Alimony Reform Act of 2011 Part 1

In 2011 the Massachusetts legislature passed a law that changed  alimony  in  Massachusetts. The law is called the Alimony Reform Act of 2011.  I will discuss the proposed changes in this blog. I will post a number of articles as there are too many changes to discuss in one posting. The first topic will be the factors a court will consider when deciding an alimony issue.
Alimony is sometimes awarded when couples get divorced in Massachusetts.  It is controlled by G.L. c. 208, § 34.  The new bill, if passed, will be a complete overhaul of the law of alimony in the state.
I have created a chart which compares the alimony factors under present law and the proposed law which is included at the end of this article. The new law includes all of the factors that a judge must consider and may consider under current law and adds additional factors. However, the biggest change is a catch all concept that allows the judge to consider any additional factors as the court may deem relevant and material. There have been many decisions where judges have lamented the current limitations that restrict the factors to the those stated in G.L. c. 208, § 34. Under the new law, the Judges won’t have this limitation. This should result in fairer and more equitable results.
While the current factors are preserved, there is additional language that places an emphasis on certain behavior. Abuse that causes physical or mental harm that interferes with a party’s ability to earn income is specifically mentioned in the new law. It appears that health issues that effect one’s ability to earn money are emphasized in the new law as additional language is added to the health factor.
Under current law, alimony may be ordered by a Judge or not ordered. A Judge has no ability to limit an alimony award to a period of time. The proposed law will allow a Judge to impose time limitations. Thus a new factor will be considered: the appropriate period of time for alimony. This new concept in Massachusetts should create more just and fair alimony awards in divorces.

　

Current Law G.L. c. 208, § 34.	Proposed Law Alimony Reform Act of 2011
length of the marriage	length of the marriage
conduct of the parties during the marriage	conduct of the parties during the marriage including a party’s inability to provide for his or her own support by reason of physical or mental abuse by the payor
age	age
health	health including advanced age; chronic illness; or unusual health circumstances of either party
station	station and marital lifestyle
	ability of each party to maintain the marital lifestyle
occupation	occupation and if a party is unemployed or underemployed
amount and sources of income and employability	both parties’ income, employment and employability, including employability through reasonable diligence and additional training
vocational skills	vocational skills
estate	estate
liabilities	liabilities
needs of the each of the parties	needs of the each of the parties
opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income	opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income

	amount and duration of alimony
	ability to pay alimony
	economic or noneconomic contribution to the financial resources of the payor spouse and to the marriage
	Significant premarital cohabitation that included economic partnership and/or marital separation of significant duration
	lost economic opportunity as a result of the marriage and a party’s inability to provide for his or her own support by reason of a party’s deficiency’s of property, maintenance or employment opportunity
	such other factors as the court may deem relevant and material
	Tax considerations applicable to the parties
	Whether the payor spouse is providing health insurance and the cost of heath insurance for the recipient spouse
	Whether the payor spouse has been ordered to secure life insurance for the benefit of the recipient spouse and the cost of such insurance
	Sources and amounts of unearned income, including capital gains, interest and dividends, annuity and investment income from assets that were not allocated in the parties divorce

　
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