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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2958 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1679
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Patricia A. Duffy
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to protect survivors of spousal abuse from alimony liability.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Patricia A. Duffy5th Hampden1/16/2025Jacob R. OliveiraHampden, Hampshire and Worcester2/12/2025 1 of 5
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2958 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1679
By Representative Duffy of Holyoke, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1679) of
Patricia A. Duffy and Jacob R. Oliveira for legislation to protect survivors of spousal abuse from
alimony liability. The Judiciary.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act to protect survivors of spousal abuse from alimony liability.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. The following words as used in this section shall, unless the context
2otherwise requires, have the following meanings:
3 “Abuse”, as defined in section 1 of chapter 209A including but not limited to attempting
4to cause or causing physical harm, placing a spouse in fear of imminent serious physical harm,
5and causing a spouse to engage involuntarily in sexual relations by force, threat or duress.,
6 “Abusive Spouse”, a spouse with a conviction of abuse including attempts to and cause
7physical harm including causing a spouse to engage involuntarily in sexual relations by force,
8threat or duress., and in violation of section 7 of chapter 209 and sections 34C and 34D of
9chapter 208
10 “Alimony”, the payment of support from a spouse, who has the ability to pay, to a spouse
11in need of support for a reasonable length of time, under a court order unless the spouse has a
12conviction of abuse. 2 of 5
13 SECTION 2. Chapter 208 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official
14Edition, is hereby amended by adding at the end the sixth paragraph of Section 1B the
15following:- “The court shall decline alimony because of a spouse’s conviction of abuse including
16attempts at causing physical harm and serious physical harm as a reason to decline alimony”.
17 Section 17 of chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding at the end of the first paragraph:-
18“The court shall decline alimony to a spouse with a conviction of abuse.”
19 Section 31A of said chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding at the end of the 3rd
20paragraph, the following:- “Provided further, that the underlying facts are evidence by the court
21to deny alimony to a spouse with a conviction of abuse”.
22 Section 34 of said chapter is hereby amended at the end of the section by adding the
23following words:- “The court shall decline alimony to a spouse with a conviction of abuse”.
24 Section 34A of chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding after the second paragraph, the
25following words:- “A court shall consider a spouse’s conviction of abuse including attempts at
26causing physical harm and serious physical harm and causing a spouse to engage involuntarily in
27sexual relations by force, threat or duress as a reason to decline alimony”.
28 Section 35 of said chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding at the end of the paragraph
29the following words:- “; provided, however, that a court shall deny alimony to a spouse if they
30have a conviction of abuse”.
31 Section 3 of chapter 209A is hereby amended by adding at the end the following
32subsection:- “(j) The court shall deny any future petition for alimony to the spouse with a
33conviction of abuse”. 3 of 5
34 Section 3B of said chapter is hereby amended by adding at the end of the last paragraph
35the following words:- “The court shall deny any future petition for alimony to the spouse with a
36conviction of abuse”.
37 Section 7 of said chapter is further amended by adding at the end the following words:-
38“The court shall deny any future petition for alimony to the spouse with a conviction of abuse”.
39 SECTION 3. Section 36A of chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding the following
40subsection:- “(8) A spouse who has previously paid alimony to a spouse with a conviction of
41abuse is permitted to file a petition with the court to terminate alimony. The court may
42reconsider previous alimony contracts and in the case of domestic conviction by a spouse,
43terminate the alimony and contract”.
44 Section 37 of said chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding the fourth paragraph:- “if
45there is a conviction of abuse, the court shall terminate alimony to the spouse”.
46 SECTION 4. Section 49 of chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding the following
47subsection (i):- “General term alimony to an abusive spouse shall terminate if the spouse has a
48conviction of abuse”.
49 Section 50 of said chapter is further amended by adding the following subsection:- (d)
50“Rehabilitative alimony to an abusive spouse shall terminate if the spouse has a conviction of
51abuse”.
52 Section 51 of said chapter is further amended by adding subsection:- (d) “Reimbursement
53alimony shall terminate if an abusive spouse has a conviction of abuse” 4 of 5
54 Section 52 of said chapter is further amended by adding at the end of subsection (b) the
55following words:- “; provided, however, that the court shall terminate transitional alimony if a
56spouse is convicted of abuse”
57 Section 53 of chapter 208 is hereby amended by adding at the end of subsection (a) the
58following words:- “The court shall deny alimony to a spouse with a conviction of abuse”
59 Section 54 of said chapter is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:- “(c)
60The court shall terminate alimony to a spouse with a conviction of abuse”.
61 Section 55 is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:- “(d) The court shall
62terminate alimony to a spouse with a conviction of abuse”.
63 SECTION 5. Section 40 of section 209A of the General Laws is hereby repealed.
64 Section 3 of chapter 209A is hereby amended by striking out the following words: “shall
65not in and of itself constitute a pattern or serious incident of abuse; nor shall an order or orders
66entered ex parte under said chapter 209A be admissible to show whether a pattern or serious
67incident of abuse has in fact occurred”.
68 Section 31A of chapter 208 is hereby amended by striking out the following words:-
69“shall not in and of itself constitute a pattern or serious incident of abuse; nor shall an order or
70orders entered ex parte under said chapter 209A be admissible to show whether a pattern or
71serious incident of abuse has in fact occurred”.
72 Section 7 of chapter 209A and sections 17 and 34 of chapter 208 are hereby amended by
73striking out the word “him”, each time it appears, and inserting in place thereof the word:-
74“party”. 5 of 5
75 SECTION 6. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect the right of the parties to a
76hearing under the rules of domestic relations procedure or to affect the discretion of the probate.