If you've never married to your child's other parent, then you could have dozens of questions about your rights as a parent to your child. Here are some common questions about paternity and how you can acknowledge that you're the father to your newborn, or growing,...
Protecting Individuals, Families And Children Every Step Of The Way
Law Offices of Lisa A. Ruggieri
Support your child with appropriate child support payments
When you think of child support, what do you imagine it is for? If you see the money going toward your child's home, health and happiness, then you understand the very basis of what this money is meant to be used for. During a divorce, determining child support and...
New law grants unpaid maternity or paternity leave
In Massachusetts, men who are becoming new parents have just had a law passed that can help them spend time with their newborns. Instead of just women getting maternity leave, fathers will now be able to get unpaid paternity leave, too.This doesn't just apply in cases...
What are the Massachusetts laws on post-nuptial agreements?
A post-nuptial agreement is generally a good idea for those who want to protect their assets during a marriage. A post-nuptial agreement is signed after you're already married, so both parties should be well aware of the assets and debts of the other person. A...
How do you know if you’ve gotten all your child support?
As a parent with primary custody of your child in Massachusetts, it's important to make sure that you're getting the child support you need and deserve. Child support is awarded so you can give your child everything he or she needs despite not having both parents in...
Divorces defined: 4 styles of divorce found in Massachusetts
Divorce can be a sensitive subject. When you get a divorce, you may feel threatened; you're losing the person you loved, losing assets and potentially having to lose time with your children. To understand the way a divorce works and the implications of an at-fault or...
Get the responsibility you want with a paternity test
It's not always easy to determine who the father of a child is; sometimes, the mother won't want the DNA test completed or doesn't want to comply since she and the father aren't getting along or aren't dating or seeing each other. If that's what's happening in your...
Massachusetts gay marriages: You may not be entitled to a divorce
When same-sex couples get married in Massachusetts, they are extended the same rights as those who are not in same-sex relationships. While this works for those who stay in Massachusetts, it does pose the question of what happens to people who were legally married in...
How does Massachusetts implement administrative enforcement?
In Massachusetts, those who don't pay their child support can be forced to do so through administrative enforcement. The Child Support Enforcement Division is responsible for collecting and enforcing child support and does so through a fully automated program. That...
Patrick Dempsey’s divorce: Wife requests child custody, alimony
A divorce is something no one in Massachusetts wants to have to go through, but sometimes marriages simply don't work out. When children are involved, child custody can be a contentious topic to speak on, and it can leave ex-husbands and wives fighting over their...
