Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

Re: Complaint for Divorce

"Cruel and abusive treatment" is one of the, and the most common, ground for divorce. It can be physical abuse, mental or emotional abuse, any showing that the plaintiff was being abused more than once. The level of proof is not very high, so it is very rare that cruel and abusive treatment is not found if it is alleged.

Once the complaint for divorce is filed, if there are minor children they must take the course for divorcing parents and file the certificate with the court. A pretrial markup can then be filed, and the court will schedule the pretrial conference. Each side has to present the court with a list of issues they do not agree on, and what they do agree on, and some other information. At the pretrial conference, usually with a mediator, the parties are expected to try to narrow the differences. If there are only one or two issues that cannot be resolved, the case may be brought before a judge to decide the issue that day.

If the issues are serious and cannot be easily resolved without more evidence, the case will be put down for trial at a later date.