The Family Mediation Blog
The Goose, the Gander and the Alimony Reform Act
Monday, November 20, 2017
The Goose, the Gander and the Alimony Reform Act
By William M. Levine and Hon. E. Chouteau Levine (Ret.)
[Note: to avoid a gender pretzel and to avoid offending anyone, the hypothetical clients in this piece are styled as a married couple of either or both male or female gender.]
Five years and many appellate cases later, the Alimony Reform Act (eff. March 1, 2012) (“ARA”) now has some meat on its bones. The more we work with it, however, more scenarios emerge that we had not previously considered; and we wonder if the drafters did either. One aspect we have been pondering is how critical elements of the statute address the scenario where former...
Dispute Resolution Options Made Simple - Video
Monday, March 6, 2017It is important that families in a dispute understand all their options and the benefits of an option like mediation. Working with the Norfolk Probate & Family Court, MCFM developed the following videos to help describe the benefits of resolving disputes through mediation and other forms of dispute resolution:
The following video describes all the options for avoiding court in probate & family disputes and their pros and cons:
For more information on available programs and approved providers click here: A Guide to Court-Connected Alternative Dispute Resolution Services - Note that MCFM is an approved mediation provider in all counties in Massachusetts.
We have also created a short version of this video focusing specifically on...
President’s Letter February 7, 2017
Friday, March 3, 2017Dear Colleagues and Friends:
I am honored to have taken on the Presidency of the MCFM and hope that I can fill the shoes of Fran Whyman. They might be petite and fashionable shoes, but they carried a lot of responsibility and did so with strong and thoughtful steps. I have started my Presidency with gratitude to Fran and the rest of the past and current Board, with enthusiasm for an organization and a field that I love, and with a story.
My mother-in-law, Naomi Billow, turned 102 at the end of November. She is independent and travels alone each November from New York to Florida and back to NYC in May. She lives alone and has taken care of herself since 1970 when her husband, a physician, became ill with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and within a few years had to move to a Veteran’s Administration facility. Naomi visited him faithfully for 7 years before his death. I greatly admire her loyalty, her independence, her competence, her respect for the institution...
