Massachusetts Family Law Attorney, Lisa A. Ruggieri, describes what you need to know under the new 2017 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines.Under Massachusetts Law, the Child Support Guidelines must be reviewed every four (4) years by a task force to determine...
Protecting Individuals, Families And Children Every Step Of The Way
Law Offices of Lisa A. Ruggieri
Paternity and child support: an instructive case
We stress in today's blog post what might be reasonably termed as a slippery slope regarding paternity, which is often a fundamentally -- and sometimes, as noted below, contentious -- family law matter.As a lead-in to a news story that recently chronicles a flatly...
High-net-worth divorce: keeping things under control
The wording in the above headline for today's blog post certainly implies that things can spin out of control in a high-asset divorce, doesn't it?In fact, they sometimes do, and for a multitude of reasons. Seasoned divorce attorneys who routinely work with wealthy...
Three ways to maximize your back-to-school shopping power
If you have been paying attention to recent commercials or the change in displays at Target or Wal-Mart, the back-to-school shopping season is in full swing, even though we haven’t touched August 1st yet. Retailers want to get out in front of the...
Divorce-related insurance division: some things to think about
Many Massachusetts residents involved in the divorce process obviously have property-related concerns, most specifically issues surrounding an equitable division of marital assets.And within that select sphere of concerns is the division of insurance, which, as we...
What now, settlement or scorched-earth litigation in family spat?
Both son and dad are portrayed as being lawsuit-happy as they trade barbs in the wake of the latter's recent divorce and even more recent loss of control in a major shakeup at one of Minnesota's foremost private companies."He loves litigation," says Michael Barry,...
Research findings on Massachusetts dads, peers nationally
To an impressively high degree, dads -- just like moms -- seek inclusion and the opportunity to play a key role in the lives of their children.And what that overwhelmingly translates to is their collective aversion to being shut out on activities with their kids via...
A “really tricky” case: ex-spouse’s charitable giving challenged
If there's one oft-used idiomatic expression that really resonates with officials at the Massachusetts Worcester Polytechnic Institute these days, it is likely this: stuck between a rock and a hard place.For that is precisely where the school seems to be squarely...
What factors do courts consider in making child custody decisions?
Child custody is one of the most important issues couples with children have to deal with in divorce, if not the most important issue. Ideally, couples are able to set their differences aside and work together to settle upon a custody arrangement that is beneficial...
Potentially with material implications: the family name in a divorce
A family law writer addressing a somewhat singular though potentially important consideration in a divorce proceeding calls it "the one elephant in the room no one thinks about until it's a problem."And that is this: the last name a couple shared during marriage. What...
