Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts
Alimony Now
If a mediator tells the woman that she is not entitled to alimony after being married to 14 years and waves that alimony when she was entitled to it. Can she get it 6 years later with a chnage of circumstances now being disabled?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Alimony Now
yes
Re: Alimony Now
She can file a complaint for modification and if the court finds a material change in circumstances that require a grant of alimony anything is possible. Good Luck!
Re: Alimony Now
If the woman is a public charge, the waiver can be defeated.
The mediator most likely stated that alimony was not likely to be awarded after only 14 years, not that the woman was not entitled (certainly this is what I would have said in a mediation). Parties need not waive alimony in any case, but can be financially compensated for doing so. After a trial, a judge cannot order a "surviving" ("permanent") alimony waiver, so no one need ever agree to such a thing, even through mediation.
It is customary to waive alimony for short-term marriages (i.e., those shorter than 10 years), but by no means mandated. However, even that custom is circumstantial.
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