Attorney Kelsey will be appearing on Money Matters with Scottie McCall on Friday, April 30, 2010 at 3:30 P.M. Attorney Kelsey will discuss financial issues in divorce. You can watch the interview live on the Money Matters website on Friday, April 30, 2010. Or listen at 1120 WBNW. UPDATE: Attorney Kelsey's interview is now available here:

In Massachusetts, there is no certification for Mediators. However, there are requirements if you want your Mediation to be kept confidential. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 233 Section 23C requires three elements for a Mediation to be confidential and privileged from discovery in a court proceeding. First, you must enter into a written agreement with the Mediator. Second, the Mediator must have completed at least thirty (30) hours of training in mediation. Finally, the mediator must have at least four years of experience or be a member of a dispute resolution organization that has been in existence for at least three years, such as the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc. Attorney Justin Kelsey meets these standards and if you sign a written agreement to hire Attorney Kelsey as your mediator then all communications and work product of your mediation will be confidential pursuant to MGL ch. 233 §27C.

On April 12, 2010 the Massachusetts legislature passed AN ACT RELATIVE TO ASSAULT AND BATTERY BY MEANS OF A BODILY SUBSTANCE UPON CORRECTIONAL FACILITY EMPLOYEES AND EXPANDING THE PROHIBITION ON THE DISSEMINATION OF OBSCENITY. The second portion of the Act has to do with amending the Commonwealth's laws against distributing obscenity to close a gap in the law. The previous statue defined "matter" as "any handwritten or printed material, visual representation, live performance or sound recording including but not limited to, books, magazines, motion picture films, pamphlets, phonographic records, pictures, photographs, figures, statues, plays, dances." The new law expands this definition by adding: "or any electronic communication including, but not limited to, electronic mail, instant messages, text messages, and any other communication created by means of use of the Internet or wireless network, whether by computer, telephone, or any other device or by an...

It's important to remember that no matter how difficult a divorce is, life always goes on. That's why we sometimes like to post items that show the lighter side of life (hopefully without making light of a difficult time). We hope you enjoy this court-themed remake of the popular YouTube video, Jill & Kevin's wedding entrance dance:

Mediation has many advantages over litigation. It is usually less expensive than negotiating your agreement through two attorneys and it is far less expensive than going to trial. Mediation can also help you avoid the backlog in the courts, allowing for a more expedient resolution. In addition to these practical concerns, though, Mediation offers something that the Courts do not offer: the chance to resolve your case on your terms. If you are unable to settle your case in Court a Judge, essentially a stranger who will only meet you for a very limited period of time, will make major decisions about your life. Mediation is your opportunity to make these decisions together. After all, who knows what is better for you than you do. On a related not, Mediation is also an excellent forum for solving issues unique to divorce that our legal system cannot adequately address. As an example, many couples will litigate who will get custody of the family pets. While most judges are not interested in...

The following is a guest blog post written by our colleague Danielle G. Van Ess, Esq. of DGVE law, LLC in Hingham, MA. You might be surprised how many of my new estate planning clients realize, after we’ve talked a little, that their ex-spouses are still named as the primary beneficiary of their life insurance policies or, more often even, their retirement accounts. And given the value of those assets, their reactions in that moment of realization are far less surprising. If you are divorcing or divorced, you need to ensure that you have changed the beneficiary of those and other pay on death type accounts. And given that you will no longer be sharing your life with your ex-spouse, it’s likely you won’t also want him or her to be the one to speak for you in the event of your incapacity or be the one to make medical decisions for you, including whether to discontinue life support, if you are ever unable to do so yourself. So if you already had such estate planning documents in place...

UPDATE: There is pending legislation for major changes to the alimony statute in Massachusetts. The Alimony Reform Act of 2011 was filed on January 18, 2011 and you can learn more about the Act at MassAlimonyFormula.com or in our recent blog post highlighting the differences between the bill and the current law . The Boston Bar Association has unanimously voted to endorse the Report of the Joint MBA/BBA Alimony Task Force: Alimony or Spousal Support Guidelines where there are no Dependent Children . The Report recommends an alimony cap based on a formula. It also recommends durational limits on alimony and lists specific instances where the recommendations would not apply, such as cases where the recipient is so disabled as to become a ward of the state. The Report also allows for deviation based on certain factors, which include cohabitation. As indicated in a previous Alimony debate post , this is the type of reform that we believe would be an improvement over the current state o...