In the June 2014 issue of the Massachusetts Lawyers
Journal, Donald G. Tye, Prince Lobel Domestic Relations Practice Group Co-chair,
and Patricia
A. O’Connell, partner at Kajko, Weisman, Colasanti & Stein LLP discuss the
importance of communicating to clients the basics of equitable distribution of
property upon divorce in Massachusetts and the treatment of gifted, inherited
and pre-marital assets.
Clients need to consider the following:
- The marital estate subject to distribution consists
of all property owned by either property, including pre-marital property - The court has broad discretion in weighing the
statutory factors that must be considered when distributing the estate - There is no presumption of a 50/50 distribution
of the estate - The court has discretion to determine the date
for dividing the marital estate - Always inform your lawyer (and provide any
available documentation) about the source of gifted/inherited assets; use, or
sequestration, of those assets during the marriage; and contributions to both
the gifted/inherited assets and the overall marital partnership.
Please click here to read the complete article.