A to Z of divorce: G for Grandparents' visitation

Sunday, September 12, 2010 was Grandparent's Day. Grandparents have limited visitation rights with their grandchildren in cases where their children who are parents are divorced or were never married. Such grandparents may enforce their rights to visitation with their grandchildren even without a court action by the child's parent. Especially if the parent having custody is denying the grandparents regularly scheduled visitation time, this may be enforced through a court action.

A to Z of divorce: F for Financial Statements

Financial statements are part of the mandatory disclosures in divorce cases. Parties earning $75,000 or less annually need to fill out a “short form” of this, which is itself four pages of information on earnings, expenses and assets. Parties earning more than $75,000 annually are required to complete a long-form statement, which is ten pages in length with more detailed inquiries as to assets. The forms are required to be printed on pink colored paper to ease their recovery in the case file. The statements would usually be filed along with initial pleadings and subsequently at any court hearings to account for any changes in financial circumstances since the prior statement. Parties entering into an agreement state to the court that they have been allowed full disclosure of their spouse's financial information before agreeing upon the division of assets in their case.

This is not legal advice. Please seek the expertise of an attorney near you in order to answer questions specific to your legal situation.

A to Z of divorce: C for Child support payments

Child support payments in Massachusetts are based on guideline amounts for payors who have annual income up to $100,000. The guidelines allow for an increased amount for children over the age of ten (10) years. The amount payable would be calculated based on the number of children of the marriage. If the income of the parent with whom the children live with is over $20,000 annually, it reduces the payor's amount. The parent who provides health insurance also receives a reduction from their share of child support. Support payments can be made by wage garnishment payable to the state Department of Revenue, but starting this process takes time. Before the wage garnishment can take effect, payments can be made personally to the parent with the children. The parties to a divorce can also opt out of wage garnishment and elect for making voluntary payments.

This is not legal advice. Please seek the expertise of an attorney near you in order to answer questions specific to your legal situation.

A to Z of divorce: B for Benefits

Benefits, including medical insurance, are an asset divided between spouses at divorce. Usually, one spouse covers the other through their insurance plan. After divorce, the insurance plan administrators would no longer consider the covered person as a spouse, so that person would have to pay an extra premium if they wished to remain in that plan. If that person has employment themselves, they should qualify for their own company's benefits, which they might not have had to make use of before. The children of the marriage are usually covered by the parent who has the better insurance coverage. That parent would then get a reduction from their share of child support owed.

This is not legal advice. Please seek the services of an experienced attorney if you need help with your legal situation.

A to Z of divorce : A for Alimony

What is Alimony?

Alimony is a court-ordered payment made by one spouse to another following a divorce.

I am going through a divorce in Massachusetts. How much alimony will I owe?

There are no alimony guidelines in Massachusetts. It is decided on a case by case basis and depends upon the individual couple's situation. Several factors are considered such as duration of the marriage, children & earning capacity of each partner.

Generally, it would be calculated as a portion of the payor's net income. What does this mean? For example, if the husband is owing alimony, it would be calculated as a percentage or portion of his income.

Alimony can be awarded as a lump sum or as a part of the division of assets between the parties like a settlement, but it is often a regular weekly payment like child support. However, the duration of this award would depend upon the length of the marriage and most importantly the need of the recipient. If the recipient would be able within a reasonable time to receive job-related training and begin employment, the award would be short-term and rehabilitative rather than a long-term support obligation to continue to maintain the lifestyle the parties had while married.


This is not legal advice. Please seek the services of an experienced attorney if you need help with your legal situation.

Alimony and child support

The length of the marriage usually determines the complexity of the divorce case. Marriages shorter in term than ten years are generally regarded as short-term marriages. A spouse in such a marriage may be eligible for alimony, but if there is any award it is more likely to be shorter in duration and rehabilitative in nature. That is, the recipient would still likely be expected to provide for themselves post-divorce. Marriages longer than ten years would be regarded as long-term marriages and are generally better cases for alimony as these marriages more often include children of the family and perhaps one spouse foregoing employment outside of the home in order to serve as the primary caretaker. Couples with children are required to file affidavits of care and custody detailing any prior family court involvement with their children as well as completing a parental education requirement by attending a two-part class. Child support can be arranged between the parties by voluntary payments rather than state wage garnishment but would in most cases be required irrespective of the parties' means relative to one another. Child support guidelines apply for payor incomes up to a level of $100,000.00 annually. Such cases also require a more detailed long-form financial statement for parties with income over $75,000.00 annually. There are not alimony guidelines in Massachusetts, but if there is any award that is not a lump-sum payment as a division of assets, the amount is likely to be based upon a share of the payor's net income. Various factors concerning the parties' conduct during marriage can affect alimony awards and the division of assets between the parties.

Where should I file divorce?

It is not uncommon for spouses after breaking up to move apart from one another. If their employment and family situation allows them to, one spouse might move out of state. So where should the couple file for divorce? Massachusetts law generally requires spouses to have lived together in the state for at least one year before filing, although couples may file for divorce after less time here based on the cause of action occurring here. However, since a trial could only be scheduled after six months of separation, it might be advisable to wait at least that period before beginning a divorce action here. Because a couple may spend years separated without securing a legal divorce, questions may arise as to where their divorce should be filed. Should it be filed in the state where the couple last lived together or where they now live? Generally, a couple should file for divorce in the state where they last lived together as husband and wife, but it would also make little sense to force spouses who both now live out of state to litigate their divorce in another jurisdiction. The local family court clerk's office is generally the best resource for whether couples should file within that state and which court in the state would be the appropriate one in which to file. As a general rule, if two jurisdictions have an equal basis to hear a case, the place where an action is first filed would be given deference as a location.

Massachusetts Divorce 101

The most common grounds for divorce in Massachusetts are irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The fault grounds; which include adultery, impotency, utter desertion, gross and confirmed habits of intoxication, cruel and abusive treatment, prison sentence and non-support; are generally more helpful in contested litigation.

A joint petition for divorce by both spouses filed with an agreement providing for division of assets and childrens' issues would allow for a trial as early as a month after filing and the chance for remarriage after 120 days, or approximately four months of a temporary order. Anything not in agreement between spouses would have to be litigated, with the opportunity for temporary orders as early as a month after the filing but a minimum waiting period of six months to secure a trial date in order to finalize the divorce. The temporary order of divorce granted would become permanent after 90 days, or approximately three months. Any change of name, post-divorce modifications, child custody, grandparent visitation and guardianship of minors are also handled by the family court.

Any lawyer licensed in Massachusetts may enter their appearance in any Massachusetts county family court. A lawyer should disclose to their client at the first meeting the nature of their representation. Generally, lawyers would not just give advice as a work product without entering their appearance with the court. Some lawyers might prepare uncontested paperwork that spouses can file themselves. Lawyers would not be able to pursue divorce cases on a contingent share of recovery after judgment and would generally start with a retainer fee amount used at hourly billing rates including attorney expenses incurred for casework. Once a lawyer has entered their appearance with the court, another lawyer would have to “take over” their representation unless the lawyer was allowed to withdraw by the court after a hearing with notice to all parties involved, thereby leaving the client unrepresented. Parties who are unrepresented in family court have minimum advice from court lawyers of the day but otherwise are expected to comply with all requirements of Massachusetts family court law. This makes at least getting advice from an experienced lawyer vital to anyone going into family court.