The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a trustee could bring an eviction case against a trust beneficiary living in a house the trust owned. Title passed to the trust through the owner’s will when the will was probated, so no separate deed was needed, and a future remainder interest did not give the beneficiary a right to stay. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
In January 2020 the owner of a house in Medford signed a will leaving his interest in the house to a revocable trust he created the same day. The trust named a trustee, gave the trustee, in her personal capacity, a life estate in the house, and provided that the trust assets would go to a beneficiary at a set age, subject to that life estate. The trust also gave the trustee broad power over the real estate, including power to lease it and to decide when beneficiaries could use it. The owner died in December 2020 and the will was informally probated in February 2021. In 2022 the trustee served a notice to quit on the beneficiary, who lived in the house, and then filed a summary process case in the Housing Court. The judge granted summary judgment to the trustee.
What the court decided
The Appeals Court affirmed in Caplis-Sevelitte v. Sevelitte, No. 24-P-847 (Mass. App. Ct. May 28, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision).
Only an owner or lessor can evict. A plaintiff may bring summary process only if it owns or leases out the property. Rental Prop. Mgt. Servs. v. Hatcher, 479 Mass. 542 (2018); G.L. c. 239, § 1. A property manager who does not own the property, for example, has no standing. Ahmed-Kagzi v. Williams, 479 Mass. 1027 (2018).
The trust owned the house. The beneficiary argued that the personal representative of the estate never deeded the house to the trust. The court disagreed. When a person dies, real estate passes to the people named in the will. G.L. c. 190B, § 3-101. Title to real estate left by will passes directly to the person named once the will is probated and relates back to the moment of death. Daley v. Daley, 300 Mass. 17 (1938). An older case the beneficiary relied on came before the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code and involved trustees appointed under a will, not under a trust document, so it did not apply. A recorded life estate held by a relative who had died also did not matter, because a life estate ends when the life tenant dies.
A future interest is not a right to possession. The beneficiary claimed he held “equitable title” because the trust would eventually pass to him. The court held that his remainder interest gave him no present right to occupy the house, especially where the trust gave the trustee power to lease the property and to decide when beneficiaries could use it.
Paying rent was not a defense here. The beneficiary raised for the first time in his reply brief that he was paying rent. The court would not consider it, and noted that in a no fault eviction ending a tenancy at will, being current on rent did not matter. The court declined to award sanctions against the beneficiary for a frivolous appeal, though it said the trustee’s request had force.
What this means for you
If you live in a home owned by a trust or an estate, being a beneficiary or a relative does not by itself protect you from eviction. The trustee is usually the owner in the eyes of the law and can use the Housing Court like any other landlord.
Arguments that the paperwork was never finished, such as a missing deed from the estate to the trust, may fail when the will itself left the property to the trust and the will was probated.
That said, a trustee must still follow the eviction process. You are entitled to a proper notice to quit and a court case, and you can raise any real defenses there. Standing is still worth checking in every case, because a person who is not the owner or lessor cannot evict you.
What to do now
- Get copies of the will, the trust document, the probate filings and the recorded deed so you know who owns the property.
- Read the trust for any terms about who may live in the property, on what conditions, and who decides.
- Do not ignore a notice to quit or a summary process summons. Note the court date and the deadline to file an answer.
- Raise every defense in the trial court. Arguments first made late in an appeal are often not considered.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Housing Court deadlines are short.
