A life event of this magnitude requires you to seek help from an experienced and trained professional. Divorce is based on the law and an Attorney who is knowledgeable about Massachusetts Divorce law is the professional best suited to help you. He or she is able to educate you on the process and costs of divorce litigation, the laws applicable to your particular situation and the parameters of possible outcomes using this court model. An experienced Divorce Attorney will work with you and speak on your behalf. The will prepare the necessary legal documents, correspond and negotiate as necessary with opposing counsel and accompany you to any and all in and out of court proceedings.

Basically, the starting point is everything you owned at the time of the marriage, all income earned and assets acquired during the marriage inclusive of retirement accounts, investments, and liabilities will be in the mix as far as an “equitable” (fair) not “equal” division. Equitable division is a very expansive concept. In addition to the obvious items accumulated during the marriage, the court will also likely look at personal injury settlements, gifts, inheritances, future inheritances and assets vested or likely to be received. The way the court will make a division is based on statutory and case law which applies many factors for consideration.

Massachusetts has developed and follows child support guidelines which give a family a good idea of what a court will order under normal circumstances. It is important that you get advice or read the information found within the guidelines. You may be in a circumstance where there is an appropriate need for a deviation from the amount stated within the guideline. The guidelines will give you information on how to make the child support calculation, make requests to deviate from the guidelines and also educate you on how to handle unusual earnings/non earnings situations.

The duration of child support is regulated by statute as well. Generally, children have a right to be supported by their parents until age 18 if emancipated, which means they are self-sufficient and working, not dependent on the parents, are in the military or married. Child support will continue until the child attains the age of 21 if the child is residing with one of the parents and is principally dependent on the parents, or lastly child support will continue until the child attains the age of 23 and is in college or it will terminate if they graduate college sooner. Special needs children will continue to be supported as the court orders.

This is a hot and very important topic. The starting point is that alimony is governed by Massachusetts General Law chapter 208, section 34 and the cases decided there under. The court has wide discretion as to whether, how much and for how long alimony will be paid. The court will look at the factors within the statute, look at tax information and consider the amount and for how long child support is likely to be paid. The parties are free to negotiate this topic and contractually limit the amount and duration subject to the court’s approval and for appropriate consideration. There has been an effort to clarify the law and bring it within the parameters of the majority of the states. There are websites and online calculators which employ various theories and formulas created by people in the legal field that are commonly used.

Most divorcing couples will resolve the issue of the marital home by one of the following three ways: 1) Sell the home now and split the net proceeds which, if there is sufficient equity to split and with appropriate cash flow, will allow each party to purchase a new residence for themselves and the children, 2) One party will remain in the home, the property will remain in joint name, the residing party will take over the mortgage costs, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc… and at a future time (usually when the youngest child reaches the age of 18), the home will be sold and the net equity at that time will be split and lastly, 3) One party will buy out the other party’s interest in the home now, the party being bought out will deed the property to the residing party. This option may require a refinance to relieve the leaving party of the mortgage debt. Using this option will also require enough equity in the home to not only refinance but to also pay the leaving party their share of the interest.

Whatever option is selected, it is important to get an accurate fair market value of the home now by either a Real Estate Broker or Bank Appraiser.

A case is commenced by the filing of the complaint for divorce which includes the basic information of the parties, the grounds for divorce and the orders being requested of the court.
Upon commencement of the action and service, an automatic restraining order goes into effect to prevent dissipation of assets or increase of debts. However, ordinary expenses and fees for professionals are allowed.

The party being served by the complaint will then have the opportunity to answer the complaint and prepare a counterclaim with that person’s basic information, grounds for divorce and likewise request orders of the court.

What may follow next are motions for temporary orders for payments, custody and visitation which may be agreed or brought before the court for resolution. Since a trial would not be scheduled for several months these temporary orders are thought to get the parties through until the divorce trial.

During this time, discovery (an exchange of information) will take place between the parties. This involves court ordered mandatory discovery, permissible discovery, and depositions.
The next point will be for the parties to prepare a pretrial memorandum and conduct a 4-way meeting to discuss settlement or at least to see which issues might be agreed to.

Next, the court will hold a pretrial conference where the parties and their attorneys will present in written form the basic case and issues that would need to be tried. The court may comment on these issues, suggest how the issues maybe settled, send the matter to a court appointed mediator/conciliator or simply schedule the matter for trial.

Should there be no mediated settlement or agreement of the parties, the case will eventually be tried before the court; judgment rendered, appealed and so on.

This is a somewhat simplistic overview and there may be many more court visits and court intervention during this process.