Single and married parents face numerous challenges attempting to support themselves and their children. Whether you are the person paying child support or the person receiving the child support, there never seems to be enough for either party. Massachusetts has Child Support Guidelines governing the payment of support for dependent children. The guidelines are comprehensive and can be found along with a worksheet on the Massachusetts: Child Support Guidelines. (Note: The Child Support Guidelines Worksheet will do the calculations in Internet Explorer or Acrobat Reader only. If you are using another browser, download the form and then open it with Acrobat Reader.)
Parents may take other factors into consideration when determining contributions to the children’s support such as:
- When the children live with each parent an equal amount of the time
- When the children have special needs (medical or aptitude)
- When one or both parties have incomes which exceed $250,000
additional resources:
Past and present guidelines, reports, forms, instructions, worksheets and other related resources.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/child-support-guidelines
Need Help Determining Child Support?
Attorney Barbara Nason can help you to determine what factors may be important in determining the appropriate child support amount. Contact Attorney Barbara Nason at
Alimony is a court-ordered payment of support from one spouse to another and is governed by the Alimony Reform Act of 2011 (which took effect on March 1, 2012)
Factors that may be considered with regards to Alimony:
- The length of the marriage
- Age of the parties
- Health of the parties
- Income, employment and employability of both parties, including employability through reasonable effort and additional training, if necessary
- Economic and non-economic contribution of both parties to the marriage
- Marital lifestyle
- Ability of each party to maintain the marital lifestyle
- Lost economic opportunity as a result of the marriage
- Other factors the court considers relevant
Alimony Issues? Attorney Barbara Nason Can Help
If you have an alimony issue contained within your divorce or if you are looking to modify the terms of your previous settlement agreement, then Barbara Nason can assist you. There is no need to put off your divorce mediation. If you want to keep the process moving forward, please give us a call now at 617 236-1800 or email us for an initial consultation.