In every divorce mediation, the payor of alimony is afraid of becoming unable to meet their obligation. This is invariably based on a fear of job loss. It’s true: If you lose your job, the obligation to pay alimony doesn’t go away automatically. Even if the job loss is through no fault of your own, such as an industry-wide layoff, your obligation remains. You are expected to find a comparable, replacement job as soon as possible. Easier said than done, of course. However, bes

Mediation can handle any of the issues that might come up in your divorce. The only difference between addressing these issues through mediation or through another technique, like litigation, is how they become resolved. Divorce mediation is a process in which divorcing spouses agree to try to settle their conflicts themselves with the help of a neutral third party. Therefore, if you and your spouse know that you want to separate but are having trouble resolving a particular

Although common law marriage is not legal in Massachusetts, it is important to recognize that Massachusetts courts often consider premarital behavior in divorce cases. For example, if a spouse files for divorce after only two years of marriage, the outcome of his or her divorce is likely to be quite different if the parties lived together for ten years before getting married versus a 2-year marriage involving parties who never cohabitated before getting married. The impact of

One of the givens for divorcing couples in the United States has always been the alimony is deducted from the payor’s income and includible in the recipient’s income for purposes of federal taxes. As James Nunn writes in this excellent blog posting, this structure provided some relief by way of a tax break for divorcing couples who would have to use the money that previously supported one household to support two separate households after a divorce. This worked because the re

Budget preparation, even in the best of times, is not exactly an enjoyable task that people look forward to. Yet, it’s something that is absolutely imperative when a couple is separating or divorcing. As Susan Ingram writes in this excellent article, most of the decisions during divorce mediation - child support, spousal support, equitable distribution of assets and liabilities - have a strong monetary/financial aspect to them. And that’s why it’s essential that couples prepa

As I've written previously, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) that took effect in January has added a new urgency for wealthy Americans contemplating divorce. In this Wealth Matters article in the New York Times, Paul Sullivan writes that several key changes in the law may determine whether it is better to complete or update a divorce agreement by Dec. 31 or wait until the new year. One of the biggest changes affects alimony, which will not be a tax break for Americans

Divorces are difficult, but add to them the stress of trying to understand tax law, and the road ahead looks even darker. One bright spot in the pre-2018 tax laws was that a tax benefit existed in cases involving alimony. Under the IRS tax rules before 2018, alimony was tax deductible to the payor, while being taxable to the recipient. But this has changed under the most sweeping federal tax code overhaul in decades, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). Alimony and Taxes

This week I'm writing a series of blog postings on mediating your alimony agreement. Yesterday I wrote about how alimony is supposed to work. Alimony Solutions Through Divorce Mediation Although alimony can be emotional, it is also an area that greatly rewards creativity when crafting settlement solutions. Below are just a few of the custom solutions a mediator can help divorcing spouses reach to resolve alimony: Alimony buyouts – In many cases, parties can avoid alimony pa

This week I'm writing a series of blog postings on mediating your alimony agreement. Yesterday I wrote about how alimony is supposed to work. Discussing Alimony Can Be Emotionally Tense Unfortunately, the issue of alimony payments can cause emotional tension between spouses because the amount paid – or whether alimony payments need to be paid at all – is determined by factors that may have led to the divorce in the first place. These factors under the ARA can include: The c

This week I'm writing a series of blog postings on mediating your alimony agreement. Yesterday I wrote about why former spouses sometimes need alimony. How is alimony supposed to work? Gender is often a red herring in discussions about alimony. The alimony debate is often framed as husbands vs. wives, but the real issue is simply a matter of earnings. When one spouse earns significantly more than the other spouse, alimony is a potential issue in a divorce. The purpose of al

This week I'm writing a series of blog postings on mediating your alimony agreement. Alimony, also known as spousal support, is a major issue that comes up in some divorces. Alimony is among the more contentious issues that arise in Massachusetts divorces. It is also one best divorce-related issues to resolve through mediation. Alimony is defined under Massachusetts law as “the payment of support from a spouse, who has the ability to pay, to a spouse in need of support for a