My home is held in trust, am I entitled to a Homestead protection?

Yes, effective March 16, 2011, a holder of a beneficial interest in trust is considered an “owner,” eligible for an estate of homestead. If your home is owned in trust, only the trustee shall execute a declaration of homestead on behalf of the trust’s beneficiaries. The trust declaration and or trustee certificates may also need to be recorded at the Registry of Deeds. In the declaration of homestead, the trustee must identify each of the beneficiaries to the trust that occupy or intend to occupy the premises as their principal residence. The spouses, if any, of any resident beneficiary must also be identified and each must state whether they also occupy or intend to occupy the premises as their principal residence.