Source: http://ma.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20190108_0000031.MA.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-08-22 17:53:14
Document Index: 298850486

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 13', '§ 15', '§ 15', '§ 15', '§ 15', '§ 15']

FindACase™ | Ciani v. MacGrath
BRENDA L. MacGRATH & others.[1]
Heard: September 6, 2018
This case presents reported questions from a judge in the Probate and Family Court Department pursuant to G. L. c. 215, § 13, in connection with the judge's denial of the parties' competing motions for summary judgment. At issue is the meaning of a particular provision of G. L. c. 191, § 15 (§ 15), the Commonwealth's elective share statute.
"if he or she would thus take real and personal property to an amount exceeding [$25, 000] in value, he or she shall receive, in addition to that amount, only the income during his or her life of the excess of his or her share of such estate above that amount, the personal property to be held in trust and the real property vested in him or her for life" (emphases added).
G. L. c. 191, § 15. The dispute in this case centers on the nature of a surviving spouse's interest in a deceased spouse's real property where the income-only limitation applies, i.e., where a surviving spouse's shares of a deceased spouse's personal and real property, taken together, exceed $25, 000 in value. We conclude that, to the extent a surviving spouse's shares of the decedent's estate exceed $25, 000, § 15 reduces his or her interest in the real property from outright ownership to a life estate. As a result, we vacate the judge's denial of the parties' competing motions for summary judgment and remand for reconsideration consistent with this opinion.
The following facts are undisputed. Raymond Ciani died testate in 2015. He was survived by his wife, Susan Ciani, and his four adult children from a previous marriage, one of whom is also the personal representative of his estate.
Raymond did not make provisions for Susan in his will.[2]Susan timely claimed her elective share of Raymond's estate in accordance with § 15. She then filed three petitions for partition in the Probate and Family Court, seeking to force the sale of three separate parcels of real property Raymond had owned at the time of his death.