New Hampshire law clearly outlines that a party is only entitled to a fault ground divorce if he or she is an “innocent” spouse. In order to be an innocent spouse, the husband or wife must be “free from guilt”. In other words, the party requesting a fault ground divorce must not also be guilty of an offense against the…
A recent decision from the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld a trial court’s denial of alimony to an incarcerated spouse. The Supreme Court reasoned that during the incarceration the former spouse’s basic needs will be met and, thus, he/she does not lack sufficient income property or both to provide for his/her reasonable needs. Because the incarcerated former spouse does not…
It is common in a divorce case where one party with access to marital funds either spends or transfers property, thereby denying his or her spouse the benefit of the property. A recent New Hampshire Supreme Court Decision affirms that a divorce court has the authority in such instances to award the other spouse one-half of the property, even though…
Many divorce decrees provide that alimony shall terminate when the recipient spouse is cohabitating with an unrelated adult of the opposite gender. While termination of alimony is common in divorce decrees, the lack of a definition of “cohabitation” has made it difficult for the trial court and for individuals to determine when the provision is applicable. The New Hampshire Supreme…
Both Houses of the Massachusetts Legislature recently passed new legislation which would significantly overhaul alimony issued by Massachusetts courts. The bill now awaits the signature of Governor Duval Patrick. Under the legislation, the courts would be limited in issuing alimony orders depending on the length of the marriage. By way of example, if a marriage is five years or less,…
A big source of contention in many child custody cases is the exchange location. Parents often disagree as to where the exchanges shall take place, as some parents feel that they do more of the commuting than the other parent. The attached link to MeetWays.com is a resource which allows the parties to find the halfway point between the parties’…
In the decision of Casey v. Casey, the Massachusetts Appeals Court decided that a military pension is a marital asset subject to division. Because the pension is an asset, the Appeals Court further held that the monthly pension payments shall not be considered as income for child support and alimony purposes. If you have any questions regarding the division of…
In the case of Martin and Martin (decided March 13, 2008), the New Hampshire Supreme Court clarified language in the child support statute which allow parties to modify a child support order. This clarification may have far reaching effects as to when a party is entitled to seek modification of support order. Under New Hampshire law a party paying or…
In 2005 the New Hampshire legislature substantially amended the divorce and custody statutes in New Hampshire. The terms physical custody and legal custody are no longer used; instead, the statute (RSA 461-A) uses the terms parental rights and responsibilities. RSA 461-A mandates that in formulating a parenting plan there is a presumption that both parents will have “joint decision making…
The New Hampshire Supreme Court was asked, (Martel and Martel, March, 2008) to determine whether poor investment decisions made during the marriage by one spouse could result in an uneven property division in a subsequent divorce. In Martel, the parties were married in 1985 and twenty years later the wife filed for divorce. The trial court granted a divorce and…