Skip to main content
Home

Material Main menu

  • Choose Mediation
  • Find a Mediator
  • Resources
  • For Professionals
  • About MCFM

Material user menu

  • Professional Log In

Material user menu

  • Professional Log In
  • Choose Mediation
  • Find a Mediator
  • Resources
  • For Professionals
  • About MCFM

The Family Mediation Blog

Material blog menu

  • The Family Mediation Blog
  • Blog archives by month

Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines Updated for 2021 - A Summary of Changes

The 2020-2021 Massachusetts Trial Court Child Support Guidelines Task Force was convened in 2020 and requested the submission of comments by December 15, 2020 to assist them in updating the guidelines as required every four years.  MCFM, and other organizations and individuals, submitted comments and recently the Task Force announced their changes with the new 2021 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines.  Click here to read MCFM's comments. 

Following is a blog post reprinted with permission from Skylark Law & Mediation, PC that summarizes all the changes:

New Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines (2021): Big Changes, Little Changes, Typos & some Unexpected Results

by Justin L. Kelsey

Every four years, per federal mandate, the Massachusetts…

Read more ...

Massachusetts Probate & Family Court Suspends Requirement for Parenting Education Classes

Massachusetts Probate & Family Court Suspends Requirement for Parenting Education Classes

by Stephen McDonough

On July 8, 2021 Chief Justice John Casey of the MA Probate and Family Courts announced a suspension to the requirement for divorcing parents to complete the mandatory parent education program specified in the court’s Standing Order 2-16, Parent Education Program Attendance, issued in 2016. 

The announcement surprised many MA divorce lawyers and mediators. Besides our weekly reminders to some clients to finish the program prior to their case concluding, feedback about the program from our clients – which went remote like most everything else during the coronavirus pandemic – was mostly positive.  

When I first heard this news, I expected some form of replacement program would also be announced.  The news was an abrupt and significant change to a…

Read more ...

Hiring a Mediator for Your Coronavirus Divorce

Hiring a Mediator for Your Coronavirus Divorce

by Devlin Farmer

Right now, more than ever, mediation can assist with family restructuring. The courts are backed up and families are under tremendous stress under one roof. The good news is that the entire process of a divorce or separation can now be done online (Zoom); and a mediator can help. A mediator can also be the best way to avoid the stress, damage and cost of a court battle. 
 
How do you choose a mediator? Is it safe to google “mediator” and pick one? When it comes to getting divorced, you don’t want to cut corners making decisions about your children’s custody, child support, your retirement accounts or who gets the marital home. Do it right. Find a qualified, competent and compassionate mediator. A little research into finding the right person will go a long way. 
 
1. Lawyer or Nonlawyer?…
Read more ...

eFiling Has Arrived for 1A Joint Petition Divorces in Massachusetts

eFiling Has Arrived for 1A Joint Petition Divorces in Massachusetts

by Ellen Waldorf

The Massachusetts Probate and Family Court announced this week that its eFiling system can now be used to file 1A divorces. eFiling is currently available in all counties in the Probate & Family Court.  Pro se mediation clients as well as attorneys representing mediating clients can use the system. There is a $22 case fee plus processing fees for eChecks and credit cards used to pay the court filing fee. Indigent clients can seek to waive the fees. Documents need to be uploaded individually in PDF formats.  eFiling may be appropriate for some clients and not others.  For more information, see  https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-about-efiling-in-the-trial-court.

Photo from …

Read more ...

Remote Mediation: A Viable Alternative During the COVID-19 Crisis

Remote Mediation: a Viable Alternative During the COVID-19 Crisis

by Justin L. Kelsey, Vice President of MCFM

If you have a court hearing scheduled in the next few weeks, most likely you've been told it's postponed.  While some hearings will be scheduled telephonically and by video conference, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely causing significant delays in obtaining a hearing and an order or judgment.  This is understandable as the court and the bar figure out how to adjust to this crisis. (For updates on the Massachusetts court's current status check here.)  Regardless of how understandable these delays are, though, the experience for individuals going through conflict must be frustrating, disappointing, and in some cases devastating.

Now is the time to consider your alternatives to court.

… Read more ...

First Things First: The No-Nup Prenup

First Things First: The No-Nup Prenup 

by Vicki L. Shemin, J.D., LICSW, ACSW 

Remember the good ol’ days when two people met, fell in love, and got married? Nowadays, not so fast. Increasingly, couples are rehearsing the relationship before deciding whether to plan a rehearsal dinner. As marriage rates have fallen, the number of cohabiting relationships has continued to climb sharply.

As reported by the Pew Research Center, the number of Americans living with an unmarried partner reached about 18 million in 2016, up 900% over the last 50 years. To put a finer point on it, that equates to some 7.8 million couples living together without putting a ring on it - - 85% of whom will break-up by the end of 10 years. Equally compelling is the Centers for Disease Control’s finding that 20% of first-time cohabitating women became pregnant and had a baby within the first year of living with their boyfriends.

At a…

Read more ...

5 Reasons to Mediate Probate or Estate Situations

5 Reasons to Mediate Probate or Estate Situations

by Melinda Milberg, Esq.

     Imagine the following scenario - You are the son of an aging mother, who has begun to experience signs of dementia.  You and your brother both believe it is time for your mother to give up control over her own finances and want to talk with your sister about obtaining a conservatorship for your mother.  Your sister is reticent to pursue that course.  You believe that is because your mother has been very generous with your sister, giving your sister many cash gifts.  Your sister believes your mother is still able to manage herself, and also believes that you and your brother are trying to control your mother.  You are concerned about your mother becoming the victim of con artists and overzealous sales people.   You and your brother decide to go ahead and hire an attorney to file a petition to appoint you as the…
Read more ...

Co-Parenting for Dummies… and Smarties, too! A Guide to Co-Parent Communications

Co-Parenting for Dummies… and Smarties, too!      
A GUIDE TO CO-PARENT COMMUNICATIONS 

by Betsy Ross, LICSW, CGP

While it isn’t rocket science, it can be surprisingly difficult to communicate with the person you used to be married to. Old habits die hard and if you and s/he had a hard time listening to, not criticizing, or understanding each other before, chances are good that after divorce communications will also be a challenge. Add to this the residual feelings you might have about your marriage and what went wrong, coupled with the intensity of dealing with child related issues through and after divorce, managing all of the scheduling back and forth….well, you get the point----it just isn’t easy!!

As a family and divorce mediator and collaborative divorce coach (and psychotherapist, too), I have been ‘in the trenches’ with hundreds of families, trying to sort this all out and help…

Read more ...

The Alimony Reform Act: Lessons Learned in the Last Six Years

The Alimony Reform Act: Lessons Learned in the Last Six Years
 
by Valerie Qian & Justin L. Kelsey
 
The Alimony Reform Act of 2011 defined what alimony is and how it should work in much greater detail than the prior law.  The Alimony Reform Act, 2011 Mass. Acts ch. 124. However, it also left many questions unanswered. In the six years since the Act became effective, on March 1, 2012, the courts have slowly been further clarifying, and in some cases arguably undercutting, the Act.  In this article, we will summarize the provisions of the Act and note the court cases that have affected the language of those sections.
 
Alimony: What is it? 
 
Alimony is defined in the Act as '…
Read more ...

Facilitated Family Meetings

Facilitated Family Meetings
 
By Halee Burg 
 
I suspect many of us have experienced, at one time or another, how quickly extended family conflicts can unfold, and the damaging impact on valued relationships that often follows.  Identity and values conflicts among family members may emerge and communication may unravel.  Even in the closest of families, feelings about issues relating to aging parents or other loved ones run deep, and adult children and grandchildren may have vastly different perspectives regarding how evolving challenges should be managed.  It is not uncommon for longstanding sibling rivalries to manifest as family members attempt to tackle -- often without the support of a neutral third party -- issues involving caregiving roles and responsibilities, residential options, decision making, and the like.
 
…
Read more ...

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »
We'd love to meet you!

Material user menu

  • Professional Log In

Material Footer menu

  • Mediation Resources
    • Find a Mediator
    • Other Options
    • Resources
  • Choose Mediation
    • Divorce
    • Child Custody
    • Cohabitation Agreements
    • Elder Mediation
    • Estate Planning
    • Family Business Mediation
    • Marital Mediation
    • Pre & Post Nuptial Agreements
    • Probate Mediation
    • Same Sex Couples
    • Separated Spouses Mediation
    • Unmarried Parents
  • About MCFM
  • For Professionals
    • Join/Renew
    • Member Benefits
    • Events
    • Member Directory
    • MCFM Journal & FMQ
    • MCFM Certification
    • Confidentiality & Ethics

9 Main Street Southborough, MA 01772 masscouncil@MCFM.org

Use of the MCFM.org website indicates acceptance of the Terms of Use.
© 2025 by Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.