Residency Requirements:
One spouse must be a resident if the ground for divorce occurred in
Massachusetts. If the grounds for divorce occurred outside of
Massachusetts, then the filing spouse must have been a resident of
Massachusetts for one year.
Legal Separation:
Grounds for legal separation in Massachusetts include failure without
cause to provide for support, desertion giving the other spouse
justifiable cause to live separate and apart. Support may be awarded
by the to the spouse and children living apart.
General Divorce Procedure:
A lawsuit for divorce on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown of the
marriage may be initiated in Massachusetts by a signed petition by both
spouses, an affidavit that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or a
notarized separation agreement or marital settlement signed by both
spouses. No summons is required. The division of property or maintenance
are not based on marital fault.In every action for divorce, a financial
statement and a public health statistical report must be filed by each
spouse.
File in the county where spouses last resided together. If neither lives
in that county then the filing may take place where either spouse
currently resides.
Title of Divorce action:
No-fault: Petition for Divorce.
Fault based: Complaint for Divorce.
|
|
Grounds for Massachusetts Divorce:
Massachusetts recognizes Fault-based and No-fault
grounds for divorce.
No-fault:
The only no-fault ground for divorce in Massachusetts is the irretrievable
breakdown of the marriage.
Fault-based:
Fault grounds for divorce in Massachusetts include:
1) adultery;
2) impotence;
3) imprisonment for over 5 years;
4) alcoholism and/or drug addiction;
5) cruel and inhuman treatment;
6) desertion without support to the other spouse
for one year;
7) non-support to the complaining spouse when
the other spouse can provide support but refuses to do so.
Mediation or Counseling:
In a pending Massachusetts divorce, either party may file a motion
requesting mediation of any or all disputed issues. The court may order
counseling in cases where irreconcilable differences are used as the
grounds for divorce.
|
