Each divorce case is unique. When children are involved, your relationship with your spouse does not end with the separation or divorce. You probably, but not necessarily, will continue to have contact with him/her regarding support, visitation, and other parental responsibilities. You both will be grandparents of your children’s children. If it is appropriate in your situation, for the sake of your children, keep the lines of communication open, but only if it is safe to do so. If possible, put your children’s welfare ahead of continuing conflicts.

If you are in need of an experienced divorce attorney, please contact Attorney Howard Lewis to schedule a consultation.

Before trial, either party may request that the court make temporary orders, for example concerning custody, child support, or visitation. Either party must request a pre-trial conference, and then there is a final hearing, the trial.

It is important to consult with an experienced Massachusetts divorce attorney. Call us for to schedule a consultation.

• you have lived here for a year, or

•  the conduct that is the reason for divorce occurred in Massachusetts and you lived as a married couple in Massachusetts, regardless of where your spouse now lives, or even if his/her address is unknown.

•  You file a divorce in the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court in the county where you and your spouse last lived together if either of you still lives in that county. If neither of you lives in the county where you last lived together, you may file in the county where you live, or you may file in the county where your spouse lives.

If you have questions about filing for divorce in Massachusetts, contact Attorney Howard Lewis.

In this case, the father wanted to raise his two children as Jews. A custody order allowed him to have the children on all Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings so they could attend Jewish religious training, and also said that he could have custody on major Jewish holidays, including Passover and all eight days of Hanukkah. The father’s right to the children on these occasions would take precedence over all other custody arrangements.

On appeal, however, the Court of Appeals questioned whether this order went too far. It noted, for instance, that the mother would never be able to see her children on Christmas, New Year’s or Easter if those dates conflicted with a Hanukkah or Passover celebration.

A custody order that gave one spouse’s religion priority over all other issues violated the separation of church and state.

After reviewing the case, the court decided that the order violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which governs the separation of church and state and says that the government can’t favor one religion over others.

As long as there was nothing illegal or immoral about the mother’s religious preference – or even lack of a religious preference – a custody order that gave her husband’s religion absolute priority over all other considerations was too extreme, the court ruled.

The Massachusetts child custody attorneys at Lewis Leeper serve the Boston, Massachusetts, area from offices in downtown Boston, and the Boston Metrowest offices in Framingham and Dover. Our clients come to us from communities such as Acton, Arlington, Ashland, Braintree, Cambridge, Canton, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Hopkinton, Holliston, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Medfield, Milton, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Southborough, Sudbury, Quincy, Walpole, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, and all other towns in Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Essex County and Suffolk County.

The mother had given birth to a child out of wedlock. After the father’s paternity was established through biological testing, he filed a lawsuit seeking custody or visitation.

The mother had moved out of state while the case was pending. A judge awarded her custody, but ordered her to return so it would be easier for the father to visit the child.

But on appeal, the State Supreme Court said this was wrong. It said a judge could consider parents’ plans about where they intend to live as a factor in awarding custody, but a judge has no right to force parents to relocate from their chosen place of residence.

Our divorce attorneys serve the entire Greater Boston region and have law offices in downtown Boston, as well as in the Boston Metrowest communities of Framingham and Dover. We serve clients throughout Massachusetts, including Middlesex County and Norfolk County and the communities of Arlington, Ashland, Belmont, Burlington, Cambridge, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Lexington, Marlborough, Milton, Natick, Needham, Newton, Sherborn, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland, Weston, Wellesley. Contact our divorce attorneys now for a consultation and advice on the next steps in the legal process.

While this is a highly unusual step, it shows how increasingly relevant social media and dating websites are to divorce cases…and it’s yet another reminder that people who are contemplating divorce shouldn’t post anything online that they wouldn’t want to be revealed during the divorce proceedings, because they might well be.

People who are thinking about divorce should never post anything online that they wouldn’t want to be revealed in court.

The husband claimed that he found some information on his wife’s computer that would be relevant to his argument that he should get full custody of the couple’s children. He asked for her passwords, believing that there might be additional information on password-protected websites, and he claimed she immediately began trying to delete information.

That’s when a judge got involved and told the pair to exchange passwords and not to remove anything from the websites.

If you have questions about the divorce process, contact the Boston Metrowest divorce attorneys at Lewis Leeper. We serve the Boston, Massachusetts, area from offices in downtown Boston, and the Boston Metrowest offices in Framingham and Dover. Our clients come to us from communities such as Acton, Arlington, Ashland, Braintree, Cambridge, Canton, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Hopkinton, Holliston, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Medfield, Milton, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Southborough, Sudbury, Quincy, Walpole, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, and all other towns in Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Essex County and Suffolk County.

However, in several recent cases, it was determined that federal payments could be split at divorce.

● A military retiree’s health insurance benefits can be split at divorce, a State Court decided.

That’s because of a federal law called the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act. Under that law, military retirement pay can be either individual property or marital property, depending on a state’s own divorce laws. And though laws differ between states, in some States such benefits are considered marital property.

● Veterans’ disability benefits can be taken into account in deciding how much alimony a veteran’s ex-wife is entitled to, another State Court recently ruled.

A federal law prohibits the seizure or taxation of VA disability benefits. But the court said the benefits could be considered in deciding a proper amount of alimony, because that’s different from seizing them to pay a debt or imposing a tax on them.

● A woman receiving Social Security disability benefits might have to pay some of the money as child support, says a State Court.

In that case, an unmarried father was awarded custody. The mother, whose mental illness made her unable to work or manage her own affairs, fell behind in her support obligations. But the court said the fact that she was receiving federal disability benefits didn’t excuse her from paying what she could toward caring for her child.

Our family law and divorce attorneys serve the entire Greater Boston region and have law offices in downtown Boston, as well as in the Boston Metrowest communities of Framingham and Dover. We serve clients throughout Massachusetts, including Middlesex County and Norfolk County and the communities of Arlington, Ashland, Belmont, Burlington, Cambridge, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Lexington, Marlborough, Milton, Natick, Needham, Newton, Sherborn, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland, Weston, Wellesley. Contact our divorce attorneys now for a consultation and advice on the next steps in the legal process.

Only an attorney with expertise in divorce law can determine exactly what you might be entitled to…so it’s important to tell your divorce attorney about anything that could affect the prospects of both you and your spouse down the road.

Take the case of a man in who was a 25% partner in a real estate development project at the time he and his wife filed for divorce. While the divorce was pending, the value of his share increased…and his partner then bought out his interest in the project for $1.6 million.

The wife wanted to share in the increased value of the partnership, while the husband argued that his interest should be valued as of the date they filed for divorce.

The Court ruled that the appreciation in value could be included in the couple’s marital property if it occurred “passively,” meaning it was due to factors other than the efforts of the spouse.

In this case, the court said, the appreciation was “passive” because it was due primarily to the efforts of the husband’s partner, not those of the husband. Therefore, the wife could share in the increase.

In another case, a woman received stock options from her employer while she was married, but options didn’t vest until after she had separated from her husband.

The wife argued that because the options hadn’t yet vested when the couple split up, they were her own separate property.

But the Court decided that even if the options hadn’t vested, they could still be divided at divorce in a similar way to other types of deferred compensation, such as pensions or retirement benefits.

Another case involved a couple who had a pending personal injury lawsuit when they divorced.

In that case, the husband had been seriously injured in an accident at a racetrack. The couple sued for the injury, but they separated before the case was settled.

It’s very important to tell your family law attorney about possible future events that could affect either you or your spouse.

After the case was settled, the wife argued that she should get a share of $60,000 in settlement money.

The Court sided with the wife, ruling that because the couple were married when the injury occurred and when the suit was filed, any proceeds from the suit were marital property.

In yet another case, a divorcing couple didn’t have much money, but the husband came from a wealthy family, and it was likely that he would inherit significant assets in the future through family wills and trusts. The wife argued that this should be considered in dividing up the marital assets.

The Court agreed, saying that even though the husband’s potential inheritances weren’t property – they were merely an “expectancy” – they could still be considered when dividing the couple’s assets, so that the wife could get a larger share.

Of course, as always, the law can vary from state to state and from case to case. But it’s important to tell your family law attorney about possible future events that could affect either you or your spouse, because they might be relevant to a divorce.

The Boston divorce attorneys at Lewis Leeper serve the entire Greater Boston region and have law offices in downtown Boston, as well as in the Boston Metrowest communities of Framingham and Dover. We serve clients throughout Massachusetts, including Middlesex County and Norfolk County and the communities of Arlington, Ashland, Belmont, Burlington, Cambridge, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Lexington, Marlborough, Milton, Natick, Needham, Newton, Sherborn, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland, Weston, Wellesley. Contact our divorce attorneys now for a consultation and advice on the next steps in the legal process.

The court has the power to modify certain portions of separation agreements that are merged into the separation agreement and to which the court has continued jurisdiction over, however someone needs to make a motion to the court and show a reason. Hope this helps. take care.

Our  Natick divorce attorneys serve the Boston, Massachusetts, area from offices in downtown Boston, and the Boston Metrowest offices in Framingham and Dover. Our clients come to us from communities such as Acton, Arlington, Ashland, Braintree, Cambridge, Canton, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Hopkinton, Holliston, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Medfield, Milton, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Southborough, Sudbury, Quincy, Walpole, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, and all other towns in Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Essex County and Suffolk County.

In some cases you may retain an attorney under the new limited appearance rules and he or she can file the divorce, along with a motion for temporary orders using the money that you have, then if you need more money or the attny needs more money he or she can file a motion for legal fees if necessary. It sounds like you have enough to retain a good attorney from your other questions so the real issue may be what if you run out of money? Well if you do you can file that motion later on or asked for an advance against the marital estate.

Our  Dover MA divorce attorneys serve the Boston, Massachusetts, area from offices in downtown Boston, and the Boston Metrowest offices in Framingham and Dover. Our clients come to us from communities such as Acton, Arlington, Ashland, Braintree, Cambridge, Canton, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Hopkinton, Holliston, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Medfield, Milton, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Southborough, Sudbury, Quincy, Walpole, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, and all other towns in Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Essex County and Suffolk County.