Foxborough Divorce Lawyer

Divorce can be an undeniably challenging experience, even when the process goes smoothly. The end of your marriage and the separation of your family, especially if you have children, can be incredibly painful, stressful, and destabilizing. The added complexity of navigating financial and legal hurdles can increase such difficulties. Our goal at Nussbaum Family Law LLC is to help you get divorced efficiently while minimizing unnecessary conflict.

At Nussbaum Family Law LLC, we have extensive experience in guiding clients through divorce. Our approach is experienced and expert, responsive, analytic, and compassionate. Throughout the process, Nussbaum Family Law LLC will work closely with you toward achieving you and your family’s best interests and goals. We will ask you to be an active participant in the process, to the extent you are able and willing. There is no one “right” way to get a divorce. Our approach is tailored to your particular circumstances and needs, your spouse’s mindset, and your family dynamics. 

We will listen to all of your circumstances and will work with you, hand-in-hand, to craft the best strategy for your divorce. Our focus is practical and reasonable and wherever advisable, we prioritize settlement over unnecessary conflict resulting in protracted and expensive litigation. If you’re in the midst of a divorce, contact our Foxborough divorce lawyer today at 781-327-1907 for a consultation.

Understanding The Divorce Process

Massachusetts is a “No-fault” divorce state, meaning that a spouse may get a divorce for any reason, without having to prove wrongdoing or incapacity by the other spouse. In a no-fault divorce, the grounds are based on the “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage,” which can simply mean that the spouses no longer wish to be married.

Uncontested “1A” Divorce

There are two ways to get a no-fault divorce in Massachusetts. In an “uncontested divorce,” also referred to as a “1A” divorce, the spouses negotiate and come to an agreement on all aspects of their divorce before going to court. Those aspects may include some or all of the following:

• Child custody
• Parenting time/visitation
• Child support and extracurricular expenses
• Alimony/Spousal support
• College/Post Secondary Education Costs
• Division of assets/property
• Division of business assets
• Division of incentive compensation, bonuses, stock
• Division of liabilities/debt
• Life Insurance
• Health Insurance
• Taxes

When you and your spouse are in agreement on all aspects of your divorce, you may file a Joint Petition for Divorce, along with your Separation Agreement (which is what a divorce agreement is called in Massachusetts) and the other required paperwork. You can reach the terms of your divorce by having your attorney negotiate for you with your spouse or their attorney, through Collaborative Divorce, an interest-based team approach to reaching an agreement, or through mediation, with your own attorney to advise you on your legal rights and best interests and to review your separation agreement.

Contested “1B” Divorce

If only one of you wants the divorce or if you cannot agree on one or more of the relevant issues listed above, your or your spouse will file a “Contested” or “1B” divorce. In many instances, disagreements can be resolved through negotiation and mediation, while others will require some level of intervention by the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court to reach a final decision. 

Approximately 93% of contested divorce cases settle before trial. Having a skilled Foxborough divorce attorney to analyze your situation, advocate for your interests, and negotiate an optimal settlement without unnecessarily increasing conflict and costs, can greatly impact the outcome in either scenario. Be wary of lawyers who tell you that they will “aggressively fight” for you or that you should not settle for anything less than total victory over your spouse. Keep in mind that often, no one in a divorce trial makes out better than the lawyers. After trial, the judge will usually impose solutions that the parties could have reached themselves had they been able to find reasonable solutions, before they spent tens of thousands to even hundreds of thousands on legal fees. For those reasons, be sure to retain counsel that will offer you a realistic assessment of your circumstances and a range of options that, whenever possible, falls short of all out war.

How to Prepare for Divorce 

To ensure the best outcome in your divorce, we recommend that you first seek guidance from a skilled and empathetic Foxborough divorce attorney and prepare with the following steps:

• Always retain legal counsel for your case. An experienced divorce attorney will help you understand the complexities of divorce, including relevant laws, general rules, common practice, and the preferences of the Probate and Family Court. Your divorce attorney will align with your goals, needs, and situation while advising you on the practicalities of settlement. Hiring a family lawyer specialist is crucial to achieving a mutually beneficial outcome in your divorce. Without one, you may face a complex legal process without guidance, which almost invariably results in a worse result.
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of property division, child support, and spousal support. With your attorney’s assistance, educate yourself on the law and its impact on your unique circumstances. Your lawyer should be available to inform you of the relevant laws and standards, and to advise you on potential options and outcomes.
• Try to ensure that you have sufficient cash reserves for several months. It is important to have enough funds to cover your expenses in case you are denied access to your accounts or if you need to seek other living arrangements. If your spouse has control of the finances, however, the court may order them to release funds, called “an advance on the marital estate,” to help you meet living and legal expenses.

Property & Asset Division In Massachusetts Divorce Cases

When it comes to dividing assets and debts in a divorce, Massachusetts applies the “Equitable Division” standard. “Equitable” means that the court aims for a division that is fair and reasonable under all of the relevant circumstances. 

Although it often can, equitable division does not necessarily mean equal division. In making a determination as to what constitutes equitable division of property, judges must consider various factors outlined in MGL c. 208, Section 34. Some significant factors that the court will consider include:

• The length of the marriage
• The parties’ age, health, education, occupation, and prospect for future earnings
• The contribution of each party toward acquiring assets during marriage, 
• The parties’ non-monetary contributions to the marriage, such as child-rearing, homemaking, or sweat equity
• The parties’ conduct, if such conduct negatively affected their ability to earn, acquire, or preserve assets, and the overall value of the marital estate
• Whether the property of a spouse brought into marriage or acquired by inheritance should be considered separate property or marital property
• The needs of each party and the children

In short, within the framework of the above-listed factors, a judge has wide discretion and the flexibility to make a fair distribution based on all of the marriage’s circumstances.

Calculating Alimony & Child Support for High-Income Earners

Determining income for support purposes can be particularly challenging in high-net-worth divorce cases. Business owners, members of a partnership, or LLC often have a complex income structure that includes traditional salary (such as W-2 income), taxable business income (such as K-1 income), and the hard to pin down annual growth in a business’s value to a hypothetical outside buyer.

On the other hand, real estate investors present a different set of complexity. Developers typically invest substantial upfront capital costs, including expenses for real estate acquisition and renovation, which may not yield profitable sales for years to come. 

In addition, calculating income for corporate executives and high-level professionals is further complicated by deferred compensation plans, profit-sharing arrangements, stock options, the presence of vested and unvested stock, and variable performance bonuses. Especially in high-tech companies, the base salary of high-level employees and executives is often dwarfed by non-guaranteed incentive compensation. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Respond To A Complaint in a Contested Divorce Case?

When responding to a divorce case, it is important to file an answer and counterclaim, allowing you to seek affirmative relief. Failing to file a counterclaim may block your right to request certain orders and judgments. While some family court judges consider all requests, many do not and the plaintiff can request the court to disallow such requests.

How Long Does A Divorce Case Take In Massachusetts Family Courts?

The length of a divorce case varies based on several factors. An uncontested divorce filed under Section 1A is by far the quickest and least expensive way to get divorced, usually seven to ten months. In an uncontested case filed under Section 1A, the parties file a joint petition,  separation agreement, and other required documents to initiate the case. Once all of the paperwork is filed, the court schedules a hearing date, usually within a couple of months. During the hearing, the judge will briefly question the parties and in most instances, will approve their agreement. 30 days later, the court enters a Divorce Judgment Nisi, and the divorce will be “absolute,” or final after a 90-day waiting period.

In a contested, “1B” divorce, resolution depends on a number of factors, including the level and tenor of communication between the parties, the presence or lack of transparency on finances, the level of cooperation between the attorneys, the receptiveness of the parties and counsel to settlement, whether there are contested motions and formal discovery, and the overburdened court’s scheduling. In a relatively low-conflict contested divorce, it may take over a year to two years to complete a case. The parties may begin the process with conflict and several areas of disagreement, but as the case progresses,  tempers cool, and costs mount, they often come together to work to find resolution.

Unfortunately, if the parties maintain a high level of hostility or simply cannot reach a global agreement on difficult and/or complex issues, a divorce case can take several years to conclude. Keep in mind that the Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts are heavily backlogged, making it virtually impossible to secure a quick trial date.

The Probate and Family Court will not schedule a pretrial hearing until at least six months after the case is filed. Sometimes the Court does not schedule a date until one of the parties reaches out to request a hearing date. The pretrial process can be delayed if the parties file motions for temporary orders for custody, child support, or for one of the parties to vacate the marital premises, or if the court appoints a guardian ad litem to report or assess custody matters. Pretrial may be greatly delayed if the parties have skirmishes over formal discovery, business or real estate valuation, sometimes requiring the appointment of a “special master,” to oversee discovery issues. If the parties do not reach an agreement by pretrial, the Court then schedules a trial, which is several months or even over a year after pretrial. 

The silver lining in a 1B, contested divorce is that at any point in the process, parties may file an agreement and finish their divorce. If they reach agreement within six months of filing, the parties must file a joint motion to convert to a 1A, uncontested divorce and file the required paperwork. If they reach agreement after six months, they simply have to reach out to the court clerk and ask for an uncontested hearing date. Courts always encourage settlement and so reward settling divorce litigants with quick hearing dates that are usually held early in the day.

What is An Automatic Financial Restraining Order?

Once a party has been served with a summons and divorce complaint, both parties are barred from spending outside the “reasonable costs of day to day living,” without consent of the other party or court order. This means that once you are in 1B divorce proceedings, aside from your attorney’s retainer for legal fees, you cannot make large purchases or sales such as buying or selling a house or new car, transferring assets to a 3d party, or making significant financial/stock/mutual funds transactions (except for professional financial traders), unless your spouse agrees or the court issues an order allowing you to do so. This means that for the duration of your divorce, you can be stuck with an unwanted house, miss favorable market conditions, not be able to make significant gifts to your children or other family members, etc. Nussbaum Family Law LLC can help you negotiate interim agreements with your spouse so that you and your family’s economic situation is not adversely impacted while waiting for your divorce to be finalized.  

How Does Child Support Work In Divorce Cases?

Unlike cases involving children of unwed parents under M.G.L. c. 209c, in divorce cases, the Probate and Family Court may not order retroactive child support before the date the complaint is served. So if you are separated and the other parent should but isn’t paying child support, you must file a divorce complaint as soon as possible, along with a motion for temporary orders seeking child support pending a final disposition of the divorce. To determine the appropriate amount of child support, each parent must file a Probate and Family Court Supplementary Rule 401 Financial Statement and Child Support Guidelines Worksheet. In some circumstances, the court may order a deviation upwards or downwards from the presumptive Child Support Guidelines amount based on special circumstances. In many cases, parties will negotiate and agree to temporary orders for child support, along with temporary parenting schedules. Whether you are a parent seeking or potentially paying child support, Nussbaum Family Law LLC’s Foxborough divorce attorney will advocate for your needs, helping ensure you obtain equitable temporary orders until final resolution of your divorce.

How Does Alimony/Spousal Support Work In Divorce Cases?

In a contested, 1B divorce, courts determine the appropriateness, length, and amount of alimony using many of the same factors set forth above in G.L. c. 208, s. 34. The overriding factors are the length of the marriage, the absence or presence of a spouse’s economic need, as measured by the lifestyle enjoyed during the marriage and the spouse’s ability to pay. There are two types of alimony: temporary and permanent. A court may, on motion, issue an order for temporary alimony while the case is pending. Unless the receiving spouse unreasonably delays proceedings, temporary alimony does not count towards the permanent duration. 

In 2018, the federal tax burden of alimony shifted from the payee to the payor. Reflecting the equities of the tax burden shift, this change has resulted in parties agreeing upon, and courts ordering, somewhat lower percentages of alimony than set forth in the applicable alimony guidelines. 

Courts determine alimony by starting with the difference between with parties’ gross income to decide whether and how much alimony should be ordered. As mentioned above, periodically awarded, non-guaranteed incentive compensation can make such a determination complex. Once the court takes into account the income, it may consider other factors, such as:

• Whether one party is paying health insurance for the other party or children
• Whether certain “joint” expenses like mortgages or taxes are being paid by one party
• How the children’s extracurricular and out of pocket medical expenses are paid
• Whether one party is bearing most or all of the college costs

The Court orders permanent alimony at the end of a case, either by agreement or through judgment after trial. Amendments to the Alimony law in 2012 provide clarity on different types of alimony and establish time limits for alimony payments based on the length of the marriage and the parties’ relative situations. Generally, the maximum length of alimony for a 20-year plus marriage is when the payor reaches social security retirement age, but under certain circumstances can be extended by a petition for modification. 

Reach out to Our Foxborough Divorce Attorney 

Nussbaum Family Law LLC, Foxborough divorce counsel, is committed to helping you choose the best divorce process given your particular circumstances. We will work closely with you throughout your divorce to achieve optimal results for you and for your family so that you may move on without hostility or ongoing litigation.