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By Mr. LeDuc of Marlborough, petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1567) of Stephen P. LeDuc relative to the determination of alimony payments. The Judiciary. |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PETITION OF:
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By Mr. LeDuc of Marlborough, petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1567) of Stephen P. LeDuc relative to the determination of alimony payments. The Judiciary. |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PETITION OF:
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In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Chapter 208, Section 34 as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition is hereby amended in the third sentence in lines 12 -29 by striking the words “or in fixing the nature and value of the property, if any, to be so assigned, the court, after hearing the witnesses, if any, of each party, shall consider the length of the marriage, the conduct of the parties during the marriage, the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities and needs of each of the parties and the opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income.” And by inserting in place thereof the following:
“the court shall consider all of the following circumstances:
(a) The extent to which the earning capacity of each party is sufficient to maintain the standard of living established during the marriage, taking into account the marketable skills of whichever party may not exhibit such sufficient earning capacity, together with the time and expense required to further develop such skills or to acquire other, more marketable skills or employment.
(b) The willingness of the supported party to seek the employment counseling and training described in (a).
(c) The goal that the supported party shall be self-supporting within a reasonable period of time. Such reasonable period of time shall be one-half the length of the marriage. The length of the marriage is the period commencing upon the date of the marriage and ending upon the date of separation, deducting therefrom any periods of separation during the marriage. Such reasonable period of time shall not exceed twelve years. except only when: 1) the court finds an uncommon combination of factors within this section necessitating a longer period; to be determined by the court; or 2) the supported party shall have custody (sole physical or joint physical) of one or more children of the marriage not having attained the age of 16 years as of such twelfth year, in which case alimony shall continue until such one or more children have attained such age..
(d) All alimony due for more than five years shall, beginning with the sixth year, decline each year by 10%, except only when: 1) the supported party shall have custody (sole physical or joint physical) of one or more children of the marriage not having attained the age of 16 years; or 2) the court finds the supported party to be incapable, physically or mentally, of any employment.
(e) Except as provided in (d) above, alimony may be increased each year by the same percentage as any increase during the prior year in the Consumer Product Index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, provided that the income, both earned and unearned, of the supporting party has increased by twice such percentage increase in such Index.
(f) The ability of the supporting party to pay alimony, taking into account the supporting party’s earned and unearned income, assets (not producing income), standard of living, and the impact, if any, on such income should the supporting party have custody (sole physical or joint physical) of one or more children of the marriage.
(g) The duration of the marriage.
(h) The age and health of the parties.
(i) The extent, if any, to which the supported party contributed to the attainment by the supporting party of an education, training or license.