Can My Spouse Leave Me With Nothing in a Massachusetts Divorce?

For many spouses in Massachusetts, their greatest fear is being left with nothing after a divorce. Perhaps your marriage is on rocky ground, and you are starting to fear the worst. Perhaps you and your spouse are already going through a separation. Maybe your spouse has threatened to leave you with nothing if you ever try to divorce them. So, is this actually possible? Could your spouse really divorce you and leave you with virtually no assets to your name?

You need to get in touch with a qualified, experienced divorce attorney in Massachusetts if you want to approach this situation in an effective manner. With a legal professional at your side, you stand a much better chance of walking away with your fair share. This is especially important if you know that your spouse has already enlisted the help of a qualified attorney to help them with the divorce. When you sit down with your attorney, you will learn that it is unlikely that you will be left with nothing. Here is why:

Understanding Marital and Separate Assets
For a spouse to truly leave you with nothing, they would need to earn no money and accumulate zero assets for the entire duration of the marriage. This is quite unlikely, unless your spouse was already retired or unemployed when you got married. Even then, a retired spouse is likely to have received some kind of income through pensions or other assets.

Any assets accumulated during the marriage are subject to equitable distribution in Massachusetts. This means that they will be divided among the spouses in a fair and equitable manner.

With all that said, it is quite possible that your spouse has significant separate assets. These are assets that were accumulated prior to the marriage. In some cases, the majority of their wealth may be tied up in separate assets. If this is the case, you may not have access to a significant portion of your spouse’s wealth. However, this will not result in you being left with nothing.

Alimony and Child Support
Even if your spouse somehow manages to keep all of the assets after a divorce, you can still receive the necessary funds to move on with your life through other methods. The most obvious of these are alimony and child support. Child support provides you with significant income, although the expectation is that you will spend this money directly on your children.

If you do not have any children, you can rely on alimony. Also known as spousal support, this ensures that you can continue to enjoy the same standard of living you experienced during the marriage. If it is clear that your spouse was the primary breadwinner, it is quite difficult for them
to avoid paying you alimony.

Enlist the Help of a Qualified Attorney Today
If you are concerned about being left with nothing after a divorce, you need the reassurance and the assistance of a qualified divorce attorney. Reach out to the Law Offices of Johnson, Sclafani & Moriarty, and we will explain why this is an unlikely scenario. We will also help you move
forward with your divorce in an effective manner and make sure that you walk away with your fair share. Book your consultation today. Contact us at 413-732-8356