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

Hi there,

It's coming up on Halloween and the pet stores are selling pet costumes...

I have two big dogs and one very tough cat, and while I don't think I'm going to be buying them costumes any time soon, I do understand the urge.  We think of and feel about our pets the way we do our children.  If you don't have kids, your pets fill that slot.  I'm a grandmother and I refer to the dogs as "my boys."

Any person, pet or child (am I anthropomorphizing or what here?) who is loved and who is in the middle of a divorce can become the subject (object?) of acrimony.  We have had cases here at Burns & Levinson that dealt with custody of dogs, cats and once, memorably, a horse.  I have negotiated, admittedly as part of a multimillion dollar divorce, an extremely detailed visiting plan for a dog.  There isn't any case law in Massachusetts that treats animals as anything other than property, but that doesn't stop pet owners from feeling otherwise.

Divorce is not the only time we think of pets.  For example, Leona Helmsley's $12 million bequest to her Maltese triggered a lot of discussion.  Possibly as a response, Massachusetts has created a new pet trust law.  My able partner, Cliff Cohen, has written an interesting piece on pet trusts.  I would not be surprised to be negotiating one soon.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Best,

Nancy

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Hi there,

It's been a while since I cleaned out the collection of random articles I've saved for the blog, and since October is closet cleaning time, here goes.

The statistics about divorce in this Wall Street Journal piece were somewhat astonishing.   I was also surprised and encouraged to read that second marriages stand just as good a chance of success as first marriages.  I had previously thought that the statistics about the occurrence of divorce were much higher.  Massachusetts has one of the lowest divorce rates in the nation, I wonder what we are doing right?

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Hi there,

Among the many things that astonished me as I began practicing divorce law, were the stupendous number of people who openly and flagrantly cheat on their taxes and, apparently, never get caught.

First, there are massive numbers of folks who just don't report all of their income.  I think this seems to hold true for anyone in a cash business.  Think mom and pop (or larger) stores, gas stations, car washes, landscaping businesses, etc etc.   

Next, there are also those folks who take imaginary deductions (as opposed to imaginative deductions).  These deductions can be amazing in their scope.  Travel expenses for trips that didn't occur, costs of goods sold that hadn't been purchased, all phantom deductions.

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