Hollywood Divorce Sparks $10 Million Battle
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher have been tabloid fodder for years now, and yet it seems they are still making waves in the media, this time for their forthcoming divorce. While Moore and Kutcher first announced their split in 2011, they are not yet divorced. Their divorce filing cited “irreconcilable differences” and Moore was originally…
Read MoreThe Importance of Keeping Beneficiaries Updated
The importance of updating your beneficiary designations, specifically for policies which fall under Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (“FEGLI”) for life insurance policies has just been highlighted by the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in Hillman v. Maretta. During the marriage of Mr. Hillman and Ms. Maretta, Mr. Hillman named Ms. Maretta as the beneficiary of his…
Read MoreArt Student Aces Exam with Divorce Paper Wedding Dress
A fifteen-year-old student in the small town of Crawley, England recently created an art project that has gone viral on the internet. Hoping to symbolize the tendency of people to rush into marriage and end up divorced, she created a wedding dress completely out of divorce papers. The dress used divorce papers, arranged in a…
Read MoreMA Family Law: Inconsistency Standard v. Material Change of Circumstances
What standard must a Probate and Family Court use when faced with a modification of a child support order when the case is within the Child Support Guidelines? The trial judge in this case dismissed the modification complaint because, although the ex-husband’s income had increased, she found there was not a “substantial and material change…
Read MoreMA Family Law: Modifying Age of Emancipation of an Out-of-State Child Support Order
As mediators and lawyers, we are often confronted with out-of-state divorce judgments. Since Massachusetts has the most generous emancipation statute in the country, those out-of-state judgments often provide that support ends long before a child’s 23rd birthday, depending on the state. Steve and Mary Ellen Freddo had four children and were divorced in Florida. Following…
Read MoreMA Family Law: Imputing Income: Reasonable Efforts to Find Employment
The Probate and Family Court imputed income to an ex-wife based on her present ability to obtain employment. On appeal, the Appeals Court reminds us that the test for imputing income is a two-part inquiry: (1) whether the person has a present ability to obtain a particular job and (2) whether the person exercised “reasonable…
Read MoreMA Family Law: Court Must Consider Tax Consequences if Presented
Court Must Consider Tax Consequences if Presented. Under the Internal Revenue Code, alimony cannot be contingent on a child-related event lest it be re-characterized as non-deductible support. Here, the Probate and Family Court entered a judgment requiring the Father to pay alimony until the youngest child graduated from high school at which point it would…
Read MoreFamily Mediation Quarterly: President’s Letter
Dear Mediators: The most recent professional development meeting, “Collaborative Law and Mediation Tools and Techniques: A Common Ground” was a product of the joint committee of the MCFM and the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council chaired by our own Lynn Cooper. The panelists, in addition to Lynn, were Dan Finn, Kate Fanger, Karen Levitt, and Lisa…
Read MoreAttorney Jon Fields Elected to the Board of Directors of the MA-AFCC
On Friday, April 5th, Attorney Jon Fields was elected to the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (MA-AFCC). Mr. Fields has always been deeply involved in the family law arena, and he has over 22 years of experience representing clients. Family law can be a complex…
Read More"Gray Divorce" on the Rise
While the circumstances of each divorce vary from couple to couple, there has been a recent influx in “Gray Divorce,” or divorce involving couples over the age of fifty. This growing phenomenon poses its own set of complications. Most of these issues involve alimony and retirement, things which younger married couples sometimes haven’t even begun…
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