Legal Questions & Answers

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.

ATTORNEY ANSWER: A divorce decree can always be modified with respect to child support and alimony.  There has to be a material change of circumstances, however, such as a loss of job, financial setbacks to a self-employed person in a difficult economy, or retirement, to justify a decrease in child support or alimony, for instance.  Conversely, the recipient may seek an increase in child support or alimony because of the needs of the children or a financial or health setback. The process to change a divorce decree is done through a Complaint for Modification, filed by the party who wants to make the change.  The other party then files an Answer and sometimes a Counterclaim.  Financial documents are then exhanged within 45 days after service of the Complaint and the parties can then begin the process of a negotiated settlement or litigate the case in the Probate Court. Although child support and alimony can be modified, the original property settlement usually “survives” the divorce judgment and is not incorporated into it.  In other words, the property settlement remains intact as a binding contract, unless the parties specify otherwise in the Separation Agreement.  One exception to this would be where there […]

More Information: When I got married, I moved into my wife’s house. We are now getting divorced and I want to keep the house. Do I have any rights to it? ATTORNEY ANSWER: In general, if your wife bought the house before you got married and the deed and mortgage are in her name, then it is unlikely that you can keep the house, if this was a short term marriage.  If you contributed to the monthly upkeep of the house by contributing to the mortgage, interest, taxes and insurance, you might have a claim to a partial credit against the property settlement but the probate court might also conclude that you would have had to pay rent and some of the other aforementioned costs if you had not married your wife.  Therefore, getting a credit is unlikely. In a longer term marriage, the question of who has rights to the house becomes less clear where both husband and wife made a greater contribution.  It is also important to consider whether children are involved.  The probate court is unlikely to approve the disposition of the house to either party if the children are still in school.  Children need continuity in […]

MORE INFORMATION: I slipped and fell on a puddle of water in the bathroom of local grocery store. I have two hairline fractures in my hip and one in my shoulder. There was no “caution/ wet floor” sign and there was one witness.  Do I have a personal injury case? ATTORNEY ANSWER: Yes.  You probably have a case but the facts have to be flushed-out more.  The first part of the analysis is to establish how you fell.  First, how did the water get there and for how long was it there before you fell?  If the water was there for a long period of time, then the store should have put its customers on notice that there was a hazardous condition that needed to be rectified.  It also helps to know how the water got there.  Was it from broken packaging, for instance, or from someone spilling something on the floor.  Was it done by an employee of the store, or by a customer?  This helps to determine how much notice the store had of the spill and did it have enough time to clean it up?  If the store had reasonable notice of the spill and failed to […]

MORE INFORMATION: I left my husband in 1997 and we have been separated since. Do I still have to file for divorce or after so many years? ATTORNEY ANSWER: You can file for divorce in Massachusetts at any time.  The fact that 14 years has elapsed since the separation does not change that.  The primary issues that need consideration are child support, alimony and division of the marital estate, which simply means a division of joint assets and liabilities.  If you had children, then child support must be considered, if they are still minors.  Child support must be paid by the non-custodial spouse until the children are emanicipated, which is defined in Massachusetts as when the children reach the age of 18 and are out of the house and working, or after they have completed a full-time, accredited college and graduated, or reached the age of 23, whichever happens first.

MORE INFORMATION: She has medical bills and lost wages. As the home renter, am I liable for her injury claims, or is it the homeowners liability? ATTORNEY ANSWER: That depends upon a number of factors.  Did you enter into a lease with the landlord?  If you did, does the lease state whether the landlord or the tenant is liable for the injuries to a guest of the tenant?  Did the landlord carry homeowner’s insurance?  Did you, as the tenant, carry renter’s insurance?  The lease creates contractual obligations between the landlord and tenant which may govern where there is liability.  In the absence of a lease, the landlord is still required to provide a safe, habitable environment and if the landlord does not, he may be liable for negligence.  Each situation is fact specific.