Massachusetts Divorce Law - The Equitable Division of Property

In Massachusetts, property division of assets and liabilities are most often settled between the parties by a signed Marital Settlement Agreement. 

If the parties, however, are unable to agree and proceed to trial, the property award will be ordered and decreed by a Family Court Judge within the Judgment of Divorce.

Massachusetts is referred to as an "equitable distribution" state. Equitable does not necessarily mean "equal" but rather, what the court deems to be fair under all of the circumstances. 

When divorcing parties are unable to reach a settlement, the Probate and Family Court will take the following approach to dividing assets; First, it will go through a discovery process to determine which property and debt is to be considered marital. Next, it will assign a monetary value on the marital property and debt. Finally, it will order the marital assets be distributed between the two parties in an equitable manner. 

In making this determination, the court must consider a number of factors, including the following: 

a. length of the marriage; 

b. the conduct of the parties during the marriage; 

c. the ages of the parties; 

d. health; 

e. station; 

f. occupation; 

g. amount and sources of income; 

h. vocational skills; 

i. employability; 

j. estate; 

k. liabilities and needs of each of the parties; 

l. the opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income. 

The court may also consider the contribution of each of the parties in the acquisition, preservation or appreciation in value of their respective estates and the contribution of each of the parties as a homemaker to the family unit.

Finally, but most importantly, in any case in which minor children are involved, the Family Court will always consider their present and future needs. 

Follow the link below for the complete text of the Massachusetts property division statute: 

 http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleIII/Chapter208/Section34

If you are in need of further information concerning Massachusetts divorce law, contact the Law Offices of Harold D. Levine, 1330 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA (617) 232-7222 or visit my web site at HaroldLevineLaw.com