When marriages end in Massachusetts, financial responsibility for divorce proceedings typically falls to each party. Put simply, you pay your way through the process – lawyer fees, paperwork costs, the whole nine yards.
That said, it’s not always cut and dry. Life rarely is.
Sometimes couples work it out between themselves. Maybe they split everything 50-50, or they figure out what’s fair based on who makes what. It’s really up to them if they can reach an understanding.
The courts can step in too. Say one person’s barely making ends meet while their spouse is doing pretty well financially – a judge might tell the better-off spouse to help foot the bill. That makes sense, right? Everyone deserves proper legal representation.
Here’s an interesting wrinkle: if someone’s actions directly led to the marriage falling apart – think cheating or domestic violence – the court occasionally makes them pay the other person’s legal costs. Kind of like making them clean up their own mess, so to speak.
Worth noting: Massachusetts doesn’t require anyone to prove fault to get divorced. Still, having one person responsible for the split can influence who pays what in terms of legal expenses.
You get the picture – while the default is “pay your own way,” real life has a way of complicating things.
