Alimony In Massachusetts

A spiritual partnership is a marriage. Marriage is a one-of-a-kind social commitment. Marriage, on the other hand, is also a financial partnership. Often, one partner’s earnings significantly outstrip those of the other. While a spouse who does not earn a substantial weekly wage is reliant on his or her partner’s earnings, the court understands that he or she contributes to the marriage in other ways.

As a result, the court may order alimony, often known as spousal support. When a couple divorces, the higher-earning partner usually pays alimony to the lower-earning partner. Alimony aids in the couple’s inevitable shift from one to two households.

For many years, alimony payers in Massachusetts complained that alimony awards were out of control. They claimed that the quantity of the payments and the length of time they had to make them were unfair. In certain divorces, the length of time the payor spouse was required to pay alimony was greatly beyond the length of the marriage.

Furthermore, spousal support awards were becoming increasingly variable and unpredictable. Even if two spouses have identical financial situations, their spousal support plans may be substantially different.

When traditional marriages were widespread, one spouse worked at home, raising children and taking care of domestic tasks, while the other worked full-time to support the family. States instituted alimony. When a marriage ended, the stay-at-home spouse (typically the wife) was left with no job skills or education, making it difficult for her to obtain work that would meet her financial demands.

The court intervened to prevent unemployed (or underemployed) spouses from relying on government aid such as food stamps or welfare and ordered the higher-earning spouse to financially support the other spouse. The article will explain to you about alimony in Massachusetts.

Spousal Support In MA

In Massachusetts, judges can mandate alimony in four different forms: general term, rehabilitative, reimbursement, and transitional support under alimony in Massachusetts.

Alimony is a monetary payment made by the higher-earning spouse to the lower-earning or unemployed spouse. Only if the asking spouse can demonstrate a financial need will the court grant universal alimony. The duration of alimony payments is determined by the length of the marriage.

Judges may grant rehabilitative support in circumstances where the lower-earning spouse is capable of becoming financially self-sufficient but requires financial assistance while pursuing job training or education in order to enter the current labor market.

Rehabilitative alimony is only for a limited time, and the court will only award it for as long as it takes the supported spouse to become financially self-sufficient.

In marriages where one spouse financially contributes to the other’s career or educational growth, reimbursement alimony is prevalent. For example, if one spouse paid for the other’s medical school education during the marriage, the court may order the degree recipient to repay the spouse who contributed. In Massachusetts, reimbursement alimony is reserved for marriages that last fewer than five years.

Transitional support is a payment made by a higher-earning spouse on a regular or lump-sum basis to assist the supported spouse in adjusting to a new lifestyle or location following the divorce. Only divorces with a marriage of fewer than five years are eligible for transitional help.

Duration of Spousal Support

The length of general term alimony is determined by the length of the marriage. If the marriage was for fewer than 20 years, the court would impose the following restrictions:

• Alimony will endure no more than half the length of a marriage that lasts fewer than five years.
• Alimony cannot exceed 60% of the length of the marriage for marriages that lasted between five and ten years.
• If the marriage lasted more than 10 years but not more than 15, alimony cannot be more than 70% of the marriage’s length.
• Alimony will last no more than 80 percent of the length of the marriage for marriages lasting more than 15 but less than 20 years.
• The court may give permanent or lifetime alimony if the marriage lasted more than 20 years.

Alimony is terminated for a general term if:

• The spouse who has been helped remarries.
• For more than three months, the supported spouse cohabitates and shares a household with an unrelated person.
• if one of the spouses dies

Unless the supported spouse can show compelling circumstances to justify an extension, rehabilitative alimony is restricted to five years. Support, like the general term alimony, ends when the recipient remarries, or either spouse dies.

Reimbursement alimony ceases when the supported spouse dies or when the court sets a fixed date.

Transitional alimony cannot last more than three years after the divorce of the couple, and it will immediately end if the recipient dies.

Qualifications For Spousal Support

It’s a common misconception that only female spouses are eligible for alimony. In a divorce, however, either spouse, regardless of gender, can ask for and receive spousal support, but the asking spouse must show a financial need and that the other spouse is able to pay.

When deciding on the type, duration, and quantity of support, the court will also examine the following factors:

• The duration of the union
• The age of each spouse
• The health of both spouses
• Each spouse’s earnings and work history
• Both spouses’ employability, including by reasonable effort and, if necessary, extra training.
• Both sides’ financial and non-financial contributions during the marriage.
• The wedded way of life.
• The ability of each spouse to sustain the married lifestyle following the divorce.
• Whether either partner made a financial sacrifice as a result of the marriage.
• Any other element that the court deems important.

When it comes to deciding on alimony, judges have a lot of leeways. In Massachusetts, for example, the law allows a judge to consider marital blame while determining alimony.

A court will not refuse alimony to a needy spouse just because the other spouse has committed adultery. The court may, however, limit support based on the number of marital funds spent on a third party during the marriage. The court could compensate the innocent spouse if a cheating spouse spent marital cash on buying presents and taking trips with a lover.

Difference Between Spousal Support and Property Division While Divorce

The trial court has the authority to order one party to provide a portion of his or her estate to the other, to award alimony, to assign specified property to each spouse, and to order both spousal support and property assignments.

As a result, the court will need to hear a complete and equitable proposal for property split and support of the needy spouse. The following are some crucial aspects that go beyond a simple analysis:

• Property partition orders are final and cannot be changed. However, spousal support orders are open to review and modification.
• Spousal support orders are set to expire at a future date depending on the length of the marriage (so long as the marriage is under 20 years; if the marriage is more than 20 years, then spousal support may continue forever).
• Any spousal support order would be terminated if a supported spouse remarried. As a result, if a party provides spousal support rather than property, there is a risk that the spousal support obligation will be terminated early.
• When one of the parties dies, the other’s spousal support rights end. Property is final and belongs to the deceased’s estate.
• The filing of bankruptcy by one of the parties could be a significant factor.
• There could be a variety of tax implications.
• The present value of future earning potential is not a “current asset” that will be divided by the court during a divorce.
• When it comes to alimony (based on needs and income) and property split, the court’s approach is different (focusing on financial and non-financial contributions during marriage).

Modification Of Spousal Support

A Probate and Family Court in Massachusetts has the authority to award spousal support (alimony) upon divorce and to alter alimony judgments at any point following the divorce. Suppose the court possesses personal jurisdiction (i.e., the power to order someone to do something) over both parties. In that case, it can amend a spousal support award that was previously made in Massachusetts and decisions entered by courts in other states.

The power of the Probate and Family Court to alter spousal support is based on the fact that the court has the authority to compel the spousal support obligor to pay. Only if the obligor was a party to the divorce action if the obligor is personally served with the action within the state and submits to personal jurisdiction, or if the defendant/obligor is served outside of the Commonwealth but is subject to the state’s “long-arm” statute, will the court have personal jurisdiction over him or her.

Termination of Spousal Support

Another clause added to the legislation by H 3617 allows for the suspension, reduction, or deletion of alimony for recipient spouses if the payor can establish that the beneficiary has maintained a shared home with a new partner for at least three months.

The standard legal practice has long been to terminate alimony payments when the receiver remarries. This clause accounts for the modern fact that many couples are opting for cohabitation rather than marriage.

Some critics believe that the Alimony Reform Act restricts courts’ ability to make alimony determinations based on unique individual circumstances. True, the law is intended to enhance clarity and regularity in granting alimony payments.

However, due to considerations the court deems relevant and material, its durational requirements can be altered, providing a safety net for the most extreme instances.

The new statute does not immediately terminate spousal support payments made under existing alimony awards. Rather, payors must file a complaint about adjustment within the law’s timeframe. According to the new law, any such change requests must be submitted by March 1, 2013.

Only individuals who have been married for less than five years or who will reach federal retirement age before March 1, 2015, are eligible to file in 2013. Those who have been married for a longer period of time will have to wait (modification may be filed for 5-10 year marriages starting March 1, 2014, for 10-15 year marriages March 1, 2015, and for 15-20 year marriages September 1, 2015).

Effect Of Remarriage On Spousal Support

Many potential customers phone us to ask if alimony (spousal support) payments will stop if the recipient spouse remarries. Although not in every case, the answer is a typical yes.

If a receiver of permanent spousal support remarried, spousal support is presumed to stop under Massachusetts law. In legal terms, the receiving spouse’s remarriage establishes prima facie proof that the recipient spouse wants the alimony to end.

There are exceptions to this rule. The payments are presumed to continue if the parties’ marital settlement agreement (MSA) or agreed upon judgment states that spousal support would continue even if the recipient spouse remarries or if the alimony payments are “non-modifiable” in any case.

Taxes And MA Divorce Laws Alimony

Alimony in Massachusetts were once tax deductible for the paying spouse and taxable income for the recipient. However, in 2018, President Trump amended the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to abolish the tax deduction benefit and income reporting requirements for any divorce finalized on or after January 1, 2019.

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