Family Law and Divorce

In some marriages the parties execute prenuptial agreements which seek to protect certain assets from division by a family court should the marriage end in divorce. These agreements must be in writing and signed by the parties in order to be enforceable. In some cases, however, the parties have lost the original signed agreement and may only have unsigned or…

In Zaleski v. Zaleski, the wife was the recipient of support for the benefit of her and the children. The trial court ordered that the wife maintain life insurance to secure her obligations to cover the children’s expenses if she died while the children were still dependent upon the parents for support. While the Supreme Judicial Court remanded the decision…

In Zaleski v. Zaleski, the wife appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court the trial court’s decision to calculate alimony only on the husband’s base income, and excluded his bonus income. In reviewing the statute, the Supreme Judicial Court noted that an award of alimony is necessary to assure the self-sufficiency of a spouse who is determined to be dependent,…

Recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court interpreted the alimony statute in the case of Zaleski v. Zaleski. In Zaleski, the parties were married in 1994 and had two children before the wife filed for divorce in 2010. During the marriage, the wife was employed outside the home until 2008 when she lost her job. Prior to losing her job, the…

In some cases, the payment of child support is highly emotional. Some parents who are ordered to pay child support do so with great reluctance. In some instances, the parent ordered to pay child support will purchase items for the children and/or provide funds directly to the children and then attempt to decrease the child support by the amount given…

There are occasions when a parent’s visitation/parenting time must be monitored in order to ensure the protection and safety of the child/children. The levels of supervision vary depending upon the facts of each situation. Some supervised visits may be able to take place in public with a supervisor monitoring off at a safe distance. Other extreme cases require the visitation…

On June 13, 2014, the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued an opinion that stated that an obligor’s incarceration makes him/her ineligible for a reduction in child support. In the case of In re: Lounder, the child support obligor was incarcerated in February 2013 after he committed arson. At the time of his incarceration, he was ordered to pay $109.00 per…

Effective January 1, 2015, adultery will no longer be a crime in the State of New Hampshire. While House Bill 1125 repeals adultery as a crime within the State, it does not remove adultery as a basis for a fault ground divorce in New Hampshire. Nonetheless, the repeal of adultery as a crime will have an impact on divorce proceedings…

On May 30, 2014, the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued an opinion which clarified the standards by which alimony awards could be renewed or extended. In the case of Lyon and Lyon, the parties were divorced in 2007. Pursuant to the Divorce Decree, the husband was to pay alimony from January 1, 2007 until June 30, 2012. On May 31,…