Divorce and Family Law Blog
Written by an experienced Divorce and Family Law Attorney with offices in Boston | Andover | Newburyport | Newton
Massachusetts Appeals Court Affirms Major Support Increases in High-Income Divorce Case
When Wealth and Parenting Collide: The Appeals Court Upholds Major Support Increases in Smith v. Smith In a recent and instructive decision, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a Probate and Family Court judge’s order substantially increasing both alimony and...
Voluntary Acknowledgments and Legal Finality
Finality in Parentage: The Supreme Judicial Court Reaffirms Limits on Challenging Voluntary Acknowledgments of Paternity In a recent decision, A.D. v. K.S., SJC-13665 (April 24, 2025), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) addressed the critical question of...
Domestic Relations Reform: MA Courts Update
Modernizing the Rules: A Look at the Proposed Overhaul of Massachusetts Domestic Relations Procedure The Probate and Family Court is proposing major updates to the Massachusetts Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure, and it's inviting public comment through June 30,...
De Facto Parents – Massachusetts Parentage Act
As of January 1, 2025, the updated Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA) brings crucial legal protections for children and families. The law now ensures that all children, regardless of their family's formation, receive equal treatment. Since the original enactment of...
International Parental Kidnapping Prevention Tips
When custody disputes arise, few scenarios provoke more anxiety than the prospect of one parent taking a child abroad and failing to return. While parental kidnapping may occur domestically, international parental kidnapping is a significantly more complex issue....
Declaratory Judgments and Obtaining Dual Citizenship
For many, the notion of dual citizenship evokes a sense of belonging to two worlds. It provides a tether to a cultural past that might otherwise feel distant. Some countries extend this opportunity through a principle known as jure sanguinis—“by descent”—which grants...
Wedding Is Off! Who Gets the Engagement Ring?
Who keeps the engagement ring if a couple calls off the wedding? Does it matter who's at fault? For sixty-five years, Massachusetts courts have ruled that the person who gave the ring can reclaim it. This applies if they were not at fault for the engagement’s...
Deviating from the Durational Limits on Alimony: New Case
In the Massachusetts Appeals Court case, S.S. v. S.S., Turco Legal partner Maureen Booth successfully argued that the Probate and Family Court erred in deviating from the presumptive durational limits on alimony during a divorce proceeding. A deviation was deemed...
The “Double Dip” Problem: New Alimony and Asset Division Case
A new Massachusetts Appeals Court case, Michael A. Trethewey v. Rosalia F. Trethewey, highlights the risk of “double dipping” in divorce matters involving marital asset division and alimony (or other support) orders. In Trethewey, the probate and family judge treated...
Alimony Law Change: Marital Practice of Saving Can Be Factored into Alimony Award
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ("SJC") recently decided Openshaw v. Openshaw, a case that changes how we think about alimony specifically in regard to the need for support to accumulate savings. The issue in Openshaw was whether a probate and family judge...