IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
• WHAT'S NEW?
• NEW CASE SUMMARY: Calvin C. v Amelia A. , A recent decision involving alimony and child support .
• MINDFULNESS MATTERS: The "Being Busy" Mindset
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WHAT'S NEW?
FALL 2021
September is always a busy time for parents of school age children. It can also be a stressful time for folks who are trying to coordinate parenting schedules and/or payment of child-related activities with a co-parent. We receive many calls and email messages concerning legal custody issues each fall. Legal custody is having the right and responsibility to make major decisions about your child’s welfare.
Legal custody includes decisions about a child’s medical, educational, and religious education. While some families can navigate legal custody issues themselves, others need help. Filing a case in Court to resolve legal custody issues can be an expensive and frustrating experience. Unless it is an emergency, it can be very difficult to get the Court to resolve these issues in a timely manner due to the back log of cases. Mediation can be a less stressful and less expensive way to resolve these issues without having to go to Court.
With the back log in the Court, we have been taking more collaborative law cases in Massachusetts and in New York. Collaborative law provides another way to divorce without the adversarial nature of divorce litigation. The goal is to work together as a team to provide both parties with the support they need to navigate the challenging and often emotionally draining circumstances of going through a divorce. If you have questions about mediation or collaborative law, please reach out to us for a consultation.
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NEW CASE
Calvin C. v Amelia A. ;99 Mass. App. Ct. 714 (2021)
A recent decision involving alimony and child support.
Calvin is a case about alimony and child support. G.L. c. 208 Sec 53(c) provides that, "when issuing an order for alimony, the Court shall exclude from its income calculation... Gross income which the Court has already considered for setting a child support order." Section 53(c) was met to address an inequity in cases where one spouse is ordered to pay child support and alimony to the other spouse. In those cases, alimony is calculated without consideration of the effect of the child support order on the payee's ability to pay both support orders.
While Calvin deals with reciprocal payments, where one spouse pays alimony while the other pays child support, the Court was still able to address whether courts may order alimony and child support to the same spouse when the parties earn less than $250,000.00.
The Calvin Court clarifies that "that calculating alimony first usually necessitates using the parties' adjusted, post alimony incomes when calculating child support to avoid running afoul of G. L. c. 208, § 53(c)(2), this principle typically applies in cases where one spouse is the sole payor of both alimony and child support…. in cases where one spouse pays both child support and alimony, and the parties' combined income is less than $250,000 … the alimony payment should be treated as income available to the recipient (rather than to the payor) for purposes of calculating child support."
If you have questions about interpreting or working with the new guidelines, please schedule a consult with us.
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MINDFULNESS MATTERS
THE "BEING BUSY" MINDSET
By Cindy Runge, Esq.
I, like many of my colleagues and clients, have very active personal and professional lives. With everything that is happening at any given moment, it can seem impossible to take time for self, particularly for those whose life is in-the-midst of significant change such a divorce. As a family law practitioner, I am aware that urgent matters can arise at unpredictable times. So, it can be a challenge to stay connected to a self-care practice with looming deadlines.
During the pandemic, even though I worried about the time commitment, I decided to take two mindfulness courses through Brown University. In addition to helping me commit to a more regular meditation practice, which has helped me reframe how I think about time, I was struck by a comment one of the instructors made during a class. The group was discussing reasons we struggled to find time for our own practice. Many of us said that when faced with lack of time to get everything done, we would take care of everyone else first and leave ourselves last, if there was time. This approach often led to folks feeling exhausted and irritated. In response, the instructor asked us, “Whose life is it?” In other words, instead of feeling as though we are a slave to our schedule/powerless over the roles we voluntarily took on, the instructor offered us another lens to look through when thinking about our available time. Each of us has only one life. Each of us should have a say in how we spend our time, not let someone else dictate it for us. Each of us has a finite amount of time, which is unknown to us. It is important to be present for life now, no matter what is happening, because good and bad things can happen at the same time. Life is imperfect, precious and a gift. We all go through difficult times in life. Sometimes the difficult experiences help to change us for the better and help us grow in directions we never contemplated. One of the reasons I love working in family law is because it allows me to help others move toward a chance to live a better life.
Although it may seem counter-intuitive to insert yourself into a schedule with an already full plate, I have found that by doing so, I have increased energy, a better attitude and sharper perspective than when I focused solely on everything and everyone else. So, the next time you are feeling as though there is no time for your meditation, yoga practice, or even a short walk, remember the old adage that if you keep doing the same thing, you will continue to get the same result.
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