Massachusetts Divorce Paper Options

People, when they come in to get a divorce, often find the process of getting their spouse served as hostile and I’m often asked how that can be avoided. They don’t want to embarrass their spouse at work or in front of other people or in front of the children. So sometimes what we do is it’s called ‘acceptance of service’ and I would mail the summons issued by the court to hear spouse. They would go to a notary public, have it notarized, signed and then return it to me.  The only caveat to the process is that in Massachusetts, there are terms that come into effect once service is effectuated. Those terms are in automatic restraining order. The automatic restraining order is an order that is automatically in the divorce process once this served and what it prevents is what I like to think of as ‘one spouse doing nasty things to the other spouse’ like cancelling health insurance, cancelling life insurance, cancelling utilities, drawing all of the money out of the bank and putting it in their own name. So if you think that your spouse is capable of that, often I just prefer to serve because then the constable notes the exact time to the minute that they were served so if they go to the bank 10 minutes later, that can be proven.

This informational blog post was provided by Cynthia Hanley, an experienced Massachusetts Divorce Lawyer.