The law does allow options for parties to a divorce to potentially change the terms — or enforce them. Once the process begins to modify a divorce judgment in Massachusetts, there would probably only be a few courses of action available that would keep you out of court.
However, you could be able to forestall or completely prevent the other party from contesting the agreement. This often requires a long-term strategy, using collaboration and mediation during the initial divorce proceedings to maintain balance and promote harmony after everything is said and done.
The risks you face in terms of divorce modification are relatively clear in most cases. Typically, changes center around just a handful of terms in divorce agreements. If you can reach satisfactory agreements regarding these key stress points, it is likely that your finalized divorce will be final enough to keep you out of court for the foreseeable future.
FindLaw provides an article about changing a divorce settlement, identifying the main problem topics. Specifically, there are three areas that constitute the most common divorce contest subjects:
- Spousal support
- Child support
- Child custody
Actions often have to do with modifying the amount of support payments or enforcing the agreement in order to make one party or the other pay the agreed-upon amount.
In order for you to keep both yourself and your former spouse out of contempt of a divorce agreement, you may want to focus on mediation and collaboration during the initial process. This could help you understand the capacity of your spouse to comply with the proposed terms of your agreement and give you an opportunity to state your own limits in a constructive environment.
Sometimes, situations might arise that nobody predicted during your divorce. Modifications arising from these emergencies are rare, but they do exist. Please do not read this as legal advice. It is meant to educate.