Legal Blog

Award Winning Book on Collaborative Practice

Proud to announce my participation as one of the co-authors of this award winning book on Collaborative Practice published by Massachusetts Continuing Education (MCLE NEW ENGLAND). Thanks to all of the co-authors who participated and to MCLE for their help. The International Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) has announced that Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE New England) received three

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Divorce Is Going to the Dogs, Literally

Custody battles over the kids? So old school. Melanie and Antonio are just one of thousands of couples going to war over their pets. When Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas announced the end of their nearly two-decade marriage, they vowed to finalize things “in a loving and friendly manner.” But according to reports it is possible that could change, as a

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Temporary Alimony is NOT General Term Alimony

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court added new clarification today in its opinion in the Holmes case (see full opinion here). In Holmes, Husband was ordered to pay temporary alimony during the pendency of the divorce modification case.  The SJC held that the 2 years Husband paid “temporary alimony” (during the pendency of the modification case) would not be deducted from

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Child Support is Becoming More Complex

I used to tell my clients that child support was a straight forward issue.  Prior to the August 2013 Child Support Guidelines, I believed that it was.  If one parent had primary custody of the child/ren then to determine income, simply input the data into the child support calculator and whatever the number was, would likely be the resulting child

Read More ➔

Massachusetts man discusses how he got divorced for only $1,500.

One of the most important discussions that I have with my clients is the financial cost of getting divorced.  The reality is that litigation of a divorce is cost prohibitive for a lot of people.  The good news is that there are other options besides going to court to resolve tough conflict. Tim McLaughlin’s article describes his divorce and how

Read More ➔

New Child Support Guidelines Effective Today

Today, August, 1, 2013, Massachusetts rolled out new Child Support Guidelines, affecting any parent who pays or receives child support.  The new Guidelines can be viewed at http://www.mass.gov/courts/childsupport/2013-child-support-guidelines.pdf.  I also find it useful to review the red lined version (http://www.mass.gov/courts/childsupport/2012-task-force-recommendations-redlined-against-2009-child-support-guidelines.pdf) so that you can clearly see the differences between the new and old guidelines. The new Guidelines have set forth

Read More ➔

Merger vs. Survival of divorce agreements in Massachusetts

Separation Agreements either “merge” or “survive” a Judgment of Divorce. When a separation agreement is merged into a Judgment of Divorce, its terms are incorporated into the judgment and are modifiable by the court, because the court always has the power, in the proper situation to revise or modify its own Judgment. A ‘merged separation agreement’ has no independent legal

Read More ➔

Definition of income under the Massachusetts child support guidelines

The latest version of the Massachusetts child support guidelines contains a long list of items that are to be considered income for purposes of the guidelines. Most people, including lawyers are surprised when they see what is included. It makes no difference if the IRS thinks its taxable income.  There is a catch-all category for anything not itemized in the

Read More ➔

Award Winning Book on Collaborative Practice

Proud to announce my participation as one of the co-authors of this award winning book on Collaborative Practice published by Massachusetts Continuing Education (MCLE NEW ENGLAND). Thanks to all of the co-authors who participated and to MCLE for their help. The International Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) has announced that Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE New England) received three

Read More ➔

Divorce Is Going to the Dogs, Literally

Custody battles over the kids? So old school. Melanie and Antonio are just one of thousands of couples going to war over their pets. When Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas announced the end of their nearly two-decade marriage, they vowed to finalize things “in a loving and friendly manner.” But according to reports it is possible that could change, as a

Read More ➔

Temporary Alimony is NOT General Term Alimony

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court added new clarification today in its opinion in the Holmes case (see full opinion here). In Holmes, Husband was ordered to pay temporary alimony during the pendency of the divorce modification case.  The SJC held that the 2 years Husband paid “temporary alimony” (during the pendency of the modification case) would not be deducted from

Read More ➔

Child Support is Becoming More Complex

I used to tell my clients that child support was a straight forward issue.  Prior to the August 2013 Child Support Guidelines, I believed that it was.  If one parent had primary custody of the child/ren then to determine income, simply input the data into the child support calculator and whatever the number was, would likely be the resulting child

Read More ➔

Massachusetts man discusses how he got divorced for only $1,500.

One of the most important discussions that I have with my clients is the financial cost of getting divorced.  The reality is that litigation of a divorce is cost prohibitive for a lot of people.  The good news is that there are other options besides going to court to resolve tough conflict. Tim McLaughlin’s article describes his divorce and how

Read More ➔

New Child Support Guidelines Effective Today

Today, August, 1, 2013, Massachusetts rolled out new Child Support Guidelines, affecting any parent who pays or receives child support.  The new Guidelines can be viewed at http://www.mass.gov/courts/childsupport/2013-child-support-guidelines.pdf.  I also find it useful to review the red lined version (http://www.mass.gov/courts/childsupport/2012-task-force-recommendations-redlined-against-2009-child-support-guidelines.pdf) so that you can clearly see the differences between the new and old guidelines. The new Guidelines have set forth

Read More ➔

Merger vs. Survival of divorce agreements in Massachusetts

Separation Agreements either “merge” or “survive” a Judgment of Divorce. When a separation agreement is merged into a Judgment of Divorce, its terms are incorporated into the judgment and are modifiable by the court, because the court always has the power, in the proper situation to revise or modify its own Judgment. A ‘merged separation agreement’ has no independent legal

Read More ➔

Definition of income under the Massachusetts child support guidelines

The latest version of the Massachusetts child support guidelines contains a long list of items that are to be considered income for purposes of the guidelines. Most people, including lawyers are surprised when they see what is included. It makes no difference if the IRS thinks its taxable income.  There is a catch-all category for anything not itemized in the

Read More ➔

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