Boston Divorce Law Blog

Divorcing couples in Massachusetts may have spent years and decades of their lives together. Over that time, some people will have accumulated quite a collection of personal property and effects. The question becomes: How to divide it all? The answer is not always easy because both spouses might have developed a sentimental attachment to certain items, which makes dividing them difficult. Or, on the other hand, spouses may have a menagerie of property which neither has any desire to keep after the divorce.

But there are a number of solutions to difficult property division cases. One is a divorce auction, which provides couples the opportunity to quickly liquidate their property--whether wanted or unwanted--and neatly divide the proceeds. An auction can be faster than one alternative: cataloguing every item in a couple's possession, placing a dollar value on each and dividing the lot into two halves approximately equal in value.

There is no doubt that divorce can be a stressful and highly emotional time. Some couples may be so far apart that they need to settle matters in a courtroom, but evidence is accumulating that couples who choose divorce mediation may help not only themselves but their children as well after the process is concluded.

The study followed nearly 150 couples who were undergoing a divorce. The researchers attempted to get a sample of couples who were roughly similar to each other in order to rule out the effect of other factors. Therefore, only couples with one child younger than 6 years old were included. In addition, certain types of couples were excluded, such as those with drug and spousal abuse problems and those who were prone to confrontation.

Massachusetts parents make a number of vital decisions in their children's lives that can affect their future development. This collaborative effort between spouses can encompass choices on a child's school, extracurricular activities and religious upbringing. But just because a couple later divorces does not mean that the original collaborative decision-making process is lost. Through child custody arrangements, divorcing parents can specify what roles they will have in choices affecting their children's lives.

One couple's case is instructive. The couple divorced in a state that provides for a parenting plan, a custody-like arrangement governing parents' decision-making capacities in their children's lives. These parents had a dispute over religious beliefs. Although both parents are Christian, they are of different denominations and disagree over the appropriate age for baptism. Their parenting plan required the consent of both parents before either parent made any religious decision regarding the children. If mutual consent could not be achieved, the ex-spouses were obligated to use a mediator.

Whether married or divorced, one of a parent's most essential responsibilities is providing financial support for his or her children. This month, the Massachusetts Appeals Court lent support to that statement when it issued a ruling in an unusual child support case involving a man who attempted to negotiate away his support obligations.

The case involved an immigrant couple from Nigeria who were having trouble conceiving a child. They had been married for nearly a decade when the wife suggested that they try in vitro fertilization. Her husband hesitated, but according to court documents, the woman pressured him into agreeing to the procedure, saying that if he did not support it, she would no longer aid his attempt to become a citizen of the United States.