Boston Alimony Lawyer

When considering all of the considerations to be made in a divorce, many may overlook alimony. Issues such as child custody and division of property frequently take precedence over the idea of spousal support. In any divorce situation, alimony may or may not be a  consideration. However, until the last few years, Massachusetts courts were known to be quite lenient in granting alimony…even in cases where the marriage did not last very long. It was not until a man went bankrupt trying to pay his court-ordered alimony payments that the state began looking into the issue of alimony. That case led to the creation of the Massachusetts Alimony Reform Act in March of 2012. This act placed limits on how long a spouse could be ordered to pay alimony payments, and made provisions in the case of shorter marriages. This created new rules for the various types of alimony or spousal support.

Term Alimony

Until the Alimony Reform Act was written, term alimony was often unlimited, meaning that the spousal support was awarded to the winning party for life. This was often the case when one spouse was completely dependent on the other spouse financially. Now, according to Massachusetts state law, these payments will end when the payee is remarried or moves in with a partner, or when the payer retires. Another revision is that the time that the term alimony is rewarded for will be based on how long the marriage lasted. In a case where a marriage lasted for over two decades, a judge can still award indefinite alimony.

Reimbursement Alimony

This type of alimony is awarded when one spouse has been shown to have financially supported or helped the other during a marriage which lasted for a least 5 years. A good Boston divorce attorney will seek this type of alimony in cases where one spouse financially supported the household while the other went to school, or where one gave the other money to start a business, etc. This could be awarded as one single payment, or as payments over a period of time.

Transitional Alimony

A Boston alimony lawyer will ask for this type of alimony in cases where one spouse needs financial help from someone whom they have been married to for at least 5 years. The purpose of transitional alimony is to help the payee to transition into a new lifestyle, such as moving. This type of alimony is rewarded for a period of up to 3 years in payments, or could be awarded as one single payment.

Rehabilitative Alimony

In order to ask for rehabilitative alimony, a divorce attorney in Boston would be involved in a case where a spouse financially depends  on the other, but will be able to support themselves soon. A good example of this sort of case would be one in which the financially dependent spouse married young and needs financial support to attend college and learn a trade to support themselves.

Regardless of which type of alimony that you may ask for, or be ordered to pay, our attorneys are knowledgeable in Massachusetts laws regarding your case. We will fight to make sure that your rights are protected and that you get the best settlement possible for you.

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The contents of this website do not constitute legal advice, and do not establish an attorney-client relationship. Representative case results are provided as examples only, and do not guarantee or imply the same or similar results for other cases, which are evaluated on their individual merits.