Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: primary residence

THE TERM "PRIMARY RESIDENCE" HAS BEEN DEFINED MANY TIMES BY THE COURTS - THE IRS DEFINITION IS MOST WIDELY USED - THAT WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL PRIMARILY LIVES -

Re: primary residence

There's a possibility that she can ignore that restriction; I'd have to research it for you further but one general rule makes unenforceable control from the grave that goes against public policy (restrictions against marriage, like racial discrimination, are generally against policy). There are cases which support that but there are definitely cases which go the other way, too. Send me money and I'll send you better answers!

I'll assume you're her, you have a boyfriend and want to move in with him and collect rent.

If the document doesn't define its own "residency" then it's up to the courts, which means it'd be up to her to prove it if the question / contraversy arose. Residence is defined in all sorts of manners, different for different purposes. In leases, sometimes, where you sleep 15 days or more per month determines your residence. Under the tax code, I've seen where more than half the year determines your state or country of domicile, but I've also seen 160 days used, too! If you die, it can go back to where the decedent thought she resided permanently even if she only recently arrived there, and that's usually not the hospital or nursing home where she may have lived for many years.

Driver's license, where most of your mail goes, where you're registered to vote, etc. can all be factored into an argument, too. Whether the mail is forwarded to elsewhere seems a strong argument to use. There's no automatic answer for what you ask, i.e., I can't tell you that just have to tell the voter registration (and tax assessors) that you live there and tell the DMV (the Registry) and your insurance company that you live there and be safe from a claim from the other heirs for the house. If you rent the place out for income, that probably goes against you, especially if you're living with your boyfriend somewhere else in which case it will seem like a real sham. Between the two problems, though, I'd say it's better to have the boyfriend move in with you there.