Massachusetts Divorce Law Monitor : Boston, MA Divorce & Family Law Lawyer & Attorney : Nancy Van Tine : Burns & Levinson Law Firm

Topic 1: The Kids: If you have kids who aren't grown up, then this can be the most difficult area to navigate.

Topic 2: Child Support: In any support situation, it seems the support is always too much for the person paying, and never enough for the person receiving it. With child support in Massachusetts, the payments are formulaic.

Topic 3: Child Support, Additional Expenses: Child support monies are intended to cover food, shelter and clothing; but as anyone who has raised a child knows, that is only the beginning.

Topic 4: Alimony: Alimony is determined based on the needs of one party for support and the ability of the other to pay.

Topic 5: Health and Life Insurance: There should be provisions in all agreements, for both health insurance coverage and for how you will handle the uninsured medical expenses for both yourselves and your children.

Topic 6: Taxes: Taxes are among the items you will need to consider when drafting a divorce agreement. You need to think about how to divide any pending refund or liabilities, and how you are going to file for the current or prior year if you are still able to file jointly.

Topic 7: Property Division: The 7th topic to consider is part of the property division. This is controlled by Massachusetts General Laws chapter 208, section 34.

Topic 8: Intangible Personal Property: Intangible Personal Property can be very technical to divide. Pensions, IRAs and other retirement assets, deferred compensation, and stock options all need to be carefully handled.

Topic 9: Debts and Liabilities: In this unhappy recession, many folks who are getting divorced are dealing primarily with how to divide debts, but even if you are solvent you need to consider the various family liabilities out there.

Topic 10: Important for Everyone
 

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Hi there,

I am writing this post in advance of my 2 week vacation, so if I am a little slap happy please bear with me.

It seems as if every few months an article hits the press about the division of the marital pet.  To folks who don't have kids (and even those who do), pets are like children and their owners do want continued contact.  However, I have never seen an analysis of what shifting homes does to a dog's psyche.  They seem to do doggy day-care with no problems though.

Bigamy too, seems to come up frequently.  Yes through the years I have had a number of cases where bigamy was an issue, you would think one spouse would be enough but.......

And then for the weirdest thing I have read this week award, from Above the Law by Kashmir Hill.

Best,

Nancy

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Hi there,

Today the Supreme Judicial Court rendered its decision in the case which has set the standard for marital agreements in Massachusetts.  I was counsel for the wife in the appeal with my partners, Susan Stenger and Robin Lynch Nardone. We did not try the underlying case.

The judgment is very bittersweet for us because the court adopted the standard that we proposed for marital agreements then went on to find that at the trial our client hadn't met that standard.

Marital agreements are agreements between spouses that are neither divorce agreements nor prenuptial agreements. I very strongly believe that the opportunity for coercion is high in these circumstances (Honey sign this agreement or I will leave you) and we argued first that these agreements should not be enforced, but if the court was inclined to allow them there should be a different standard for their enforcement than is used for prenuptial agreements.

The SJC agreed; Marital agreements are now enforceable in Massachusetts, BUT

They must be scrutinized by the judge to determine at a minimum whether:

        (1) each party has had an opportunity to obtain separate legal counsel of each party's own choosing;
        (2) there was fraud or coercion in obtaining the agreement;
        (3) all assets were fully disclosed by both parties before the agreement was executed;
        (4) each spouse knowingly and explicitly agreed in writing to waive the right to a judicial equitable division of assets and marital rights in the event of a divorce; and

        (5) the terms of the agreement are fair and reasonable at the time of execution and at the time of divorce. 

The spouse seeking to enforce the agreement has burden of proof on these issues. 

This will be a very useful decision for the attorneys in Massachusetts who practice domestic relations and probate law.

Best,

Nancy

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Hi there,

I heard the tapes of Mel Gibson calling his ex-girlfriend this week on a newscast.  If indeed they are real, they were horrifying and to me they sounded like someone suffering from some form of  untreated mental illness.

I have posted about narcissism and sociopaths, but not yet discussed the other mental illnesses which are most frequently seen in divorce cases; addictions, bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder. No divorce lawyer should be without her copy of "DSM-IV" (aka Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition), the Bible of the American Psychiatric Association.

Nor have I discussed parental alienation syndrome (which is not yet in the DSM-IV), which I believe occurs as a result of some sort of underlying disorder on the part of the alienator, which precludes him/her from seeing the damage caused to the kids.

Bipolar Disorder, once diagnosed, is one of the most easily treatable mental illnesses; however, many patients will be reluctant to seek help, may often self-medicate with alcohol, and when diagnosed can often be non-compliant with their medication.  As a result, many of their marriages fall apart.  Mental illness is just that, an illness, and is handled by the court as a condition requiring help and support.  It can add to the needs of the recipient spouse in an alimony situation, and is often an issue raised in custody cases.  If the parent who suffers from the illness has a history of non-compliance with medication, this can be a serious factor in determining access to children.

After the fight over whether or not the Gibson tapes were tampered with, the custody battle may well shift to Mr. Gibson's mental status.

Best,

Nancy

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Hi there,

I have blogged before about the terrific resource social media is for divorce lawyers.  Today, sitting in a courtroom waiting for my case to be called I saw a case that, ironically, highlighted this very importance.  Two pro se litigants (lawyer speak for folks in a court case without lawyers) were battling over whether a dad's child support should continue for an 18 year old daughter.  Mom was arguing that the child was living at home and working on her GED degree; however, Dad had been trolling the Internet and had found Facebook and MySpace pages, as well as some other materials where the daughter was telling folks she was working as a "model and an exotic dancer."  He even had pictures of her dancing on a pole (the Judge declined to review the pole picture, wise man), and her posts from those sites where she stated that she was earning $40,000 a year.  Dad had also found on craigslist that she was looking for an apartment out of state.

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