How long will your divorce take? It depends on your particular situation.  Let’s take a look at some examples. Scenario 1: You and your spouse both agree to get a divorce and you’re filing a joint petition for divorce (an uncontested divorce). It will take approximately 5 months from beginning to end for this type of divorce. Scenario 2: You and your…

There are 14 county probate and family court venues in Massachusetts comprising of 28 different probate and family court locations.  So if you’re going to file a divorce in Massachusetts, you need to figure out where to go. The scenarios below all assume that you have met the 1-year residency requirement to file for a divorce in Massachusetts. Both Parties Live in…

Despite the tone of the title, I knew adultery is still a crime in Massachusetts but was quite shocked when my twitter friend, Corine K. Claxton (criminal attorney in Worcester, MA) sent me the court opinion of the last criminal adultery trial in Massachusetts. [COMMONWEALTH v. JUDITH STOWELL] The last adultery case to be tried criminally was in 1983.  The woman, Judith,…

Many women assume their husband’s last name when they get married. As a result, when they get divorced from their husbands, most want to change it back to their maiden name. There are two options: you can either change it back to a maiden (or any other name) or you could keep your soon-to-be-ex husband’s name. Contrary to what some people might…