In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy regarding bail decisions; particularly, to people who have limited resources. More recently the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; which is the highest court in Massachusetts, said that bail should factor in whether the criminal defendant has less money and what the risk of having a bail […]

I was Divorced some time ago and I am unhappy now with what occurred in terms of a settlement. Can I make changes now?        That depends. There are parts of the Agreement that survive; which means they can not be changed and that typically consists of divisions of assets, such as a house […]

In Massachusetts if my Spouse does not want to get a Divorce, can I still get a Divorce?         Yes.  Even if your spouse says that the marriage is not over, the Court will grant the divorce upon your testimony that the marriage has irretrievable broken down.  Your spouse can make the process […]

If my spouse and I are still living together can I file for Divorce? Yes.  In Massachusetts it does not require that one of the spouses move from the marital home in order for the divorce to be filed. Other states may be different, depending on the state. If my spouse has threatened to quit […]

I had more cases recently where there have been issues regarding identity theft.  There are some common-sense things that people can do.   One of them is too try not to share your Social Security number unless it is necessary, including on court paperwork. Also, avoid having your Social Security card or Medicaid card with […]

In a care and protection DCF case permanent custody does not necessarily mean a termination of parental rights. Permanent custody and termination of parental rights are significantly different than permanent custody. If DCF has permanent custody you can seek to file something called a Review and Redetermination, where you have to produce some credible evidence […]

There are several steps to file divorce in MA:  Jurisdiction- generally it is easy to show jurisdiction with generally live together as husband and wife in MA and residency requirements but if grounds for divorce occurred outside of MA the plaintiff needs to have lived in MA for at least a year prior to filing […]

If you do not know where your spouse lives or how to serve them paperwork in a divorce and you have made some reasonable attempts to try and locate them you can file a motion for publication and have the notice listed in newspaper where he or she was last known to live( there is […]

An uncontested divorce means that there is no dispute and the parties agree to all terms of the divorce including child custody, support, alimony, division of marital assets and debt and so forth.  This can be done by a joint petition for divorce with related paperwork including a divorce agreement( called a ” separation agreement”

In past the only way to get a divorce was to find that your spouse was at fault such as adultery, abuse and so forth.  Now MA( and most states) allow no fault divorce simply because one spouse does not want to be married.  This avoids showing that your spouse was at fault and makes […]