December 2017 Archives

It may seem that most Massachusetts divorces occur later in life, at least due to stereotypes of divorcees in movies, and divorces that are widely-publicized, namely celebrities and politicians. Therefore, it may come as a surprise that the average age of divorce is actually 30, and that the divorce rates, at least for most age groups, has been consistently dropping since 1996.

Many people have heard of the five stages of grief that we go through when a loved one dies: denial, anger, bargaining, loss, and acceptance. This grieving concept was introduced in 1969 by the late Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book, "On Death and Dying." Although the concept was originally focused on how people handle death, these five stages of grief can also be used to help work through the emotional process of a Massachusetts divorce.

It is common, especially with contentious Massachusetts landlord/tenant relationships, for allegations to surface regarding the failure of one party to properly maintain the property.

What's a Massachusetts residential lease? A lease, is a contract for the rental of property. As such, a lease is enforceable at law. If a tenant signs a lease which is usually for a one-year term, the tenant is liable for rental payments during that period of time.

I often tell people to monitor their responses to emotions during the Massachusetts divorce process. Being able to respond rationally to negative behavior from an angry ex during this time helps keep down the cost of your divorce and will make the process less conflicted.

Marrying a person with children in Massachusetts creates a stepparent relationship that, over time, seems no different than a biological relationship. When both biological parents are alive and taking an active role in the upbringing of their children, Massachusetts law prevents stepparents from adopting the children.

Paternity testing has become the de facto method of determining fatherhood in Massachusetts, especially in disputed cases that end up in court. But not all cases need to go to court. Here are three cutting-edge paternity technologies that show great promise for the future.

A  question that anyone in a landlord/tenant case needs to consider is, who pays legal fees in an eviction case?

When a Massachusetts tenant leaves damage to a rental unit at move out, the Massachusetts Security Deposit Law allows a landlord to deduct the cost of repairs from the security deposit, provided the landlord issues a sworn statement of itemized damage along with repair estimates within 30 days of the move out.