Massachusetts

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 75 out of 100

Massachusetts judges may divide everything either spouse owns, including property owned before the marriage or inherited, and must weigh conduct during the marriage in doing so. Alimony is the opposite: since the 2011 Alimony Reform Act the amount is capped at 30 to 35 percent of the income gap and the length is limited by the length of the marriage unless the judge makes written findings. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Massachusetts ranks 25 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	20 / 20	The court may assign to either spouse ‘all or any part of the estate of the other’ after weighing listed factors, with no presumption of equal division and no exclusion for property owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 208, § 34
Alimony	0 / 20	Except for reimbursement alimony, alimony should generally not exceed the recipient’s need or 30 to 35 percent of the difference in gross incomes; general term alimony for marriages of 20 years or less ends within 50 to 80 percent of the months married and ends at the payor’s full retirement age, and rehabilitative alimony is capped at 5 years, with deviation only on written findings. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 208, §§ 49(b), 49(f), 50(b), 53(b), 53(e)
Fault	15 / 20	The court must consider ‘the conduct of the parties during the marriage’ in dividing property, while the alimony factors omit conduct and name only a party’s inability to support themself because of abuse by the payor as a deviation ground, plus a catch-all for other relevant factors. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 208, §§ 34, 53(a), 53(e)(7), 53(e)(9)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	In any proceeding under the divorce chapter the court may, in its discretion, award costs and expenses to either party. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 208, § 38
Second opinion	20 / 20	No rule was found that lets a divorce party remove the assigned Probate and Family Court judge without cause, and property and alimony are tried to the judge without a jury. None located (not yet checked against the source)

Getting in

A 3-day wait. Both partners file a notice of intention together, under oath, with the clerk of any city or town. The clerk issues the certificate on or after the third day, counting Sundays and holidays, and it lasts 60 days from filing. A probate or district judge may waive the wait after a hearing, and a clerk may act at once when a party’s death is imminent.
G.L. c. 207, §§ 19, 20, 28, 30; G.L. c. 262, § 34; G.L. c. 40, § 22F

Who can marry you. Resident ordained ministers in good standing, rabbis, cantors, imams, Buddhist clergy, certain other named leaders, and designated justices of the peace may officiate. A Friends or Quaker meeting may marry a couple with no officiant. The governor may authorize any other person for one named marriage. The statute does not address online or mail-order ordination; a church outside the list must file its usages with the state.
G.L. c. 207, §§ 38, 39

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot form a common-law marriage in Massachusetts, whatever the length of the relationship. Massachusetts courts do honor a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that allowed it. A separate statute voids a marriage made elsewhere by Massachusetts residents who were barred from marrying at home.
Collins v. Guggenheim, 417 Mass. 615 (1994); Boltz v. Boltz, 325 Mass. 726 (1950); G.L. c. 207, § 10

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Massachusetts is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Massachusetts has no separate-property category. A judge may assign to either spouse all or any part of the other’s estate, whenever and however acquired, including premarital and inherited property and its growth. The estate is usually fixed as of the divorce trial, though the judge may choose another date.
G.L. c. 208, § 34; Rice v. Rice, 372 Mass. 398 (1977); Moriarty v. Stone, 41 Mass. App. Ct. 151 (1996)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

A judge can reach it either way. An inheritance can be divided in Massachusetts whether or not it touches a joint account, because a judge may assign any property a spouse holds. A judge may also leave an inheritance with the spouse who received it after weighing its source and each spouse’s contribution. Keeping it apart can count as a factor but does not protect it.
G.L. c. 208, § 34; Williams v. Massa, 431 Mass. 619 (2000); Rice v. Rice, 372 Mass. 398 (1977)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Both of you can be liable from the first dollar. By statute both spouses are liable jointly or severally for debts incurred for necessaries furnished to either spouse or to a member of their family.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209, § 1

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

A surviving spouse who waives the will takes one-third of the personal and real property if the decedent left issue, or $25,000 plus one-half of the remainder if the decedent left kindred but no issue, but anything above $25,000 is held only for the survivor’s life (income only, with personal property in trust); the share is computed on the probate estate, extended by case law to revocable inter vivos trusts created or amended after January 23, 1984 over which the decedent alone kept a general power of appointment.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 191, § 15; Sullivan v. Burkin, 390 Mass. 864 (1984)

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

Two looks, under case law only (Osborne 1981; DeMatteo 2002); G.L. c. 209, §§ 25-26 govern property settlements. An agreement is valid if it was fair and reasonable at execution, made with full disclosure or independent knowledge, and with a knowing waiver; at divorce the judge takes a second look and may refuse enforcement only if, because of circumstances arising during the marriage, enforcement would leave the contesting spouse without sufficient property, maintenance, or appropriate employment for self-support. Postnuptial (marital) agreements are enforceable after careful scrutiny: an opportunity for separate counsel, no fraud or coercion, full disclosure, a knowing written waiver, and terms fair and reasonable both at execution and at divorce.
DeMatteo v. DeMatteo, 436 Mass. 18 (2002); Osborne v. Osborne, 384 Mass. 591 (1981); Ansin v. Craven-Ansin, 457 Mass. 283 (2010)

What an agreement needs. The agreement must be a written contract (G.L. c. 209, § 25); no notarization, witnesses, waiting period or counsel is required between the parties, but to bind creditors and third parties it needs an annexed property schedule and recording in the registry of deeds before or within 90 days after the marriage (§ 26). Case law requires full disclosure or independent knowledge of the other’s worth, and alimony waivers stay subject to the second-look rule (the SJC’s example is a spouse who is or will become a public charge).
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209, §§ 25-26; DeMatteo v. DeMatteo, 436 Mass. 18 (2002)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. Support is set from both parents’ combined income and each parent’s share. A court may extend it to 21 for a child living at home and dependent on a parent, and to 23 for an undergraduate program. A judge may order a college contribution, which is not presumed and is limited to half of UMass Amherst’s in-state cost unless written findings show ability to pay more.
G.L. c. 208, § 28; Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines (effective Dec. 1, 2025), §§ II.F, II.G

Moving away with a child. A divorced parent cannot take a child born in Massachusetts, or there five years, out of state without both parents’ consent or a court order; an older child’s own consent can count. A parent with sole physical custody must show a real advantage from the move and then the child’s best interests. With shared physical custody, the judge applies best interests alone.
G.L. c. 208, § 30; Yannas v. Frondistou-Yannas, 395 Mass. 704 (1985); Mason v. Coleman, 447 Mass. 177 (2006); Miller v. Miller, 478 Mass. 642 (2018)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: one year. If the cause arose outside Massachusetts and the couple never lived together there, the filing spouse must have lived in the state one year. No set period applies if the filer is domiciled there and the cause, including an irretrievable breakdown, arose there. Either way, a spouse who moved to Massachusetts in order to divorce cannot file. The place of marriage does not matter.
G.L. c. 208, §§ 4, 5; Caffyn v. Caffyn, 441 Mass. 487 (2004)

How long it takes. One spouse can file alone on irretrievable breakdown, with no separation period and no proof of fault. The hearing cannot happen until 6 months after filing, and the divorce becomes final 90 days after the judgment nisi. A joint petition moves faster: judgment nisi 30 days after the agreement’s approval, then the same 90 days. Fault grounds remain available.
G.L. c. 208, §§ 1, 1A, 1B, 21; Caffyn v. Caffyn, 441 Mass. 487 (2004)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 635 days from arrival to a final decree (365 days of residence + 180 before hearing + 90 before the decree is final). Courts often take longer.

If you moved here from another state

A move made to get a divorce doesn’t count. A court here can’t grant a divorce if it appears the plaintiff moved here for the purpose of obtaining one. If the grounds arose elsewhere, the plaintiff must have lived here for the year before filing.
G.L. c. 208, § 5

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Massachusetts and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Massachusetts lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Massachusetts” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.