There is no one-size fits all divorce process and for that reason there are a number of different ways to start a divorce in Massachusetts.  This means that you have options!   Unfortunately, that is not the same message you will hear from everyone, because who you ask this question to makes a difference in the answers you will receive. Most cases settle, even when they start in litigation.   So why do more people start with litigation? You may have heard the story about the woman with back pain who asks her doctor what she should do.  The doctor prescribes pain medication and exercise.  She wants a second opinion so she visits a surgeon, and the surgeon recommends surgery.  She's not ready for surgery so she seeks a third opinion from a chiropractor who tells her that all she needs is regular adjustments.  Finally, when she complains to her therapist about not knowing what to do with these differing opinions, her therapist tells her the pain i...

There are many resources available to help you answer the question "How do I Start the Divorce Process?"  Unfortunately, many of them only tell you part of the story.  This three part blog series will explore why that is and make an effort to gather all of the information in one place.  In Part one we provide you with our answer to this question.  In Part two we explore some of the other answers you might receive to this question and explain why they are incomplete.  In Part three we provide a more complete answer with an in-depth summary of each divorce process option. How do I Start the Divorce Process? Divorce is a legal, financial and emotional process for ending a marriage.  In Massachusetts the legal portion of the divorce is either contested or uncontested.  “Uncontested” means that you both agree to the divorce and have reached a full agreement on all legal and financial issues.  An uncontested divorce can be filed in Massachuset...

The Probate and Family Court in Massachusetts is underfunded and cannot handle the amount of litigants that seek relief there each year in as timely a manner as everyone would like.  The Court staff are not ignoring cases, but there just aren't enough court staff to handle the demand.  Because of these issues, the wait time for a hearing in most counties has increased significantly. But finally after months and months of waiting your hearing is finally here.  The Judge hears your case and takes the issues under advisement.  And now the waiting begins again.  How long are you expected to wait for an answer from the Judge?  What happens if a decision is never made?  Or, even worse, if the decision was made but never recorded due to some clerical error? In the past, our only option when these issues arose was to check in with the Judge's Lobby and find out if one of the Judge's secretaries could discover the delay.  Of course, this created more w...

Yesterday I attended the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council's 2014 Advanced Training Forum.  The attendees included lawyers, coach/facilitators, mental health practitioners, financial neutrals and other professionals who help divorcing couples.  There were the usual discussions about finding better ways to help our clients divorce, about finding more clients, and about finding other professionals willing to practice collaboratively.  And there was also singing! There was singing! I'm breaking a vow we all took, just by telling you that there was singing.  But you need to know.  Because this is how Collaborative Practice is different: Collaborative Practice has changed how I see conflict, and that has changed how my clients experience their divorce. I spent the first five years of my career litigating divorce cases in court.  I started out idealistic, wanting to help every client reach their goals and find their peace after the divorce.  I...

Our last post  addressed a recent decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court to extend attorney's fees liability to opposing counsel on a frivolous appeal.  In this post we discuss why was the appeal was considered so frivolous? In Callahan v. Bedard , Case No. 13-P-914, decided on April 23, 2014 ( available here ), the Appeals Court was asked by a father to overturn a lower court's refusal to set aside a Judgment in a paternity case.  The father had signed an agreement for settlement that was incorporated into a Judgment by the Probate and Family Court judge, and about six months later changed his mind and asked the Probate & Family Court to undo the Judgment pursuant to Mass.R.Dom.Rel.P. 60(b). While not explicitly stated by the Appeals Court, the fact that the father was trying to back out of a deal he had willingly made certainly weighed against him.  In addition to the father's bad faith, though, the Appeals Court directly addressed the issue the fathe...

For over a decade, federal courts have ruled that an attorney who files a frivolous appeal on behalf of his or her client can be ordered to pay the opposing party’s legal fees. For example, in the leading case of Cronin v. Amesbury , the First Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the losing party’s attorney to pay the opposing party’s legal fees after he “ crossed the line from zealous advocacy to vexatious advocacy ”. Has this rule been expanded to Massachusetts? In 2010, the question first came to Massachusetts in City of Worcester v. AME Realty Corp ., in which the Appeals Court seemingly expressed support for the federal rule of imposing “joint and several liability” for legal fees on attorneys who file frivolous appeals. In City of Worcester, the Appeals Court referred approvingly to “numerous” federal “decisions applying the sanctions of ‘damages’ and ‘costs’” to attorneys who file frivolous appeals. However, the opinion ultimately declined to say whether the federal rule applied...

The Abuse Protection statute in Massachusetts  M.G.L. c. 209A , often referred to as a restraining order, includes provision relating to out of state orders.   Under section 5A , "any protection order issued by another jurisdiction, as defined in section one, shall be given full faith and credit throughout the commonwealth and enforced as if it were issued in the commonwealth for as long as the order is in effect in the issuing jurisdiction." In a recent case, a Defendant raised on appeal the question of whose law applies when an out-of-state order is violated in Massachusetts: the law of the issuing state, or the law of the state where the order was violated? In Commonwealth v. Shea SJC-11412 (2014) , the defendant who lived in Weymouth applied for a restraining order in the Quincy District Court against the victim who already had a restraining order against the defendant in NH.  This forced the victim to attend the hearing in Quincy District Court where, after hav...