Family Law Bits

Proposed changes to Massachusetts alimony would eliminate lifetime awards

The week of August 18th, the MA House of Representatives vote to approve a bill that will change the Commonwealth’s alimony rules. The new law establishes guidelines for setting alimony payments and does away with the ability of judges to approve “lifetime alimony.”

Under the new law, the length of alimony is dependent on the length of the marriage, and in most cases, ends at the age of retirement. In the context of the proposed statute, retirement is defined as when one would qualify for full benefits under social security.  This distinction needs to be made so as not to confuse someone into thinking that early retirement would qualify for termination of alimony. In the past, judges had discretion to consider a variety of factors, including assets and employment status. 

The proposed law also proposed new types of alimony including “transitional alimony” which would occur when a spouse needs temporary assistance or job training. Also proposed in the law is “reimbursement alimony” which would be for repayment of money spent on helping a spouse through school or training while married.

The new law would not change alimony rulings already in place but it would allow divorced parties to ask for alimony modifications. If approved by the Senate, this new law is sure to result in more consistent alimony rulings throughout the state, while taking discretion away from judges and creating new forms of alimony. 

 

Photo credit: Microsoft 

MA Alimony Changes Pending

 

2011 may bring about a radical change in the alimony laws in Massachusetts. In MA, short-term marriages can result in lifetime alimony obligations, and legislation is pending to change that to a definitive time frame. This video reviews the pending legislation. Michael J. Grilli, Esq. 413.781.0560, [email protected]

© 2011, Bacon Wilson, P.C. This video has been prepared by Bacon Wilson, P.C. for informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship. Viewers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Do not send us information until you speak with one of our lawyers and get authorization to send that information to us.

Alimony or spousal support - what factors come into play?

   

 

Many factors come into play when a court considers spousal support, including need, ability to pay, and children. Every case is different but this video will help you understand the variables. Michael J. Grilli, Esq, 413.781.0560, [email protected]

© 2011, Bacon Wilson, P.C. This video has been prepared by Bacon Wilson, P.C. for informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship. Viewers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Do not send us information until you speak with one of our lawyers and get authorization to send that information to us.

Alimony basics – what to expect

At present, the impact of the child support guidelines on alimony is still unclear. In low-to middle-income ranges (incomes of $75,000 and lower), a probate court is unlikely to add an alimony component to the child support figure. With higher levels of income, there is typically a combination order of child support and alimony, often approximately 36 to 40 percent of the noncustodial parent’s gross income, but allocating the figure between nondeductible child support and deductible alimony-to give the noncustodial parent a slight tax break.

If the noncustodial parent earns over $100,000, (the limit of the child support guidelines applicability,) that additional income may be used as a source of alimony. Alimony is tax-deductible to the spouse paying it and includable in income to the spouse receiving it, while child support is nondeductible to the spouse paying it and nontaxable to the spouse receiving it.

Typically, support ends or is substantially reduced when the children reach “emancipation” (age 18 in Massachusetts,) although support is often extended to cover the period of time when a child is in college because a college-age child is typically not self-supportive and remains dependent on his or her parents, at least until graduation. The law now allows child support to continue until age 23 if the child is a student or otherwise dependent upon the custodial parent.

In a marriage of short duration (less than five years) with no children and a nonworking spouse, alimony for any extended length of time is unusual. Typically, short-term “rehabilitative” alimony, (six months to three years, depending on the age and employability of the nonemployed spouse,) is considered appropriate in order to give the nonworking spouse time to retrain and seek employment. In a short-term marriage with no children, if both parties are employed, even at very different income levels, alimony or maintenance is seldom awarded.

In a long-term marriage (longer than 18 years), even if all the children are emancipated, if one spouse has spent the entirety of the marriage as a homemaker, most courts and attorneys will agree that absent some compelling circumstances, the homemaker spouse will be entitled to “indeterminate” alimony and support (that is, until death or remarriage), based on the reality that 20-25 years away from the job market preclude the vast majority of homemakers from obtaining any kind of paid meaningful employment. The rule of thumb in this situation is an alimony award of 20 to 30 percent of the wage-earning spouse’s income.

While support figures can be determined in a variety of ways, and the parties and attorneys can try to exercise some creativity in devising solutions, the hard reality is that in most middle-income families, divorce is an economically difficult situation, and neither party is able to maintain the same standard of living that the couple enjoyed prior to the separation. Increasingly, I am advising my nonemployed clients, (who are most often women with school-age children,) to begin thinking in terms of retraining for a career and some kind of employment, because they will most likely need to supplement support from the employed spouse and be self-supporting or somewhat self-supporting when the children are grown.

By: Julie A. Dialessi-Lafley, Esquire