The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that the holder of a beneficial interest in a trust that holds title to real estate and resides in the said real estate cannot acquire an estate of homestead in the said land and building under G.L. c. 188, sec. 1.
In Boyle v. Weiss, Maria A. Boyle recorded a declaration of homestead in a property in Lowell where she resided. The Lowell property had been conveyed to Boyle by her parents who had placed the property in a trust. Two days after recording a declaration of homestead, Boyle filed for bankruptcy, claiming an exemption for her beneficial interest in the trust, which held title to real property used as her residence. The SJC concluded that under Massachusetts law, a trust beneficiary residing in property owned by a trust may not acquire a homestead estate. The SJC said "...even though the debtor resides in the Lowell property and uses it as her home, as the owner of a fifty percent beneficial interest in the trust that holds title to the property but who does not direct or control the trustee, she cannot validly claim a homestead exemption for the property under the 2004 [Homestead] act."
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