Posts Tagged ‘Family Law’
Jon Fields Presenting on Collaborative Family Law at MCLE Event
Jon Fields will be participating in a Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) program presentation on January 22, 2014 in Boston. He will be a part of a panel presenting on Collaborative Family Law Practice. Attorney Fields is passionate about the practice of collaborative law, which is continually gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional approaches. To…
Read MoreMediation for Families
Mediation is a tool that can be invaluable to families. At Fields and Dennis, we are well-versed in all aspects of Family Law, and we often turn to mediation as an agreeable and less distressing means to an end. There are many ways that mediation can benefit families at various stages of life. From divorce to estate planning and everything in between, mediation can be an…
Read MoreCase Law Updates from Family Mediation Quarterly, October 2013
PC Agreement Held Enforceable. A recent Appeals Court decision held that an agreement to use a parenting coordinator (PC) was enforceable, even where one party does not want to use one anymore. The father had sought the appointment of a new PC after the PC’s initial one-year term ended; the Probate and Family Court judge…
Read MoreCase Law Updates from Family Mediation Quarterly, July 2013
“Agreed upon Educational Expenses” and the Price of Silence. Because “agreed upon expenses” recurs so frequently in our agreements, this recent case from the Appeals Court should be of great interest. The separation agreement, incorporated into a California divorce judgment and registered in Massachusetts, provided that each party would pay one-half of all agreed-upon educational…
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 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 MoreFleshing 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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