Attorney David Rubin

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. 

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 […]

Additional  Information: We are in the process of getting a divorce.  I just found out that my soon to be ex-wife has hidden assets in her mother’s name and within her mother’s accounts. How can I subpoena those accounts? I know the bank account #s and they are extensive assets.  If I can subpoena the bank records, can I get a postponement of the divorce date?  I imagine that when these hidden assets are brought forward, it will change a lot of the financial details. ATTORNEY ANSWER: The first question is what stage you are exactly in the divorce.  If you are in the early state of the divorce case, then your wife is required to provide all information about her mother’s bank accounts within the first 45 days of getting served with the Complaint.  This is required under Rule 410 of the Massachusetts Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure so it would not be necessary to subpoena the records.  If you are beyond the 45 days, the information can be obtained by a Request for Production of Documents and Interrogatories, drafted by your attorney.  Generally, your wife has 30 to 45 days to respond to responses to the Request for […]

Additional Information: My mother is filing for divorce after a 9 year marriage. My stepfather kicked her out of their Framingham house which she owned before they were married. My mom is disabled and he has been abusive and neglectful.  He wasn’t properly giving her medications and selling them instead, he threatened to take their 10 year old daughter and has made many other threats. All of this has been reported to the police. My mother is staying with me and my husband right now, as we fear he will hurt her. Will all of this be taken into consideration so she can she regain her home and custody of their child? ATTORNEY ANSWER: The first step that should be taken is for you to hire a forceful attorney and seek Temporary Orders to get your mother back into the Framingham house and to seek a 209A restraining order against your stepfather because of the emotional abuse, and/or physical  abuse, or threats of abuse.  This should be done immediately.  The 209A order can be obtained in the Middlesex Probate Court which has jurisdiction for Framingham.  The restraining order should seek relief that forces your step father to vacate the marital […]

Additional Information: I have been married for one month and am ready for a divorce. We got married because I am pregnant with his child. We rent an apartment in Natick.  He has some money in savings, I do not.  Am I entitled to anything? ATTORNEY ANSWER: You will be entitled to receive child support based upon the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines.  The support is based upon your combined income with his.  You will become eligible to receive support when the baby is born, but not before.  Since the marital assets appear to be small because you rent and do not own your own home, your primary source of income from the divorce would be from child support, which would continue until the child is emancipated.  Emancipation occurs when the child reaches 18 years old and then moves out of the marital home and is working full time.  Alternatively, emancipaton occurs later after the child graduates from college, or reaches the age of 23, whichever happens first. One important factor that could change this is if the father wants primary physical custody, or shared physical custody with you.  In that event, the amount, if any, that he pays in child […]

MORE INFORMATION: I recently suffered an injury in a car accident on Route 9 in Framingham, MA.  The other driver was cited for speeding.  In general, under Massachusetts law, how do I know if I can sue for damages? ATTORNEY ANSWER: You have two claims.  The first is through your own automobile insurance policy, through PIP, which stands for Personal Injury Protection.  This will cover your out of pocket expense for medical bills, usually up to $2,000.00.  Then if you have health insurance, your medical bills in excess of $2,000.00 will be submitted to the health insurance carrier.  Any medical bill which is not covered by health insurance, gets covered again by PIP, up to another $6,000.00.  An exception to this is if you have Medical Payments coverage.  In that event, the medical bills will get submitted to Medical Payments coverage before getting submitted to the health insurance carrier, after the first $2,000.00 on PIP is exhausted.