Mass Alimony Reform

Breaking news and commentary

Second Wives Club

Breaking news and commentary

Boston Magazine: Till Death Do Us Pay

By Kris Frieswick

"The poster child for progressive marriage laws, Massachusetts is also a singularly nightmarish place to get a divorce—especially for the better-off spouse. Now a brewing reform movement is pushing to rewrite the state's outdated alimony rules, led by one very fed-up ex-husband."

"That makes the state's alimony system one that not only punishes some men, but also takes a dim view of the women it's supposed to help, enshrining biases that treat them as if it's the 1950s and women are uneducated, unemployable traditional mother/homemakers who shouldn't be stripped of the lifestyle to which they've grown accustomed. Actually, Ira Mark Ellman, a professor at Arizona State University's law school and author of the American Law Institute's recommendations on family law and alimony, would go further than that, having looked at our setup. "It's like a leftover from the old gender-based laws, 'women can't work, we can't put that obligation on them,'" he says. "It's right out of 1850.""

To download the full artcle, Till Death Do Us Pay

Rising Unemployment Creating More Work for Divorce Lawyers

PRNewswire

Big Spike in Child Support and Alimony Modifications According to Latest Survey of Nation's Top Attorneys

CHICAGO, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- As the recession continues to deepen and job cuts accelerate, a rapidly rising number of divorced spouses are requesting changes be made to child support and alimony arrangements. In a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), 39% of the nation's top divorce attorneys cite an increase in modifications being made to child support payments. Additionally, 42% of the members report a rise in the number of changes made to alimony payments. [Emphasis added]

"When a divorced person loses a job or has take a pay cut, a request to make modifications to a child support or alimony payment arrangement often follows," said Gary Nickelson, president of the AAML. "With job losses becoming so widespread, our members are subsequently noticing a sizeable increase of these modifications taking place."

Overall, 39% of AAML members responded that they have seen an increase in child support payment modifications during the current economic downturn, while only 5% reported a decrease. Regarding alimony, 42% of the attorneys have cited a rise in modifications, while just 6% noted a decline.

SOURCE American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML)

Supreme Judicial Clourt Seeks Input on Ending Alimony At Retirement

Amicus Announcement

SJC-10381

THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT IS SOLICITING AMICUS BRIEFS OR MEMORANDA FROM INTERESTED PARTIES IN THE FOLLOWING MATTER PENDING BEFORE THE COURT

ARGUMENT IS TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED FOR MAY, 2009
AMICUS SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE ON OR BEFORE APRIL 20, 2009

SJC-10381
Rudolph F. Pierce v. Carneice G. Pierce

Whether a probate judge correctly concluded that the husband's voluntary retirement at age sixty-five did not warrant termination of alimony payments, finding that the husband retained significant earning power.

Interested parties may file their briefs in the Office of the Clerk for the Commonwealth, John Adams Courthouse, Suite 1-400, Pemberton Square, Boston MA 02108-1724 (Telephone 617-557-1020). Parties filing amicus briefs are expected to comply with the requirements of Rules 17, 19 and 20 of Mass. Rules of Appellate Procedure. Amicus briefs, to assist the court, should focus on the ramifications of a decision and not solely on the interests of the parties filing such briefs.

Susan Mellen, Clerk

March 4, 2009

Mass Alimony Reform Bill Filed, 72 Legislative Co-Sponsors

Four Alimony Reform bills were filed in the current legislative session. Our bill, which was one of the four, had an outstanding 72 legislative co-sponsors.

Our Bill will be sent to the Joint Committee of the Judiciary for a hearing, at which time we will have the opportunity to be present and testify. Members of MASS ALIMONY REFORM will receive a notice from Steve Hitner as soon as we are notified of the date, time, and location. Members will receive instructions on how to prepare to testify, including the proper procedures for writing and submitting your testimony to the Committee.

Finally, continue to email your state representative and senator to support this bill. Tell your story in an honest, direct, and respectful manner.

Download Mass Alimony Reform Bill 2009 with co-sonsor list

Action Required: New Alimony Law To Be Introduced

Please send a short email to your Massachusetts' legislators to let them know you will be meeting them in early January to discuss the new alimony reform bill and to get their support.

• Link to email addresses of State Senators
• Link to email addresses of State Representatives

If you have questions, want an email template, or want an alimony reform legislative packet, please contact:

• Massachusetts Alimony Reform, contact Steve Hitner at 508-335-0069.
• Second Wives Club, Contact Deborah Scanlon at 781-856-9648 or Jeanie Hitner at 508-335-6609.

Lawyers’ voices are needed for alimony reform

Published: December 15, 2008, Mass Lawyers Weekly
To the editor:

As president of the leading organization fighting for new and fair alimony laws in Massachusetts, I was touched to read the Dec. 8 letter from the attorney (whose name was withheld) paying lifetime alimony ("Lawyers not the only ones to blame for lifetime alimony.")

I am in contact with many lawyers throughout the state who understand from personal experience how harmful these laws are to men, women and children but who are afraid to speak out.

This attorney's letter has convinced me that one component to convincing legislators of the urgent need to update the laws is to hear anonymously from lawyers who are afraid to speak out.

Please feel free to contact me in confidence, so that you can participate in updating current laws in ways that will produce real and lasting reform.

Steve Hitner
Marlborough

41 Horror Stories Make Case For Alimony Reform

The state’s leading organization promoting alimony reform has just issued a 26-page report, “The Shame of Massachusetts: Alimony Horror Stories,” that presents stories from across the state describing the effects of the state’s archaic lifetime alimony laws in no-fault divorces, on 41 people and their families.

To view full press release.
To view Horror Stories.

Letter To The Editor, Mass Lawyer's Weekly

‘With just laws, less for couples to fight over’

To the editor: Because of the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts, the image of the commonwealth as a land of enlightenment shines brighter than ever. But the state’s archaic alimony laws tell a story of such harsh, pervasive injustice that it’s hard to believe we’re talking about the same place.

[Download the full letter.]

Mass Bar Task force calls for limits on amount, duration of alimony

By: Barbara Rabinovitz, Lawyer's Weekly
Published: November 10, 2008

"A task force seeking standards for “reasonableness” in the amount and duration of alimony has recommended in a draft report that the dollar amount of alimony not be more than 33 percent of the difference between the parties’ incomes.

That income guideline is one of several recommendations contained in a seven-page report by the Joint Massachusetts Bar Association/Boston Bar Association Alimony Task Force, whose mission since its inception a year ago has been to stimulate discussion on how best to foster “consistency and predictability” in alimony awards.

“There has been a lot of concern and confusion about the state of alimony in Massachusetts, raised by a variety of decisions from the appellate courts over the past years,” said task force Co-Chair David H. Lee, a 35-year Boston domestic relations practitioner.

The issues that have proved particularly nettlesome, according to Lee, include duration of alimony, retirement by a supporting spouse and its impact on alimony, and the effect of child support on alimony."

Source: Lawyer's Weekly. The above text is an excerpt from the article. (More news on the joint MBA/BBA task force is shown below.)

Mass Lawyers Offer Alimony Calculator

Massachusetts lawyers Scott R. Stevenson and Justin L. Kelsey provide a first look at the MBA-BBA alimony task force recommendations in their Stevenson-Kelsey Spousal Support Calculator.

[Comment By M.A.R.:The complexity of the law requires lawyers and a calculator, leaving divorcing couples receiving different alimony decisions depending on the personal discretion of each and every judge. Such differing application of the law to the same situation is a violation of the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1).]

Membership Grows by 500%

The Mass Alimony Reform group has increased membership by 500% from a year ago.

WBUR's Hear and Now Discussion On Alimony Reform

Elizabeth Benedict (writer and author) discusses how the Massachusetts alimony laws put a heavy financial burden on second wives by imposing alimony on them to pay for the lifestyle of their new husband's former spouse. Sally Frank, attorney and law professor at Drake University, also joins us to discuss divorce law. To listen to the discussion, go to Here-and-Now Alimony.

WGBH Discussion on Alimony Reform

Elizabeth Benedict (writer and author), Tim Taylor (drafted reform bill), and Gerald Nissenbaum (divorce attorney) discussed with Emily Rooney, host of WGBH TV's "Greater Boston" show, the "chilling effects of Massachusetts alimony laws". Ms. Rooney commented that Massachusetts divorce laws are "very, very strict... a bit draconian."

WTTK Discussion on Women Canceling Weddings To Divorced Men

Popular radio host Michele McPhee (96.9FM) did a short piece about Elizabeth Benedict's op-ed in the Globe (June 13), and interviewed Ms. Benedict on women who read the op-ed and canceled their weddings to divorced men within hours.

The Huffington Post: Never-Ending Alimony

Elizabeth Benedict (writer and author) wrote an essay for The Huffington Post, "Never-Ending Alimony in Massachusetts".

Mass Lawyer Comments On Chilling Effects Of Alimony Law

Attorney Stephen Ballard wrote in his blog:

"The main point that should be taken away from her article, in my opinion, is that the law on alimony is so vague as to permit a huge divergence of results, from one case to another. I would add that these results often depend on factors that should not be important and determinative: they are factors primarily related to the quality and experience of the judge, rather than factors actually relating to the facts of the individual cases"

Boston Globe Op-Ed: Chilling Divorce Laws

Elizabeth Benedict (writer and author) wrote a featured Op-Ed essay in the Boston Globe, "The Chilling Effect of States Divorce Laws".

Constitutional Challenge

Ernie and Cathy Ortiz presented their case for the unconstitutionality of lifetime alimony at the John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston (View court documents.)

WCRN Discussion: The Need For Alimony Reform

Attorney Tim Taylor Steve Hitner (President, Mass Alimony Reform) discussed alimony reform with WRCN talk radio host Peter Blute.

Massachusetts' Joint Judiciary Committee Drops Reform

Despite uncontested hearings in support of Massachusetts Alimony Reform and members' letters to the Judiciary Committee, the committee voted to kill reform in 2008 by voting to "study" the bill. We will reintroduce the bill for 2009. Members of the Judiciary Committee may be found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j19.htm.

Hearing Held at Joint Committee of the Judiciary

Member of the Massachusetts Alimony Reform group and the Second Wives Club testified before the Judiciary Committee on their personal horror stories caused by lifetime alimony, wide disparity and discretion across Massachusetts judges decisions, and curtailment of civil rights for alimony payers and their second wives. The bill the group was supporting was filed by Massachusetts State Representative Stephen LeDuc and was marked House Bill No. 1567.

Massachusetts Men and Women Looking For Alimony Reform

Massachusetts Alimony Reform issued a press release through PRNewswires that was picked up by news organizations across the United States. Just Google the text in the above headline to see a list of the many reprints in such publications as FindLaw, Reuters, and News Blaze.

Massachusetts Bar Recognizes Need For Alimony Reform

"At the 2006 Family Law Conference, our alimony CLE panel identified a need for alimony reform, as alimony awards are not currently either uniform or predictable. The amounts vary widely among judges. Judges currently have only very limited discretion to set the duration of an award. To remedy these deficiencies, the MBA, through President Mark Mason, determined to form a high level alimony study committee in partnership with the Boston Bar Association, the Probate and Family Court and the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

The court has committed two prominent judges to participate on the committee. MBA Vice President Denise Squillante will co-chair, along with an appointee of the BBA. We anticipate that the work of the committee will continue through next year, and that the product will be a white paper to be presented at a symposium and published. This committee will be formally announced at the May 23, 2007 House of Delegates meeting." Source: Massachusetts Bar Association, 2006-07 Year In Review.

Mass Bar and Boston Bar "Debates Future and Fairness of Alimony Awards"

"The Massachusetts alimony debate centers around “and duration,” two words amending G.L.c. 208 § 34 concerning the apparent breadth of discretion available to the court in fixing alimony orders. The task force hopes to recommend standards for reasonableness of amount and duration."

“It is confusing because the Appellate Court is making decisions based on a case-by-case basis,” said MBA Vice President Denise Squillante, the MBA’s co-chair on the task force. “There is no precedent set. There is a fear from the bench that if they award alimony, it will be forever.”

Source: MBA–BBA task force debates future and fairness of alimony awards, by Kelsey Sadoff, Lawyer's Journal, December, 2007