow her to visit him more often and not have to give up her job. NH does not have an Estate or Inheritance Tax at the present time.

Likewise, MA inheritance taxes would be used as a credit against his Federal Estate Tax, so if he has a taxable estate which is large enough, the MA Estate tax may not be relevant.

I would recommend you contact an attorney familiar with estate tax and determine if moving to MA under the proposed Federal revision to the Estate Tax for the next two years or the one coming into being in 2011 if nothing happens would make any real difference if he was deemed a resident of MA or of NH.

Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions.

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Answered on 12/07/10, 8:17 pm


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