The latest crazy Facebook Divorce story is just another reminder of how the internet age has changed divorces. It is also a subject that we have written about many times here. So we thought a simple list of Do's and Don'ts might be helpful to summarize our advice on getting through a divorce in the era of facebook, twitter and google. If you or someone you know is getting divorced please consider the consequences of how you lead your online life, and follow these simple rules. 1. DO Get a new e-mail address. Gmail, Live, Yahoo and many others offer free e-mail addresses. You shouldn't use work e-mail for communications related to your divorce case or they might not be considered privileged, and your personal e-mails may be compromised by your ex. 2. DO Change your Passwords (E-mail, Voicemail, Bank Accounts, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Your ex can probably guess most of your passwords, and that's assuming they aren't saved in your internet history on your o...

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Myspace, and Google have changed how we live and connect socially in many ways, and these changes extend to how we break up as well. Even if you're not a member of Second Life, you likely have a second online life made up of your Facebook posts pictures and tags. So what happens when you get divorced? When do you change your relationship status? What do you do with tagged pictures of both of you? Do you unfriend your ex? All of these questions and more were explored in a recent Gizmodo article: How to Survive the Modern Day Breakup. The basic takeaway point from the article is that you should use the same common sense prudence in your online life that you should use in your offline life. For example, you wouldn't throw away family pictures just because you're getting divorced, but you might put them away in storage for a while. Similarly, you might want to remove your online pictures and save them on a hard drive, CD or DVD that you ke...

On Thursday, June 9, 2011 and Friday, June 10, 2011 the offices of Kelsey & Trask, P.C. will be closed while we relocate to our new office. On Monday, June, 13, 2011 Kelsey & Trask, P.C. will open its doors at a new location conveniently located on the Framingham/Natick border near the Mass Pike (Exit 13), Rt. 30, Rt. 9, Rt. 27 and Rt. 126. Kelsey & Trask, P.C.'s new address is: 160 Speen Street, Suite 202, Framingham, MA 01701. Our telephone, (508) 655-5980, and fax number, (508) 655-5981, will not be changing. View Larger Map

On May 18, 2011, a public hearing took place at the Massachusetts State House before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The bills that garnered the most attention involved human trafficking, redefining joint custody, and the Massachusetts Alimony Reform Act of 2011 (S0665) . While efforts to reform alimony in Massachusetts have fallen short in the past, the atmosphere was one similar to watching an athlete jog a victory lap. In a forum designed to encourage debate and dissenting opinions, there was no notable opposition to the bill, as the Joint Task Force established by the Judiciary Committee seems to have crafted a bill that expected to pass this session. Steve Hitner, the co-founder of the Mass Alimony Reform group, received a standing ovation and a round of applause just prior to testifying. Usually, such welcomes operate against the rules of decorum, but Committee co-chairs Eugene O'Flaherty (D-Chelsea) and Cynthia Stone Creem (D-Newton) allowed it, recognizing the e...

Mesmo que não fale inglês, o probate & family courts de Massachusetts tem sido acessível a todos. Se você não fala inglês suficiente e tem dificuldade de entender o juiz, ou preencher algum formulário, a court apontara um interprete para estar presente em qualquer audiência Pela Secretaria de Serviço de Interprete. Lembrando que, se sua língua nativa e português ou espanhol (como representa 86% que não falam inglês das pessoas na court de Massachusetts), a court tem liberado formulário e declaração com instrução nas línguas citadas,que poderão ser acessadas para download aqui. Versão Inglês / English Version Versão em Espanhol / Spanish Version

Even if you don't speak English, the Probate & Family Courts in Massachusetts have made an effort to be accessible to all. If you do not speak English well enough to be comfortable understanding a Judge at a court hearing or to complete the forms, notify the court staff and they can arrange for an Interpreter to be present at any court hearing through the Office of Interpreter Services. In addition, if your native language is Spanish or Portuguese (which represents 86 percent of the non-english speaking litigants in Massachusetts), the Court has released a short form Financial Statement and Instructions in each of those languages, available for download here. Unless the irony of this blog title is lost on you, you're probably wondering how someone is supposed to read this who doesn't speak English. For that reason, we are re-posting this Blog in both a: Spanish Version / Versión española Portuguese Version / Versão Português (with special thanks to the friends of our ...

Incluso si usted no habla Inglés, la Tutela y los tribunales de familia en Massachusetts han hecho un esfuerzo para ser accesible a todos. Si usted no habla Inglés lo suficientemente bien como para entender cómodo un juez en una audiencia en la corte o para completar los formularios, notificar al personal del tribunal y hacer arreglos para un intérprete de estar presente en cualquier audiencia de la corte a través de la Oficina de Servicios de Intérprete. Además, si su lengua materna es el español o portugués (que representa el 86 por ciento de los litigantes que no hablan lnglés en Massachusetts), el Tribunal ha publicado un breve formulario de Estados Financieros e instrucciones en cada uno de esos idiomas, disponible para su descarga aquí. Versión Inglés / English Version Versión en Portugués / Portuguese Version