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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3423 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4046 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Adrianne Pusateri Ramos |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to establishing a special commission to study alimony. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex1/17/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3423 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4046 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Ramos of North Andover, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 4046) |
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| 19 | 19 | | of Adrianne Pusateri Ramos for an investigation by a special commission (including members of |
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| 20 | 20 | | the General Court) relative to the alimony system. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to establishing a special commission to study alimony. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to |
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| 28 | 28 | | establish a special commission to study the alimony system in the commonwealth, therefore it is |
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| 29 | 29 | | hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public |
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| 30 | 30 | | convenience. |
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| 31 | 31 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 32 | 32 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 33 | 33 | | 1 (a) There shall be established, pursuant to section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws, a |
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| 34 | 34 | | 2special commission to study alimony and recommend any improvements to the alimony system |
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| 35 | 35 | | 3in the commonwealth. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 4 (b) The special commission shall be comprised of the following members: the chairs of |
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| 37 | 37 | | 5the joint committee on the judiciary, who shall serve as co-chairs; 1 member appointed by the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 6speaker of the house of representatives; 1 member appointed by the minority leader of the house |
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| 39 | 39 | | 7of representatives; 1 member appointed by the president of the senate; 1 member appointed by |
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| 40 | 40 | | 8the minority leader of the senate; 1 member appointed by the chief justice of the probate and |
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| 41 | 41 | | 9family court; 1 member appointed by the Massachusetts Bar Association, who shall have 2 of 2 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 10expertise in family law and alimony; and 1 member appointed by the Massachusetts Legal |
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| 43 | 43 | | 11Assistance Corporation, who shall have expertise in family law and alimony. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 12 (c) The study shall include, but not be limited to: (i) statewide trends in alimony awards |
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| 45 | 45 | | 13over time, including determining what percentage of alimony awards constitutes each time of |
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| 46 | 46 | | 14alimony and how often courts grant requests for modifications of alimony; (ii) a review of the |
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| 47 | 47 | | 15formula used for determining alimony in the commonwealth, including a tax analysis of the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 16current formula; (iii) analysis on the economic implications of alimony on families in the |
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| 49 | 49 | | 17commonwealth; (iv) comparison of Massachusetts alimony laws with alimony laws in other |
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| 50 | 50 | | 18states, including trends pertaining to alimony; (v) analysis of the interplay between alimony and |
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| 51 | 51 | | 19child support; (vi) court enforcement of alimony, particularly with regard to whether and how |
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| 52 | 52 | | 20enforcement differs from enforcement of child support; (vii) the uniformity of the application of |
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| 53 | 53 | | 21alimony laws among counties in the commonwealth; and (viii) any recommendations on changes |
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| 54 | 54 | | 22to the alimony system in the commonwealth. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 23 (d) The commission shall prepare a report detailing the results of the study, along with |
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| 56 | 56 | | 24any recommendations and any proposed standards and legislation necessary to carry out its |
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| 57 | 57 | | 25recommendations. The report shall be submitted to the: (i) joint committee on the judiciary; and |
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| 58 | 58 | | 26(ii) clerks of the house of representatives and senate not later than December 31, 2026. |
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