Massachusetts divorce law
Child
Support
 Looking for a divorce in the Commonwealth?
Well brace yourself. Massachusetts divorce
laws are are so out of date and archaic
that you'd swear you were back in the Middle
Ages. Sound feudal? Yes it is. Consider this:
Existing pre-nups offer no guarantees. Judges
often ignore them. The court may, prior to
a decree of divorce, make orders for temporary
maintenance (alimony), custody of minor children,
and child support. Should the children of
the marriage not be covered by insurance,
the court can order the payor to provide
health insurance for those children.
With a judgment for divorce, the court may make such judgment that pertains to the care, custody and maintenance of the minor children, including where they will live and who will be charged with their primary custodial care. Massachusetts had child support guidelines in place that get applied to all cases, although the court can make exceptions and rule outside the guidelines if it is in the best interests of the children.
Public policy in Massachusetts states that
dependent children will be maintained from
the resources of their parents. This coincides
with Massachusetts divorce statutes. This
includes health insurance.
The court can make orders of maintenance, support and education of any child who has reached age eighteen but who has not yet reached age twenty-one and who is domiciled in the home of a parent, and is principally dependent upon that parent for maintenance. The court may make appropriate orders of maintenance, support and education for any child who has attained age twenty-one but who has not attained age twenty-three, if that child is domiciled in the home of a parent, and is principally dependent upon that parent for maintenance due to the enrollment of that child in an educational program, excluding educational costs beyond an undergraduate degree.
| Divorce Myth: A divorce decree can relieve a spouse from financial obligations of joint debts. Reality: Debts that were obtained in the name of both spouses before a divorce (meaning both the husband and wife signed a document or application saying that they were both responsible for the debt) remain the obligation of both parties after a divorce, no matter what a divorce decree says. |
Residency
 In a petition of divorce, where the cause of the divorce occurred outside of Massachusetts, the plaintiff must have resided in Massachusetts for at least one year prior to the filing of the action. If the cause of the divorce occurred within Massachusetts, at least one of the parties must be a Massachusetts resident. A divorce will not (with certain exceptions) be granted if the parties have never lived together as husband and wife in Massachusetts nor will it grant a divorce if the cause of the divorce occurred outside the Commonwealth.
Child
Custody
The court may make child custody orders relative to the care and custody of any children during the legal process for divorce as it may consider in the best interest of the children.
In the absence of any marital misconduct, the court will make orders that are just to the parents and appropriate for happiness and welfare of the children. When considering that happiness and welfare, the court will consider whether or not the child’s present or past living conditions adversely affect his physical, mental, moral or emotional health.
In the absence of any abuse or neglect, the parents are presumed to have equal or shared legal custody of the children. Should the court determine sole legal custody is appropriate, it will make that ruling. Such rulings can be temporary or permanent in nature.
| Divorce Myth: A divorce decree protects my credit if my ex-spouse doesn't pay the debts they were assigned in the divorce. Reality: If you have a joint financial obligation with your ex-spouse, and your divorce decree states that your ex-spouse is responsible, and your ex-spouse is delinquent on paying, your credit as well as his is affected. As stated above, your legal responsibility for a debt does not go away because a divorce decree assigns responsibility for a debt to your ex-spouse. Along with a legal responsibility to pay comes the right of the creditor to report a debt delinquent on your credit report if it is not paid as agreed in the original contract. |
Grounds
for Divorce
Massachusetts allows Fault and No-Fault grounds for divorce. No Fault Based Grounds for Divorce are "Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage".
Fault Based Grounds for Divorce: Adultery, impotency, desertion for 1 year, habitual drunkenness, drug addiction, cruel and abusive treatment, or, if a spouse being of sufficient ability, grossly or wantonly and cruelly refuses or neglects to provide suitable support and maintenance for the other spouse.
Mediation
 Massachusetts courts can, at any time prior
to the decree, require that the parties submit
themselves to mediation or counseling. When
the parties file for divorce under the no-fault
provisions of irretrievable breakdown of
the marriage, the court may at any time (also
prior to the decree) issuance of the judgment
of divorce require the parties to participate
in family or marriage counseling.
Alimony
 Believe
it or not, Massachusetts
doesn't
use divorce laws or
divorce statutes
to
determine alimony.
No
other state awards
alimony
in this fashion. A
new spouse of
the
receiving party
will have their personal
resources
considered
into
the alimony equation.
Amazingly
enough, case
law
is used as the basis
for
this determination.
This
means your new
spouse may end up
paying
a
portion of his or
her income toward
your
alimony
obligation.
Imagine
sending your
spouse out to work
at
age
65 or 70 because
he
or she owes too. 96%
of alimony payers are men. Alimony does not automatically decline
or terminate at retirement age. One could
be paying until the death of the recipient.
The
court can require that one spouse pay alimony
(maintenance) on a temporary or permanent
basis. Should health insurance be in place
at the time of filing, the court will order
that it be continued up to the court's decree
of divorce, or longer, depending upon circumstances.
Alimony will be granted after all factors
are considered.
Waiting
Period
Massachusetts requires that six months must have passed after the filing of the complaint before any judgment of divorce be entered.
Grandparents
Rights
Massachusetts first began protecting grandparents visitation rights in 1972. Visitation rights can be extended to certain grandparents of unmarried children.
-
If the parents of the child are divorced, married but living apart, or under a temporary order or judgment of separate support.
-
If either or both parents are deceased.
-
If the child was born out of wedlock and the paternity of the child has been established by a court or the father has signed an acknowledgment of paternity.
The statute further provides that no such visitation rights will be granted if the minor child has been subsequently adopted by a person other than a stepparent.
| Divorce Myth: Following divorce, the woman’s standard of living plummets by seventy three percent while that of the man’s improves by forty two percent. Reality: This dramatic inequity, one of the most widely publicized statistics from the social sciences, was later found to be based on a faulty calculation. A reanalysis of the data determined that the woman’s loss was twenty seven percent while the man’s gain was ten percent. Irrespective of the magnitude of the differences, the gender gap is real and seems not to have narrowed much in recent decades. |
Dividing
Assets
 Massachusetts
is referred to as an "equitable
distribution" state. The court will classify property and debt as
to what is marital, assign a value and will
then distribute the marital assets (and liabilities)
in an equitable (but not necessarily “even”)
manner. The following will be considered
by the court:
length of the marriage; the conduct of the parties during the marriage; age;
health; station in life; occupation; amount
and sources of income; vocational skills;
employability; estate; liabilities and needs
of each; and the future opportunities of
each.
Did you come into this marriage owning a house? Concerned
about the equity in that house that you brought into the marriage?
Here's how it works generally. What you brought into the marriage
is usually all yours. However, any appreciation of the house or the
property value is normally treated as a "marital asset",
meaning that you will likely forfeit a third to a half of that appreciation
to your spouse in the divorce.
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