Massachusetts Divorce Law...

Massachusetts Law - The Home

The court may require that the home not be sold until the children have left.

In dividing the interests in the home, the court may consider if one party's pre-maritally-earned cash helped finance the purchase, but this will not necessarily be a deciding factor.

Cases:

Tatar v.Schuker (1991) 580 NE2d 1050 (The court transferred the marital home, worth over $1 million, to the wife. To balance that somewhat, the wife was to pay the husband $240,000, with six percent interest, all payable when the home was sold. The court said that the husband could not force a sale of the home until the children, ages 2 and 5, had left the home. This was the result even though the wife had $162,000 of securities. The court observed that the wife had debts of $101,000, and she had the mortgage to pay as well.)

Pare (1991) 565 NE2d 1195 (The court concluded that the lower court had erred in awarding the wife only 25% of the proceeds of the home upon the sale. Joint funds had been used to purchase the home. The wife had moved out with the daughter, and the husband had paid the mortgage and taxes for the next 3 1/2 years. Meanwhile, the wife had cared for the child alone and paid her own rent. The court concluded that the wife should have received more than 25% of the proceeds of the home upon the sale.)

Willis (1989) 538 NE2d 62 (If the hearing on the division of the home occurs at a date after the divorce, and the value of the home has gone up, due solely to market forces and not to efforts of either party, then the court should use the later date to value the home. In this case, the home's value had gone from $55,000 to $115,000 due to market forces.)

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