Welcome to Our Website

The Massachusetts Family Law Group was established to enable men and women of medium-to-high net worth develop strategies for getting what they want and deserve in their divorces.

The first divorce issue you face is whether or not you need an attorney.  There are three basic routes to getting a divorce:  You can hire an attorney, go through mediation, or do it yourself. A lawyer is important when you have been married for more than one year, your assets have become entangled, there is a family business, or there are children from the marriage.

If you’ve decided to hire a lawyer for your divorce, you should learn about lawyers and fees.  Whether you retain a lawyer or just use them as a coach, there are some questions you’ll want to ask.  These will give you a good idea of the approach the lawyer takes in handling divorce cases.

As family lawyers, our first concern is to avoid the breakup of a marriage if at all possible.  When you come to our offices, the first issue we discuss is whether you are the person who wants the divorce (the “leaver”) or the person who might want the marriage to survive (the “left”).  If you’re the leaver, we ask whether you have really decided on divorce.   If you’re the left, we’ll review with you how you can prevent divorce.  If you decide the marriage is not worth saving, you’ll likely enter into a client-lawyer relationship with your attorney and begin the first steps of a divorce.

Even before the legal divorce begins, pre-divorce planning is essential.  Our clients work from a document checklist, learn why you must plan your divorce, and what to do once you decide to leave.  Some people even ask us how to trace and find hidden assets or whether to hire a forensic expert.

Despite the complaints of a lengthy process, the steps in a Massachusetts divorce are relatively simple and the main issues can be counted on one hand.  They are the initial court appearance and temporary orders, child and spousal support, custody and visitation, property distribution, and whether to settle or go to trial.   

Once the complaint is served, both sides begin discovery relating to issues surrounding a complete inventory of the marital estate, the best interest of the children or the factors from which Massachusetts judges apply the rules of equitable distribution.

As discovery comes to a close, both sides come to the point where settlement discussions may begin.  If an offer is both made and accepted, a settlement agreement is prepared. 

If you can’t settle your case, it goes to trial before a judge.  A word about judges:  Like people, judges range from the superbly competent, wise and fair to quite the opposite.  Unless you absolutely know your judge, or your attorney has had experience with him or her, you are spinning the wheel when you go to trial.  Going to trial should be the last resort but, if you have no choice, there are ways you can help the judge rule in your favor.

Attorneys Irwin Pollack and Gary Avratin are adept at analyzing complex financial situations, such as tax-related divorce issues and weighing the pros and cons of keeping the house. 

Few issues in divorce are as fraught with emotion and anxiety for litigants or freighted with potential peril than the matter of alimony and spousal support.  On a daily basis, Attorney Judith Heller navigates the manner in which each of the 50+ Probate and Family Court judges views the balancing of economic factors.

The attorneys also skillful and sensitive in dealing with the emotions of divorce such as breaking the news to others, dealing with that first week, preparing for a custody battle and even the bad mouthing, bashing and brainwashing from your spouse.

Some say divorce actions rarely ever “end.”  Post-divorce issues relating to modification and enforcement are common.  Frustrating as it might be, we’ll provide you with the zealous and competent legal representation you need so that you can move on to the next stage of your life.

Let’s face it:  Whether you’ve decided to move on with your life or you’re an unwilling participant to a divorce, the entire divorce process stinks – but it doesn’t have to be that way.  The reason we’ve designed this Web site is to provide you with the tools you need to move forward.  The focus is on you:  the problems, issues and opportunities you face in your divorce.

You can click any link on this page to find out more about our firm, practice areas or why clients hire us.  Our family attorneys handle divorce cases in Dedham, while our Boston divorce lawyers target the more specialized divorce cases in Andover, Worcester or Plymouth/Cape Cod.

The Massachusetts Family Law Group focuses its family practice on issues relating to alimony, business valuation, child custody, child support, depositions, discovery, divorce, domestic abuse, domestic relations, estate planning, father’s rights, financial statements, Jewish divorce, lawyer’s divorce, modification orders, mother’s rights, name changes, parenting plans, premarital agreements, prenuptial agreements, protective orders,  same-sex divorce, separation, specialized divorces, spousal support, temporary orders, trial, and visitation.  Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation or call (781) 461-9800.