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A company is now offering divorce insurance as protection against your marriage falling apart. While I don’t think this product can legally be sold in Massachusetts, it is a new concept that is worthy of discussion. Perhaps, someday, it will be legal to buy this in...
A complaint for modification of child support will require both parties to file financial statements. The latest version of the financial statement has a line to show contribution from other household members. This would include a spouse or a roommate if they pay a...
In most cases, remarriage has no effect on a prior child support order. However, where the new spouse has high income or assets, this could be different. Child support is based on certain concepts. One of them is that each parent has to use their income for their own...
Apparently, very little notice is required to serve legal notice of a restraining order. In the recent case of COMMONWEALTH v. MELTON, 08-P-2143 (Mass.App.Ct. 9-2-2010) the woman who got a domestic abuse restraining order told her former boyfriend in a telephone call...
If a party seeks permission from a judge to move to another part of Massachusetts, a Judge will consider the request under the same standards that apply to removal out of Massachusetts. The Court can prevent the move "where the relocation would evidently involve...
The obligation to provide health insurance to an ex-spouse is spelled out in the divorce decree. If the decree incorporates a separation agreement, the separation agreement will describe the obligation. The problem is that a family plan which will cover an ex-spouse...
Every now and then I find an advertisement for a $99.00 divorce. Sometimes it’s an ad for a twenty-four hour divorce. While these sound great, they won’t get you divorced. These ads offer divorces in foreign countries like Caribbean islands. They will get you a...
In the recent Supreme Court case of Abbott v. Abbott, 130 S.Ct. 1983 (2010), the Court ordered a child returned to Chile. In this case, the mother had custody under proceedings in Chile and removed the child to the United States in violation of Chilean law. While the...
I received an email from a woman who was told that she couldn’t get child support because she never married the father of the child. I don't know why she was told this. However, it is wrong advice. An unmarried parent can get child support if they can establish the...
Mediation as a way to settle divorce cases is growing in popularity. If it works, it will save the parties money and will be quicker than a divorce trial. However, mediation is not for every couple. Mediation is a process that encourages compromises. If both parties...
