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You are here: Home / Archives for child support

Save the Date: Jon Fields Brings You Up to Date with 2017 Child Support Guidelines

Join Jonathan E. Fields on August 22, 2017 from 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM at MWI for a workshop on the new 2017 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines. Mr. Fields was appointed to the Massachusetts Trial Court Child Support Guidelines Task Force in 2016 to help review the guidelines. The guidelines are updated every 4 years, and the new guidelines have important implications for the calculation of child support, including unreported income and college contributions. Mr. Fields has extensive experience as a family lawyer, mediator, arbitrator and expert in the area of family law. He is past president of the MCFM and is currently on the board of the Massachusetts chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC). He is the author of numerous publications on family law and regularly presents and speaks on family law matters. Read more about Mr. Fields’ extensive family law experience in his bio.

Event Details

Where: 10 Liberty Square, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02109

When: Tuesday, August 22, 2017 from 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

All attendees of the MWI workshop should familiarize themselves with the documents listed on the event webpage. Please visit the event webpage to register and find out more about the event and how to earn extra credits.

Filed Under: Divorce, Family Law, Firm News Tagged With: child support, Child Support Guidelines, Massachusetts Child Support

Jon Fields Profiled in Boston Business Journal

The Boston Business Journal reports that Jonathan Fields, partner at Fields and Dennis LLP, has been appointed as a member of the Massachusetts Trial Court’s Child Support Guidelines Task Force. The Task Force is responsible for conducting the quadrennial review of the guidelines required under federal law. A link to more info can be found here.

Filed Under: Family Law, Firm News Tagged With: child support, Child Support Guidelines, Fields and Dennis News, Firm News, Massachusetts Child Support, Massachusetts Family Law, Massachusetts Trial Court

Jon Fields Appointed as Member of the Child Support Guidelines Task Force

Fields and Dennis LLP is proud to announce that Jonathan E. Fields has been appointed as a member of the Massachusetts Trial Court’s Child Support Guidelines Task Force. The Task Force is responsible for conducting the quadrennial review of the guidelines required under Federal law.

Jon joins the Chairperson of the Task Force, the Honorable Angela M. Ordonez, Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court Department, along with other members including representatives from the Probate and Family Court, the Department of Revenue, the domestic relations bar, and legal services organizations.

Filed Under: Family Law, Firm News, Massachusetts Family Law Tagged With: child support, Massachusetts Child Support, Massachusetts Family Law

3 Ways to Financially Prepare for Divorce When Emotions are High

Divorce is a highly emotional time and when you are going through such a trying life event, practical matters may be far from your mind. But despite the emotional toll, it is important that you consider financial matters – if not for yourself, for the well-being of your loved ones. You will get through this difficult period, and once you are on the other side, you will surely want to enjoy your new life.

Asset division can make an already emotionally heightened experience even more overwhelming, but if you take it one step at a time, you will get through it and be glad that you didn’t let your finances fall by the wayside in the midst of turmoil.

Here are 3 financial tips to help you through a complex divorce. Read more.

Filed Under: Alimony, Divorce, Family Law, High-Net Worth, Marriage, Massachusetts Divorce, Massachusetts Family Law Tagged With: Alimony, asset division, child support, complex divorce, contentious divorce, Divorce, Divorce Advice, financial planning, taxes

To Litigate, or Not to Litigate, That is the Question

If you are going through a divorce, there are many things to consider. It is a difficult time, emotions are high, and you are confronted with a number of decisions that you may not be in the best state of mind to make. Now, no two divorces will be identical, so while having a support system who has “been there” can certainly be helpful, their situation may be extremely different then yours.

There are a variety of factors that can contribute to a divorce, and depending on how the decision was come upon, you and your ex may be on civil terms, but other times, if the relationship ended badly, communication and compromise may be impossible concepts to wrap your mind around. Because each divorce is different, each course of action is also different. While some couples have relatively simple cases without much contention between spouses, other couples may have more complex divorces that require careful and strategic planning. Read more.

Filed Under: Divorce, Family Law, High-Net Worth, Marriage, Massachusetts Divorce, Massachusetts Family Law Tagged With: Alimony, assets, Boston Divorce Lawyers, child support, Contemporary Marriage, Divorce, Divorce Assets, divorce litigation, Divorce Planning, Infidelity, litigation, Marriage, spousal support

Case Law Updates from Family Mediation Quarterly, October 2013

Case Law Updates by Attorney Jonathan Fields from Family Mediation Quarterly, October 2013, including:

  • PC Agreement Held Enforceable.
  • Post-Retirement Alimony Obligations.

 

Read more.

Filed Under: Alimony, Divorce, Family Law, Firm News, Massachusetts Family Law, Massachusetts Mediation, Mediation, Probate Court, Quarterly Reviews Tagged With: Case Law Updates, child support, Family Law, Family Mediation Quarterly, Massachusetts Family Law, Mediation, Probate Court

Case Law Updates from Family Mediation Quarterly, July 2013

Case Law Updates by Attorney Jonathan Fields from Family Mediation Quarterly, July 2013, including:

  • “Agreed upon Educational Expenses” and the Price of Silence.
  • Probate Court has Authority to Allocate Federal Dependency Exemptions.
  • New Child Support Guidelines.

 

Read more.

Filed Under: Alimony, Divorce, Family Law, Firm News, General Posts, Massachusetts Divorce, Massachusetts Mediation, Mediation, Probate Court, Quarterly Reviews Tagged With: child support, Family Law, Family Mediation Quarterly, Massachusetts Family Law, Probate Court

MA Family Law: Inconsistency Standard v. Material Change of Circumstances

 

What standard must a Probate and Family Court use when faced with a modification of a child support order when the case is within the Child Support Guidelines?  The trial judge in this case dismissed the modification complaint because, although the ex-husband’s income had increased, she found there was not a “substantial and material change in circumstances.”  Notably, the judge’s decision did not mention the “inconsistency standard” in G.L. c.208, s.28 which states that a modification is appropriate “if there is an inconsistency between the amount of the existing order and the amount that would result from applying the Guidelines.”  Nevertheless, the Appeals Court affirmed her judgment.  The SJC, however, reversed; it held that the “inconsistency standard” rather than the “material change in circumstances” applies where modifications of child support within the Guidelines are concerned.  Morales v. Morales, 464 Mass. 507 (March 12, 2013)

Filed Under: Family Law, Massachusetts Family Law Tagged With: Appeals Court, child support, Family Law, Massachusetts Family Law, Morales v Morales

MA Family Law: Modifying Age of Emancipation of an Out-of-State Child Support Order

 

As mediators and lawyers, we are often confronted with out-of-state divorce judgments.  Since Massachusetts has the most generous emancipation statute in the country, those out-of-state judgments often provide that support ends long before a child’s 23rd birthday, depending on the state.  Steve and Mary Ellen Freddo had four children and were divorced in Florida.  Following the divorce, they both moved to Massachusetts. Mr. Freddo brought a complaint for modification in Massachusetts when all of the children were over eighteen.  Mr. Freddo’s argument was (1) that under Florida law, children are emancipated at age eighteen, with exceptions not relevant here, and the age of emancipation is a non-modifiable matter and (2) under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), if an obligation is non-modifiable in the “issuing state” (Florida, in this case), then the “responding state” (Massachusetts) cannot modify it.  The Probate and Family Court found Mr. Freddo’s complaint frivolous and dismissed it, relying on the “post-eighteen” provisions of G.L. c.208 s.28.  In this significant case of first impression, the Appeals Court reversed, holding that Massachusetts could not modify the age of emancipation where it could not have been modified in Florida.  Acknowledging the inconsistency between G.L. c.208 s.28 and UIFSA, the Appeals Court found that the latter takes priority; both the “full faith and credit purpose” of UIFSA and the fact that it was enacted after G.L. c.208 compel this conclusion.  Freddo v. Freddo, 83 Mass.App.Ct 353 (February 26, 2013)

Filed Under: Divorce, Family Law Tagged With: child support, Divorce, Family Law, Massachusetts Family Law

"Gray Divorce" on the Rise

While the circumstances of each divorce vary from couple to couple, there has been a recent influx in “Gray Divorce,” or divorce involving couples over the age of fifty.  This growing phenomenon poses its own set of complications. Most of these issues involve alimony and retirement, things which younger married couples sometimes haven’t even begun to consider. Because of shifting views of marriage, divorces are becoming more common for soon to be retirees and empty nesters, who are no longer finding personal satisfaction and fulfillment through marriage.  Read more here.

Filed Under: Divorce, Divorce Statistics Tagged With: Alimony, child support, Divorce, Gray Divorce, Marriage, spousal support

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