More people had filed for bankrupcty since the law was amended in 2005.  Over 1.5 million people filed.  Their has been an increase in those earning over $60,000 and thos with better education.  The combination of poor housing market, still very tough job market and the minimal societal safety net makes bankruptcy one of the only real options to stop the finacial pressure.

Getting a divorce is hard and stessfull.  In MA, it is not a 50-50 state but an equitable distribution state.  It is important to make sure you get what is owed to you.  In many instances it is not cut and dry.  You should speak to an experienced lawyer to figure out the options.  You need to have a full lsiting of all property with their initial values versu what is accrued during the marriage. 

There is a new trend with consumer being more likely to pay credit card payments before mortage payments.  Part of this may be due to the high unemployment and decline in home values.  In bankruptcy, your credit card debt may likely be discharged and you can protect your house

As most people are aware there are a lot of concerns about social media with issues of privacy and concerns about who you and your children might be “friending”.   In today’s legal climate there are a lot of legal risks associated with the internet that people are not aware of.  It is a fairly common practice for school resource police officers to troll social media for students who might be on YouTube, Facebook, My Space and other social media tools, to monitor their activities.  In some cases they have taken out criminal complaints if what they found on the social media appears to be a crime.

I just recently had one case in which the school resource officer went as far as charging my client along with a friend of his with the eavesdropping statute for essentially taking a video of another party, supposedly without that other party’s permission.  You do see charges whether it is an assault or minor in possession or other crimes that can be viewed. 

In addition, it is a common practice among probation officers to look for the probationers and their friends on social media networks to see if there are any posting or pictures showing in violations of their probation.  This might include minor in possession of alcohol or talking about it or marijuana or other questioning activities.  I have been in court where I have seen children who have ended up being committed to DYS or the house of corrections based on what was posted on the social media networks.

1.  Look at options- is bankrupty right for you.  Look at the options, is a legal debt settlement a possibility or a different type of chapter such as chapter 13.

2.  Find an attorney that can provide good advice.  Many attornies inclduing myself offer a free intitial meeting

3.  Be Honest- full disclosure is needed.  There is a trustee involved and you must provide assets, income, liabilities  and expenses.

The courts have a long history of involvement with issues related to parental rights and obligations. With rapidly changing societal norms and the ease of paternity testing, there has been a great deal of confusion about the definition of a “legal parent” and even what constitutes a “family”.

In Massachusetts there was a very controversial case (Paternity of Cheryl, 434mass.23.32746n.e.2nd 488, 2001) involving paternity. The Mass. Supreme Judicial Court was asked to review a case in which a man signed an acknowledgment of paternity and did not take advantage of paternity testing and later discovered that he was not the biological father. Should he be treated as the father and be responsible child support? The Court found in this case that family stability outweighed the non-biological father’s rights. This, in effect, meant that the non-biological father was determined to be the legal father and must continue to provide child support.

New issues related to this case are coming to the fore. I have recently been involved in two cases dealing with variants of issues related to this case. In one case, the biological father didn’t know that he was the father or even that the mother was pregnant until there was a court action several years later. Another man had signed a paternity acknowledgment making him the legal father. The juvenile court in this case found that biological father didn’t have any standing in determining issues related to custody, even though he was in fact the biological father.

Most people going through Taunton probably has seen the construction of the new courthouse.  As a lawyer, I am very excited about the courthouse opening hopefully by early fall.  The courthouse is supposed to contain eight courtroom including district court, juvenile court, housing court and probate and family court.

The courthouse will replace many old and impractical courts and some courts that have been moved including probate and family court which now only sits in Fall River and New Bedford.   This should make it easier for the public in Taunton, Attleboro and other areas.

I am offering some matching costs versus my legal fees and some initial meeting for a donation to the PAN Mass.  I have Hodgkins, which is a very treatable form of cancer.  I have been in remissions for about 7 years.  I was treated at Dana Farber and saw all sorts of people who were battling cancer including children in the Jimmy fund clinic.  

I have signed up for my thirds bike ride at Pan MA- two days 192 miles to support cancer   research which will ultimately save lives.  I have raised over $14,00o in two years.  If you let me know, I will provide a recution in initial fees up to $100 and can discuss the options ahead of time.  My website is pmc.org under nesson.  Thank you.

How do the courts deal with pets?  As pets become more and more parts of families lives what happens in court?  Is it the pets best interest such as children?  The answer is no.  The court generally do not like dealing with who gets "custody" of pets and looks more of it as personal property.  I have two dogs and two cats and have looked studied a little bit about animal law.  Animals have very limited rights and in most cases the courts will deal with the pets as more personal property with limited value.  This does not mean that their can not be conflict.  As a mediator and attorney, I have drawn up agreements with times sharing for pets and even how to divide the ashes of a pet.  Most time working out an agreement is much better than asking the Judge to decide because in general the court is not going to spend much real time on the issue.

There are a lot of issues with children going through a divorce. There may be significant emotional and behavioral issues. The state now requires that parents attend a parenting education class prior to finalizing the divorce.  The idea is that the divorce is difficult on children and parents should be educated regarding not how to raise children but the impact that the divorce may have.  Whether this is a good idea or not that it is mandatory is disputable but it is now the law.

Parents do need to understand whether through classes and education or on their own that the break up of a family can have profound impact on children.  Parents need to put their children first.  Basic advice is no matter how bad the other spouse is or how they are behaving- do not bad mouth that spouse to the child.  Do not make the child the messenger or give the child too much information.   Parental alienation of the other spouse is a large concern for the court.  Try  to think about the impact the divorce may have on the children and how to minimize this.

In court, in extreme cases you can ask for a GAL to resolve some of the issues regarding children or also pay for a parenting coordinator to help parties in a high conflict case resolve some parenting issues.