USA – MASSACHUSETTS TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Contributed by: Caterina S Wurman and Madeline R Pelagalli, Fitch Law Partners LLP
Fitch Law Partners LLP 84 State Street Boston MA 02109 USA
Tel: +1 617 542 5542 Fax: +1 617 542 1542 Email: seg@fitchlp.com Web: www.fitchlp.com
The Alimony Reform Act and Recent Trends Effective from 1 March 2012, the Alimony Reform Act of 2011 (Chapter 124 of the Acts of 2011 or MGL c 208, Sections 48—55) (ARA) established substantive and procedural guidelines for ali - mony practices in the Commonwealth of Mas - sachusetts. As outlined in the ARA, Massachu - setts recognises four distinct types of alimony, as follows: • general term alimony – the periodic payment of support to a spouse who is economically dependent; • rehabilitative alimony – the periodic payment of support to a spouse who is expected to become economically self-sufficient by a predicted time (such as upon re-employment or the completion of job training); • reimbursement alimony – the periodic or one-time payment of support to a spouse after a marriage of not more than five years to compensate that spouse for economic or non-economic contribution to the financial resources of the payor spouse (eg, putting a spouse through school); and • transitional alimony – the periodic or one-time payment of support to a spouse after a mar - riage of not more than five years to transition
the recipient to an adjusted lifestyle or loca - tion as a result of the divorce. Determining which type of alimony to apply in each divorce – or whether alimony should even apply – requires a case-by-case, fact-specific analysis and consideration of several factors, including the length of the parties’ marriage, the contribution and roles of each party during the marriage, the age and health of the parties, the income and employability of the parties, marital lifestyle, lost economic opportunity as a result of the marriage, and “such other factors that the court may deem relevant and material”. As provided for in the ARA, Massachusetts also recognises durational time limits to alimony. Ali - mony awards that were once vague and ambig - uous or lifetime entitlements are now subject to specific durational time limits based upon the length of the parties’ marriage. Time limits include: • if the length of marriage is five years or less, general term alimony shall continue for not longer than half the number of months of the marriage; • if the length of the marriage is ten years or less, but more than five years, general term
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