F&F: Massachusetts Judge Errs on Alimony and Child Support

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently vacated alimony and child support components of a judgment because the Probate and Family Court judge made a number of errors. The case should warrant reduced alimony and child support obligations in other cases with similar facts.

In Zeghibe v. Zeghibe, Mass. App. Docket No. 11-P-860, (Oct. 11, 2012), a family court judge awarded a divorced father physical custody of one of his two children and ordered him to pay alimony in the amount of $405 a week. The judge also ordered the wife to pay him child support in the amount of $170 a week.
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The Appeals Court noted that “[u]pon divorce, it is not uncommon, and often reasonable or necessary, for a party to use (or to change the form of) assets assigned to him or her for various purposes in starting anew . . . . [i]n this case, we think it is strained to characterize the husband’s actions as resulting in a ‘reward’ to him.” Accordingly, the Appeals Court set aside the modification and sent the case back to the Probate and Family Court for new calculations.'