Volume XVIII | HOLIDAY EDITION 2025

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

• What's New? Awards, Professional Activities, New Staff

• Case of the Quarter: Alimony and Securities

• Review of the Quarter

• Mindfulness Matters: Less Stress, More Calm in the New Year

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

We are delighted to share Cindy's most recent awards and recognition:

• Cindy has been recognized for the 7^th year in a row by Super Lawyers 2025 (Top 100 Massachusetts Lawyers, Top 50 Massachusetts Women Lawyers).
• She has also been recognized as Lawyer of the Year 2026 by Best Lawyers for collaborative law in Boston.
• Cindy also received a new certification in mediation from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

CYNTHIA RUNGE: PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

FALL 2025 CONFERENCE — AMERICAN ACADEMY OF MATRIMONIAL LAWYERS

Cindy attended the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois in November where she was able to network with some of the country’s most prestigious family law attorneys and attend cutting edge CLE trainings on relevant topics for divorcing couples.

PRESENTATIONS

Cindy presented at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Worcester on November 18^th at the “Legal Considerations for Grandparents Raising Children” seminar. Cindy has a passion for helping children and families work through the guardianship process. Peridot Family Law helps many families with guardianship issues, especially involving minors and young adults.

WOMEN OWNED LAW EVENT, BOSTON

On November 20^th, Cindy, who is co-chair of the Boston region of Women Owned Law (WOL), coordinated a "Sip and Shop" event at M.M. La Fleur for women business owners. The group enjoyed the chance to mix and mingle. Cindy is excited to coordinate and attend future WOL events in the Boston area for other women attorneys.

PERIDOT FAMILY LAW RETREAT

Peridot Family Law had its first retreat at the Danversport Yacht Club on September 16^th facilitated by MB Law Firm Consulting, LLC. It was a fun and informative gathering with team-building activities and brainstorming sessions.

Following the retreat, a delicious dinner at Rossetti Restaurant in Beverly was enjoyed by all!

NEW STAFF MEMBERS

Attorney Megan Rinke joined Peridot Family Law on September 15^th. She was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and is also barred in New Jersey. We are happy to have her rejoin our team as Megan was a law clerk for the firm in Fall of 2023. We know Megan will provide excellent service to our clients. Welcome back, Megan!

Also joining us this fall is Hunter Stonebraker. Hunter is a recent Summa Cum Laude college graduate from the University of Southern Maine and is working with us as a legal assistant while considering a career as an attorney. Welcome, Hunter!

“The lawyers at Peridot Family Law are smart, thoughtful, experienced, and professional. They are very careful to do things right, and made themselves available when I needed them. I worked primarily with Shannon Barnes, and Cynthia Runge was there for backup and consultation. Because they know what they are doing, my legal costs were much lower than my ex's even though my ex paid a much lower hourly rate. Highly recommended.”



DeFilipe v. Suwan, 24-P-792 (October 14, 2025)



EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF CLOSELY HELD SECURITIES AND GENERAL TERM ALIMONY

The Massachusetts’s Appeals Court upheld the lower court’s equitable distribution of Nonvoting Common Shares (NVCs), Investor Entity Units (IEUs) and an award of alimony.

The parties married in 2006 and had one minor child together. The Husband filed a Complaint for Divorce (irretrievable breakdown) on September 24, 2020.

Three months after the Husband filed his Complaint for divorce, he became eligible, through his employer, Fidelity, to purchase nonvoting common shares (“NVCs”). The NVCs convey an ownership interest in Fidelity, but not the right to vote on the company’s business decisions. Fidelity only allows small groups of “highly valued” employees to purchase NVCs. The NVCs remain unvested for three years, and they vest at a rate of twenty percent per year, over a period of five years. The Husband purchased 20,000 NVCs (2020 NVCs) around December 2020 and an additional 20,000 in December of 2022.

The Husband was also able to purchase Investor Entity Units (“IEUs”). The IEUs are stocks in companies owned or party owned by Fidelity which are fully vested when issued and can be transferred only to authorized holders or assignees after a low-interest loan from Fidelity is paid. The Husband purchased 575,000 Investor Entity Units (“IEUs”) in 2020 and more in 2022.



The Judgment of Divorce assigned the Wife 50% interest in the 2020 NVCs and 2020 IEUs, as well as a 50% responsibility for the outstanding loan balances to Fidelity...

COMMITTING TO LESS STRESS, MORE CALM IN THE NEW YEAR

by Cynthia Runge

As the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about new year’s resolutions and the habits that support a more balanced life. One goal I want to focus on is avoiding overcommitment. When we have too many things on our plate, it can feel overwhelming and create unnecessary stress. It’s so easy to fall into the habit of automatically saying “yes” to every new opportunity or interesting project.

With the onset of the holidays, we’re all confronted with a multitude of social and professional gatherings. It is simply not possible to attend all of them in a one-month period, let alone, maintain a semblance of our professional and personal life.

A mentor recently reminded me of my tendency to “overload my plate”. It is odd when you realize you keep repeating the same patterns, over and over. Once I was reminded of what was once again, right in front of me, I realized I had to “consciously uncouple” from a few matters, in order to give myself more space, less stress and more calm in my life.



So, what about you? What do you need to let go of or say “yes” to in 2026 for more peace and calm?

Peridot Family Law is a full-service family law firm based in Woburn, Massachusetts. Our goal is to help our clients transition through their family law matter in the best possible way. We do this by listening to our clients' goals and objectives. We meet our clients where they are in the process and offer practical, reasonable solutions to produce a positive outcome for their situation.

Cynthia Runge, Founder and Sole Member.

Admitted to the bar in Massachusetts and New York.

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