How to File for Divorce in Massachusetts
The procedure for filing for divorce in Massachusetts varies slightly depending on whether your case is contested or uncontested. This determines what documents are filed with the court and what steps must be taken afterward. However, once your divorce is filed and the process is begun, a contested matter can become uncontested with a settlement agreement and a uncontested divorce can become contested if either spouse decides prior to the final hearing that he or she doesn’t agree with the terms after all.
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Instructions
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Establish residency. If you’ve already done this if you and your spouse lived in Massachusetts while you were married or if you live there at the time you file for divorce, then the reason you’re breaking up also happened there. Otherwise, you would have to live in the state for a period of one year before you can file.
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Choose your grounds. Seven fault grounds in Massachusetts if you’re filing for a contested divorce. These range from cruelty and abuse to adultery and include desertion, impotency and substance abuse. The no-fault ground is called “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage."
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File a complaint or petition with the Probate and Family Court in the county where you live, where your spouse lives or where you last lived together as a couple. Forms are available at every county courthouse and online. If you and your spouse have figured out how you want to divide any joint property and debt and you either have no children or have also decided how you’re going to handle issues of child support, custody and visitation, then your matter is considered to be uncontested. You would file a Joint Petition for Divorce on the no-fault ground. Otherwise, your matter is contested and you would file a Complaint for Divorce. In either case, you’ll also need to supply the court clerk with a certified copy of your marriage license.
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File any additional documents that may also be required depending on the particulars of your case. These could include an Affidavit of Indigency if you can’t afford the filing fee. As of 2010, it is $220 for a Complaint for Divorce and $215 for a Joint Petition for Divorce. The court clerk will give you a Domestic Relations Summons. In an uncontested matter where you are filing a Joint Petition for Divorce, you will also need to sign an Affidavit of Irretrievable Breakdown attesting that there is no fault ground, and you may be asked to submit a Separation Agreement stating the terms of your agreement regarding property, support and any children.
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Serve your spouse with a copy of the Summons and your Complaint for Divorce if you’ve filed for a contested divorce. You cannot do this yourself in Massachusetts. You must pay the county sheriff or constable to do it for you. The cost is generally around $30. If you’ve filed a Joint Petition for Divorce because your matter is uncontested, then it’s only necessary that both you and your spouse sign it.
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Tips & Warnings
Regardless of whether your matter is contested or uncontested, Massachusetts requires all divorcing parents to attend Parental Education classes. If you don’t, your divorce will not be granted.
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