As I began to explore in Part Six, the 2013 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines formula for the intermediate, shared parenting category, of 33-50 percent of parenting time, is quite poorly conceived and drafted, in that it does not specify the
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Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and Shared Parenting: Wrestling With Those Puzzling Provisions of the 2013 Guidelines (Part Six of Ten)
In Part Five, I began to discuss the puzzling new provisions of our current 2013 Guidelines and ended with the presentation of what I see as seven inter-related and overlapping issues, which I will further examine in this part using
Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and Shared Parenting: Puzzling Provisions in the 2013 Guidelines (Part Five of Ten)
The 2013 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines introduced some interesting but puzzling provisions. As I said earlier, the 2013 Guidelines represented the next awkward step, after that first, giant leap of the 2009 Guidelines, to incorporate evolving principles of shared income
Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and Shared Parenting: 2009 Guidelines – Unintended Consequences? (Part Four of Ten)
The 2009 Guidelines may well have been higher but better, as they appeared to “get the policy right,” as I discussed in Part Three of this series. However, appearing to get the policy right should not be enough to satisfy
Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and Shared Parenting: 2009 Guidelines – Higher But Better? (Part Three of Ten)
The 2009 Guidelines brought many changes as part of the move to a shared income model, all consistent with the growing recognition that the needs, income, and contributions of both parents should be considered in determining appropriate levels of support.
Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and Shared Parenting: The National Trend Toward Shared Income and Shared Parenting Models (Part Two of Ten)
Beginning with the 2009 overhaul, Massachusetts has been part of a national trend toward a shared
income model as the favored child support guidelines model, and specifically away from models that focus primarily or solely on the obligor’s income. The
income model as the favored child support guidelines model, and specifically away from models that focus primarily or solely on the obligor’s income. The
Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and Shared Parenting: Introduction (Part One of Ten)
Recently I have been researching the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines and their history since the first Massachusetts support guidelines of 1987, and have been comparing them with child support guidelines in other states. That is mainly because I have a
Alimony Statute Construed: No Credit For Time Served!
Today the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just decided, in Holmes v. Holmes (see and view the oral arguments here) that temporary alimony, awarded before final judgment in a divorce action, does not have to be credited toward a calculation of
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Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines Revised Again
The Massachusetts Trial Court has just announced the new Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines to be in effect for the next four years, beginning August 1 of this year. Federal IV-D regulations require each state to have uniform child support guidelines