Massachusetts Family Law Blog
When does child support extend past age 18?
While most states consider 18 to be the age of majority, many young adults still receive financial support from parents during their early 20s. Under certain circumstances, Massachusetts may extend a parent's legal child support obligation past age 18. Learn more...
Protecting your business in a divorce
Marriage is a partnership, and the same is true of many businesses. The stakes are similar – you are in a partnership “for better or for worse.” Most business owners understand and appreciate the need to protect themselves in business through the use of contracts and...
Three common challenges during gray divorce
Divorce is becoming less common in the United States for most age groups. That is not the case for older couples, though. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal report, divorce for individuals over 55 occurred in about 15 out of every 1,000 married couples in...
Inheritances and Divorce – Can the Family Court give my Inheritance to my Spouse in a Divorce?
Whether or not an inheritance will be subject to division in a divorce will often hinge on whether or not the spouse has a vested interest in the inheritance, meaning that they have a right to use of the funds currently. An inheritance in the possession of one spouse...
Alimony After the 2017 Tax Code Changes
One of the givens for divorcing couples in the United States has always been the alimony is deducted from the payor’s income and includible in the recipient’s income for purposes of federal taxes. This structure provided some relief by way of a tax break for divorcing...
How Long Will Alimony Last – Alimony Modifications
One of the primary functions of the 2011 Alimony Reform Act was to set guidelines for the length of alimony awards in Massachusetts. The length of the award is now tied to the length of the marriage. The chart below lists the presumptive durational limits for alimony...
Top 5 Reasons why a Military Divorce is Different from a Civilian Divorce
1. Service Members Relief Act. This act entitles those serving in the military and on active duty status to apply for a stay of divorce proceedings when because of their service there is a material effect on their ability to participate in the divorce. The service...
Divorce: Marital Property and Trust Assets
Many people assume that money or other assets held in a trust are protected from an order of property division in a divorce, but that is often not the case. Even where a trust isn’t considered for purposes of actually property division it is often considered income...
Massachusetts Alimony Reform and Termination of Payments upon Retirement Age
In March 2012 the Alimony Reform Act went into effect and with it came new grounds for termination of alimony. One of the most talked about grounds for termination was the payor reaching social security retirement age of sixty-six and a half. The relevant language can...
Changes to Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and Calculations
On August 1, 2013 the Chief Justice of the Trial Court released new child support guidelines, which appear to attempt to promote greater responsibility of the non-custodial parent in a child’s life by drawing a direct correlation between the amount of support paid by...
