Additional Information:

My husband and I are getting divorced after a 8 year marriage. We have 3 young children and have decided that that I will stay in our home in Natick, and that the children will primarily stay with me.  We haven’t figured out when they will stay with their dad and already both sets of grandparents are voicing their interests in time with the kids too.  Are grandparents’ visitation something that gets written into the divorce agreement?

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

The rights of grandparents to spend time with the children after a divorce can be problematic and depends upon the facts of each case.  Generally, the rights of the grandparents to spend time with their grandchildren is ancillary to the parenting rights of the parents.  Under Massachusetts law, however, the grandparents of an unmarried child may be granted reasonable visitation rights by the Probate Court when the parents are living apart under a temporary order or judgment of separate support, or following the divorce of the parents.  The grandparents may also have rights if the children, who are born out of wedlock, do not live together but the paternity (of the paternal grandparents) has been established.  [Read more...]

Additional Information:

When my husband and I got married, we eloped  instead of a having a big expensive wedding.   My parents were all for it and gave me a sizable sum of money to put toward a down payment on our house in Framingham that we bought together in (about $35K).  I have just filed for divorce, and am wondering if my husband will be entitled to half of this asset?

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

Generally, an asset, such as the house will be included in the division of joint marital assets, if it was acquired during the marriage, even if your parents gave you the downpayment.  If this is a short term marriage with no children, then you might have a claim to a greater share of the asset but if it is a longer term marriage with kids and your husband has made a significant contribution to the principal, interest, taxes and insurance, then he might get half of the asset.

You also need to determine how much you want the asset.  If you have only had the house for a short period of time, it might be better to let your husband to buy out your share of the interest, or simply put it on the market for sale to a third party.  In the latter situation, you could agree to a split of the proceeds, which might be 50 – 50 or some other ratio that you negotiate.  If you have children, however, it might make more sense to hold onto the house until the youngest child graduates high school or college.  You would use the money that you received from child support or alimony to support the house.  At the point the children graduate, you could buy-out your husband’s interest, or put the house on the market and sell it.   [Read more...]