Author Archives: Estela Matta, Attorney & Counselor at Law

Domestic Violence Is The Most Common Killer Of Women Around The World

https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/domestic-violence-most-common-killer-of-women-united-nations_n_5bfbf61ee4b0eb6d931142ac?fbclid=IwAR3ZSUs2zxRsP5lxcofP3CfkYRv3uG5sOtz-4Zjc_HNOIQnPdFzg6_0ufQ0   The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the “Global Study on Homicide: Gender-related Killing of Women and Girls” on Sunday to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The report analyzed the violence perpetrated against women worldwide in 2017, looking at intimate partner violence and family-related killings such as […]

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-23/ice-shut-down-a-hotline-for-detained-immigrants-after-it-was-featured-on-orange-is-the-new-black?fbclid=IwAR1AtZC453zroy41218deO_4WSvJXZuf3ClAtNaU4jRN3G9wsFpCwTTiyso Family separation policies are affecting thousands of lives on our southern border.  Both citizens and refugees are being torn by emotional and economic distress.  Exacerbating matters further, ICE just shut down the 1-800 free access to legal counsel line in detention centers.

Conflicts With Court Ordered Parenting Time

It is frequently asked by parents living under parenting schedules ordered by the Court, what can they do to get the other parent to be more cooperative in last minute or long term plans that conflict with the parenting schedule. Frankly, there are not that many options.  A parent has the right to go to […]

SEPARATION v. DIVORCE

Dissolution of a marriage can only happen through a divorce decree issued by a Court of competent jurisdiction. However, many states issue “legal separation”, “conversion divorce”or “separate support” judgments– which fall short of a divorce but still address certain marital situations. A legal separation and separate support are types of applications to the court to recognize that […]

Can I Protect My Pension From My Soon-to-be Ex?

MA adopts the position that ALL assets of the parties (individual and marital) are put on the table for distribution at time of divorce. Many states honor “separate property” doctrine at time of divorce–that is property the parties’ owned before marriage or in their name only — but MA does not.  So, any pension in […]

If giving up custody of my two children to my husband can I go back in several years and try to get custody?

Let me correct you about certain assumptions your question seems to be making: In today’s environment, “fault” is not necessary to prove against the other spouse to get a divorce. In other words, infidelity, cruelty, abandonment etc., does not have to be plead or proved to get a divorce, and frankly most lawyers do not […]