Determining the parties’ income is a crucial factor in awarding alimony. A party’s past income and earnings is directly relevant to determining if he or she has the ability to pay alimony. Specifically, in assessing ability to pay alimony, the trial court may consider not only present income, but prior income and earning potential. Just because a party produces a…
In making a decision on residential responsibility or custody, New Hampshire courts use the best interest of the child standard. By statute, the New Hampshire court may consider the following factors in determining what is in the child’s/children’s best interest: (a) The relationship of the child with each parent and the ability of each parent to provide the child…
A real estate attachment is a court order preventing the transfer of real estate during the pendency of litigation. Attachments are most commonly used in civil cases, in the collection of a debt or in a personal injury action. However, an attachment is also helpful in a divorce case to protect one spouse from transferring assets outside the control of…
A recent amendment to the New Hampshire Family Division Rules requires that parties automatically disclose certain financial documents shortly after a divorce proceeding is commenced. These include a completed financial affidavit, tax returns, bank statements, credit card statements, applications for loans, documentation showing the cost of health insurance, and 401k or investment statements. A complete listing of the materials required…
When issuing a Parenting Plan, the divorce/family court will issue orders regarding how the parents will make decisions for the minor children given that the parents’ relationship has ended. By statute, there is a presumption that joint decision making responsibility is in the child’s/children’s best interests. However, this presumption may be overcome if the divorce/family court finds there has been…
In the recent case of In re: Susan Spenard and David Spenard, decided October 17, 2014, the New Hampshire Supreme Court clarified the authority of a trial court to impute income to a party for the purposes of calculating child support. By statute, a trial court may calculate child support using a higher gross income number than what the party…
On January 1, 2010, New Hampshire became one of the handful of states that recognize same sex marriages. Prior to January 2010, New Hampshire allowed same sex civil unions. Whether the same sex parties have a civil union or marriage, New Hampshire law allows them to proceed in a divorce in the same manner as a heterosexual couple. This means that…
One of the most difficult actions a court can undertake is the termination of a parent’s parental rights over their child. Termination of parental rights entirely severs the bond between parent and child, and is usually reserved for only the most extraordinary of cases. Two recent New Hampshire Supreme Court opinions, In re: Sophia Marie H. and In re: Faith…
Effective August 1, 2013 new Child Support Guidelines are in effect in Massachusetts replacing the prior version of the Child Support Guidelines. For any order issued on or after August 1, 2013, the court must apply the new Guidelines, including any modifications of any prior orders issued under the former Child Support Guidelines. If you have any questions regarding the…
Some spouses will voluntarily decrease his/her income in order to impact the court’s decision on the payment of alimony. To protect against fraud, the New Hampshire courts may consider the parties’ past income and earning potential to determining if he/she has the ability to pay alimony. Just because a party produces a financial affidavit claiming that he/she earns a certain…