Case Law Updates from Family Mediation Quarterly, April 2014

Temporary Alimony Doesn’t Count. In the most significant case concerning the Alimony Reform Act, the SJC determined that the period during which temporary alimony is paid during the pendency of a divorce proceeding pursuant to G.L. c. 208 s. 17 is not included in the calculation of the maximum presumptive duration of general term alimony. …

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Fleshing Out Best Interest Standard

A recent SJC opinion made headlines by finding that a California registered domestic partnership was equivalent to a marriage, and that the biological mother and her “partner” were both parents to the child born during their partnership through in vitro fertilization.  The case, too, contains an excellent review of the standards of primary physical custody…

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