In this video, I talk about the basics of Massachusetts child support laws. I discuss when child support is to be paid and how much support is paid by using the child support guidelines. For parents wishing to obtain child support, I talk about the different types of services available, both free and paid.
A large portion of my divorce clients either come from India or were married in India. And a large portion of those clients wishing to get a divorce was paired in an arranged marriage. Sometimes the other spouse is here in the United States through a visa and sometimes they’ve already gone back to India or were never here in the first place.
Conducting a divorce of an Indian couple, especially of an arranged marriage, poses some cultural issues. First off, legally, they can get divorce either in India or here in Massachusetts if one of the spouse has lived here for the past year. In these international divorce situations, it’s often a lot easier to try to get the couple to come together to file an uncontested divorce because initiating a contested divorce internationally is very difficult. If the couple decides to divorce here in Massachusetts, it simply proceeds as usual.
When the divorce is granted, nothing needs to be done in India. If the spouse that lives here eventually wants to go back to marry again in India, he or she simply has to get a Divorce Certificate and register it in India so that they can get married again. If they don’t intend on getting married again in India, registering the divorce in India is not necessary.
The cultural issues is that since it was an arranged marriage, both the husband and the wife’s family has to be involved in the divorce process as well. Most of the time, there was a dowry paid by the wife’s family to the husband’s family and if there is a divorce, it needs to be given back. These cultural issues needs to be negotiated and completed before a legal divorce here in Massachusetts can occur.
If you have an international divorce situation, it’s a good idea to have an attorney that has dealt with the countries before and knows the process. In the alternative, you could get an attorney in the other country to make sure your divorce in Massachusetts will ultimately be valid overseas as well.
Here are the facts: A couple who doesn’t live or reside in Massachusetts, comes to Massachusetts solely for the purpose of getting married. They are allowed to be married because Massachusetts allows same-sex couples to get married. They return to their home state where same-sex marriage is not allowed. Now, time passes and their marriage breaks down and they want to get a divorce. Can they get a divorce in Massachusetts?
The simple answer is no.
In order for a couple to get divorced in Massachusetts, they have to have lived here in the Commonwealth for 1 year prior to filing for a divorce OR the grounds for the divorce must have occurred in Massachusetts. Simply put, it doesn’t matter where you get married, it matters where you live that determines where you get divorced.
So what does that mean for gay couples who are married yet live in a state that doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage? Several things are possible. They either can not get divorced or their state can be one of the few states that don’t allow same-sex marriage but will grant a same-sex divorce. Their last option is for one of them to move to Massachusetts for 1 year and then file for divorce here.
This definitely places a tremendous burden on same-sex couples but as long as the Defense of Marriage Act is in place, states can continue to refuse divorces for same-sex couples despite another state legally recognizing their marriage.
If you are a parent of a child in Massachusetts and you are divorced or separated from the other parent of the child, find out how to move out of state with your child through this video. You’ll learn about removal actions and child custody and visitation schedules.
