Alimony cases come with their complications, and the Alimony Reform Act raised may questions for people who already had alimony orders prior to 2012. As with any other element of domestic law, it truly runs on a case by case basis. To give you an idea, we will dive into two alimony cases that resulted in significant decisions for the parties involved. But before you head in full force, why don’t we take a moment to go over The Alimony Reform Act of 2011; it’s important to the story trust me. Though the act did not alter the definition of alimony, it did make adjustments to specific aspects such as the durational limits. In the act, it was decided that if a marriage lasted less than 20 years, there may be an option to terminate payments at a certain point. Now, let’s give some background on the couples shall we? Our first case, featuring Joanne M. Popp and Robert L. Popp , centers around a change in alimony payment due to cut wages. A huge factor in this case is the duration of th...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has released another opinion that addresses some of the questions still surrounding the Alimony Reform Act of 2011. Zaleski v. Zaleski - SJC 11391 (2014). In Zaleski, the Appeals Court addressed four primary issues in the lower court's decision: Rehabilitative Alimony ordered instead of General Term Alimony - AFFIRMED Husband's bonus income not included in alimony amount calculation - REMANDED Wife ordered to maintain life insurance for her child related obligations - REMANDED Property Division not exactly equal - AFFIRMED We've summarized the take-away points from this decision: 1. Trial Judges have even more DISCRETION now Footnote 13 confirms what many practitioners have been saying about the new Act:   "The legislative history clearly shows that the broad discretion judges historically have had in making awards of alimony was not affected by the Alimony Reform Act of 2011, St. 2011, c. 124 (alimony...

Part of the significant ground-swell of support for a change to Massachusetts alimony laws came after the  Pierce decision , which ordered alimony to continue past retirement.  While a quick reading of the new alimony statute might lead you to believe otherwise, there are a number of scenarios in which alimony could (and in many cases will) still continue past retirement age. The Alimony Reform Act of 2011, which became effective on March 1, 2012 provides for multiple types of alimony, and for maximum amounts and duration of alimony.  Any alimony orders that were in effect prior to March 1, 2012 will be considered General Term Alimony, and the Act included duration limits for General Term Alimony that we described at length in a previous post. One of the limitations on duration is contained in M.G.L. c. 208 s 49(f)  and indicates that the court SHALL terminate alimony "upon the payor attaining the full retirement age."  Full retirement age is defined as when...