During a divorce, or other case in the Massachusetts Probate & Family Court that involves your finances, such as a child support case, you will likely be required to file a court form Financial Statement.  In Massachusetts there are two versions of this form: a "short form" if your income is under $75,000 and a "long form" if your income is $75,000 or more.  Many people find these forms confusing and we've compiled a list of helpful information for filling them out. First , to access the forms, the court has provided pdf or online versions here: Massachusetts Rule 401 Short Form Financial Statement (pdf) Massachusetts Rule 401 Long Form Financial Statement (pdf) There are also some basic instructions provided by the court explaining the sections of the forms and providing access to a Schedule A (for self-employed people) and Schedule B (for rental income): Massachusetts Rule 401 Short Form Financial Statement Basic Instructions Massachusetts Rule 401 Long F...

Photo by Marcelo Silva on Unsplash Conflict between parents negatively affects children but for some parents it's hard to avoid conflict when separating or divorcing.  Loss, grief, and anger all make it difficult to co-parent and some parents need help overcoming those barriers. One of the professionals that can help parents reduce conflict by assisting them in making the necessary co-parenting decisions is a Co-Parenting Coordinator.  The duties of a Co-Parenting Coordinator can vary but often include assisting parents with decision making around: changes or clarifications of the existing parenting plan; exchanges of the child or children including date, time, place, means of and responsibilities for transportation; education or daycare including school choice, tutoring, summer school, before and after school care, participation in special education testing and programs, or other educational decisions; enrichment and extracurricular activities including camps and jobs; the c...

We recently posted a lengthy review of the the Massachusetts SJC decision in Cavanagh v. Cavanagh (2002)  which included some recommendations for drafting divorce agreements, also typically called Separation Agreements.  The Cavanagh case is best known for it's clarification of how the courts should evaluate support calculations when a case may have both alimony and child support.  However, the case also contained numerous rulings that should make practitioners review their Separation Agreement templates and change some of the ways in which they may have previously drafted certain sections. In this post we'll share actual language from the Gray Jay Endeavors, LLC form Separation Agreement template which addresses each of the issues raised by the Cavanagh decision.  If you are a professional interested in purchasing the full Separation Agreement template, check out Gray Jay's  forms subscription which includes editable Massachusetts court forms and financial st...

In many divorce cases retirement accounts are the biggest, or at least one of the biggest, assets.  Because of that, it is imperative to understand the options for transferring and dividing retirement assets in a way that maximizes the benefits and minimizes taxes.  Informed Consent is the Most Important Thing when Dividing Retirement in Divorce You don't want to make significant financial decisions about your future without understanding the financial consequences.  Retirement accounts are complicated, vary greatly in their requirements & plan details, and can result in significant tax liability.  If you don't feel fully informed when agreeing to how a retirement account or multiple accounts are being divided, then you are taking a financial risk that most likely cannot be undone once your divorce is final.  To avoid making uninformed or bad decisions, consult with retirement division and financial experts for information and advice before making these deci...

When drafting a parenting plan for separated parents of minor children, there are some basic things that should be in every plan.  These include answering the following questions: Who has decision making responsibility (also known as legal custody)? Who has residential responsibility and when? In other words, design a base parenting schedule (also known as physical custody). When can the base schedule be changed? For example including a holiday and vacation schedule. Are there any necessary agreements around communication? Are there any limitations or notification requirements related to travel with the children? How and when can the schedule be changed? What other events require notification (such as illness of a child)? What is your plan for dealing with disagreements? Some parenting plans keep these terms relatively simple and leave a lot of room for flexibility between the parents.  There are pros and cons to any choice when drafting an agreement, and a flexi...

There are a number of questions that must be answered when dividing a retirement account in a divorce.  Divorcing couples are often focused specifically on the amount or percentage of the account funds that they are dividing.  It is also important, though, to identify the date of that division, and whether investment changes are included or not.  This information is necessary because dividing a retirement account is not as immediate as dividing a liquid asset. Dividing a retirement account in divorce requires a special court order (usually called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order or QDRO) .  The process of obtaining and implementing one of these orders is not immediate, and requires approval by both the court and the plan's administrator.  During this time, the account will change value.  Accounts change in value due to market fluctuations, but also due to withdrawals, loans, and ongoing contributions.  All of these changes can create havoc wit...

This is a guest post from Justin L. Kelsey's consulting business,  Gray Jay Endeavors LLC .  Gray Jay provides QDRO and DRO preparation, and education and consulting services relating to retirement division in divorce.  Gray Jay has been working on resources to assist attorneys, mediators, and parties in this process, such as the following checklist: Download the Retirement Division Checklist Retirement Division Basics: In order to divide retirement as a part of a divorce, there is a one-time exception to the normal tax implications for withdrawals from retirement.  This exception allows a non-taxable transfer to a spouse's or ex-spouse's retirement account.  This can include the division of pensions, 401ks, IRAs and other types of retirement.  The document required to complete this transfer is usually called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (“QDRO”) or Domestic Relations Order (“DRO”) depending on the type of retirement plan. Most attorneys...