Massachusetts Divorce: Step-By-Step

In Worcester County a divorce begins when one spouse files a petition - or a complaint - against the other. A complaint is just what it sounds like: one person is complaining, in legal language, about what the other person did. It identifies the parties, states the reasons for divorce (in Massachusetts, we even have a reason called "no fault"), and requests relief from the court. After the complaint is filed (by the party called either the plaintiff or petitioner) it is sent, along with the summons, to the other party. This is called serving them.

Once the complaint is served, a party has 20 days to file a response with the Court and serve that response upon the attorney for the other side. Once the complaint has been served, parties may go into Court and schedule a hearing for temporary orders relating to support, visitation, the marital home and other issues that deal with establishing the status quo.

It is important to emphasize that, upon filing a complaint for divorce, an automatic restraining order (pertaining to assets) takes effect. The restraining order prevents either party from liquidating, selling, transferring or otherwise disposing of assets in a matter inconsistent with the ordinary course of business or usual living circumstances. This measure of Court-imposed financial protection enables the Court to act very quickly in the event of an apparent violation of the order and authorizes the Court to impose a wide range of sanctions against the offending party.

All parties to a divorce action in which there are minor children are ordered by the Court to attend an approved Parent Education Program. This program is mandatory unless waived by the Court. Here, the program allows both spouses to be learn how divorce will affect the children. The Court will not hold a pre-trial conference until it receives a certificate from an approved program for each party in the divorce action.

To work effectively on your behalf, the court requires - and your attorney needs - all of the relevant financial data from your marriage. You will have to fill-out a financial statement and begin working on your Rule 410 Mandatory Discovery which Massachusetts requires as preliminary financial disclosure for all parties.

Following the temporary order stage, the next phase of the divorce process is spent conducting discovery. Discovery is the formal process that allows both sides to discover information from the other. How much property does each spouse actually own? How much is their retirement plan worth?

The discovery process is designed to promote fairness at trial by making sure the playing field is level and that neither side is surprised by information the other side withheld. Financial disclosures also promote settlement - the more you have, the better able you are to be creative about settlement options and to figure out your bottom line.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people in a divorce to try to hide assets. They may simply fail to disclose bank accounts, claim that an asset is less valuable than it really is, or make deceptive payments to a straw person to hide the money's location. If you think your suppose might be hiding assets, it's probably well worth your while to hire a forensic accountant - a person who's trained to reveal financial shenanigans like this.

Once discovery is complete and information is exchanged, the parties are in a place where realistic divisions of property can take place. An end is in sight.

Following discovery and any attempts at settlement, a pretrial conference will be scheduled. You and your spouse - along with your lawyers - will meet with your judge to discuss the current status of the case. You will review the procedural history, identify the uncontested and contested issues, summarize discovery, and then discuss a settlement agreement or revisit those areas where settlement discussions may have stalled out. The judge will almost always be the same judge who will hear your trial, so this is your opportunity to define the issues and state your position.

Very few court cases - divorce cases included - go all the way to trial. Nevertheless, if your case appears to be headed in this direction, as the trial date grows closer, preparation will heat up. If your case doesn't settle (they often do so only hours or days before trial), both sides will present evidence by submitting documents and by having witnesses testify.

The testimony that the people on your side give under your lawyer's questioning is called "direct" testimony. After direct testimony, the other lawyer will get a chance to cross-examine each person.

After all the testimony has been heard and all the evidence has been presented, the lawyers get a chance to sum up their cases to the judge. Following these closing arguments, the judge will likely take the case "under advisement" and take some time to consider the evidence and review the legal arguments. The judge will then prepare a written ruling which can come in the mail as quickly as five or six weeks, or as long as six months later.

These decisions that were made must be reduced to a document that's called a judgment. The judgment is the court's way of officially saying what the outcome of your case was, and making a record of what each spouse is required to do in the future.