Alimony and child support concerns

Being a parent who is going through a divorce tends to make the divorce process more difficult. Not only do Massachusetts parents have to worry about themselves and their own interests, but they must also worry about the best interests of their children. This can create conflict, stress and passionate disagreements that are difficult to resolve.

At the Law Offices of Johnson, Sclafani & Moriarty, we have helped numerous Massachusetts parents in cases that involve questions of child support and alimony. Usually, regardless of which side of the alimony and child support debate you happen to be on, the biggest questions on a parent's mind involve how much money the support payments will be and whether or not the arrangements will be in children's best interests.

In order to make a determination on the size of child support, courts will review the economic situation of both parents by looking at their personal assets, property and income levels. If one parent is shown to be at an economic level that is considerably lower than the other parent, then courts may award that parent with a certain amount of alimony and/or child support allotments. The overall purpose of these payments is to make sure that both the ex-spouse and the children are able to maintain similar qualities of life following the divorce.

In most cases, alimony and child support payments are temporary arrangements, but they could last for any number of years. Child support is typically paid until the children reach the age of 18, but other types of payment arrangements might also be made and agreed to in a divorce agreement. Alimony payments tend to be longer, depending on the number of years the couple was married.