News And Thoughts On The Law In And Around Boston

The end of a marriage comes with many changes, including financial ones. As part of the divorce process, each party works toward reducing the financial impact of it. Doing so involves more than just dividing marital assets. There are other positive steps that divorcing Massachusetts residents can take in order to achieve the goal of financial security post-divorce.

In order to better know what an individual will need to live on after the divorce, it may help to create a budget. The incomes that used to support one household will now need to cover the expenses of two households. Understanding what it will take to live may require some number crunching. Once a budget is established, it may help determine a strategy for property division and an idea of whether a request for alimony should be made.

Sometimes a case is in progress during or shortly after a change in the law, when its application and interpretation are still uncertain. In such cases, the parties may prefer to settle rather than risk an unpredictable result. In the recent case of Demarco v. Demarco, the parties chose to reach a settlement related to spousal support rather than complete the trial. The record suggests that the judge encouraged settlement based upon an assumption about how the Alimony Reform Act of 2011 would apply to the case, but a subsequent opinion by the Supreme Judicial Court made that assumption erroneous. 

Mediation and arbitration are often less expensive and less stressful alternatives to litigation in family law matters. The parties must agree to submit to alternative dispute resolution, however. When agreeing to one of these alternatives, the parties should understand what the agreement entails and whether the decision is subject to judicial review. 

The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently reviewed a challenge to a judgment based on an arbitrator's findings and award in Gravlin v. Gravlin.

Both state and federal wage and hour laws protect employees' rights to receive payment of the wages due to them in a timely manner. In some cases, the court must determine which laws, including the laws of which states, apply to a plaintiff's claims. In Ossenbruggen v. Cowan Systems, LLC, the District Court of Massachusetts had to consider whether Maryland would apply its own wage laws or Massachusetts' Wage Act in determining if it was appropriate to transfer the case in accordance with a forum selection clause in the contracts between the parties.