Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

Re: divorce and pensions

The rule in Massachusetts is that the "marital estate" (which generally comprises all assets and liabilities) is subject to an equitable division based on factors such as the length of the marriage, proportional contributions by each spouse, conduct during the marriage, etc. A 9-year marriage puts you in somewhat of a gray area, but as a general rule you can expect to keep assets that you accumulated before you got married. You do have a fairly complicated fact pattern, however, and you would be well advised to retain an attorney experienced in complicated asset divisions.

Best of luck.

Re: divorce and pensions

Usually at the 10 year mark is where the Court considers the marriage, long-term. Before that point, alimony is usually not enforced.

However division of assets, that includes your house and pension, has nothing to do with alimony. It has to do with the parties' respective contribution to those assets. Your husband might well be entitled to your pension, but only insomuch as the amount that he helped contribute. So this means that the pension amount before marriage, is off-limits.

You need to get yourself a good divorce attorney or else you might find yourself being taken for a ride.

Re: divorce and pensions

The rule in Massachusetts is that the "marital estate" (which generally comprises all assets and liabilities) is subject to an equitable division based on factors including the length of the marriage. A 9-year marriage is a gray area, however, your assets prior to marriage are protected.

I strongly suggest you get an attorney to protect your interests.

Re: divorce and pensions

I agree you are in a "gray area." The outcome could depend upon the quality of your legal representation. While all judges do not follow this rule, and the outcome depends upon the facts of each case and the other assets, some judges will allocate 1-2% of the 'overlap' value of a pension for each year of a marriage. The "overlap" is each year that you were married in which you were also building pension years. Please call if you have further questions. Other judges could just consider the whole pension and ignore the "overlap" based on their analysis of the facts. You need to get representation.