August 2017 Archives

It is sometimes argued that the parent paying child support should be able to claim the Dependant Child Exemption. According to the 1985 Deficit Reduction Act, as amended by Regulation in July of 2008, the parent with whom their child under the age of 19 resides for greater number of nights of the year is entitled to the exemption, with some exceptions. The three exceptions are:

Do I need a parent coordinator?

There may be changes coming to the way child custody decisions are made by courts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts if a proposed bill is passed into law by the state legislature. Bill S.834 has been presented to the legislature to replace the existing statute (Mass. General Laws Chapter 208, Section 31), and is currently under review and debate.

Rental properties are often considered a good long-term investment with potential for income each month from the tenants. However, during a Massachusetts divorce process, rental income can present problems. This is because the properties are assets that must be divided, and they are also sources of income that may be considered for support calculations.

In some cases of divorce the court will order one spouse to pay the attorneys' fees of the other. This is most likely where there is the large disparity between the income levels of the parties, or if one of the parties unnecessarily escalates the attorneys' fees in the case by requiring litigation of issues and refusing to entertain settlement offers. It is also possible for the parties to reach an agreement on the payment of attorneys' fees as part of a marital settlement agreement.

The court recently considered the issue of what income to include as part of the child support calculation, and whether a mother had validly waived a portion of the father's income for purposes of calculating child support.

We are pleased to present Episode Two of our Family Law Matters Podcast, which relates to the article we recently posted discussing the Financial Statement, which is a document that is required of all parties in a family law proceeding within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We recommend that you download a blank financial statement so that you can follow along with our discussion, and you can find links to the financial statements on our prior blog post here. We hope you find the podcast informative, but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

In this Podcast we welcome Michael Murray of Peabody Wealth Advisors. Mr. Murray is a financial planner and is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary®, an Investment Advisor Representative, and Registered Representative of SII Investments, Inc.® In this Episode we discuss how divorce can be one of the most expensive decisions of a person's life, yet many don't consider serious financial concerns facing each side prior to making the decision to seek a divorce. The lack of planning can have serious consequences and can have a negative effect on a person's future, especially their retirement planning. Those who have been in longer marriages should be particularly concerned about the financial ramifications of a divorce.

In this Family Law Matters Podcast, estate planning attorney Bridget Murrayof Cannon Murray Law provides some important information regarding estate planning and how a divorce can affect your current estate plan, and what changes should immediately be made after divorce.

The financial statement is the cornerstone of every divorce or paternity action. Judges use the information to calculate support payments and divide the marital estate. A divorce is often compared to the dissolution of a corporation or a business partnership, because both involve a careful and detailed division of the economic assets that have been acquired. The law sees both partners as a single economic entity during a marriage, and must then distribute the property of the marriage between the spouses in such a way that one is not unjustly enriched at the expense of the other. The court must also determine how much, if any, one party should support the other, and their children, during and after the matter is completed. It is critical that attention to detail be given its due, otherwise one, or even both, of the parties will be economically harmed.

It is often a concern to parties on both sides of a child support order whether a new spouse's income will effect a child support obligation. It is well settled that a new spouse, or any non-parent, is not responsible to support a child. Krokyn v. Krokym, 378 Mass. 206, 215 (1979). The more difficult situation is when, and to what extent, a new spouse's income should be considered by the court in calculating the payor's child support obligation.

DIVISION OF BUSINESS INTERESTS IN THE MARITAL ESTATE

In cases where support is at issue in a Massachusetts divorce, whether it be child support or alimony, the court will look to evidence of the parties' respective incomes. For example, evidence can be in the form of financial statements, bank records, tax returns, and testimony, among other things. There are cases, however, when a party may be earning less than they could otherwise be making if they had a higher-paying job. The argument for these cases is that sometimes a party will intentionally accept a lower-paying job in order to keep their support obligations to a minimum. However, the court could take into consideration a party's past employment, along with their experience and training, to determine that they could be earning more than they really are. If this happens, the Court could then assign, impute, or attribute income to that party as if they were actually earning that amount. The child support or alimony obligation would then be determined as if the higher level of income was actually being earned.

Any issue relating to family matters-divorce, separation, custody, support, alimony, property division-are highly emotional and difficult for even the most sensible individuals to navigate. However, in most cases, not only do people have to deal with their own emotions, but have to interact with a current or former spouse who is as equally emotional, all the while trying to determine the best interest of themselves and their children. Most people end up confused and exhausted, while trying to act reasonably and heed their lawyer's advice. From a lawyer's perspective, below are 5 considerations to help make the process smoother, reduce court time, and reduce lawyer's fees as much as possible.