Court Nixes Ex-Judge's Effort to End Alimony After Retirement
Although every situation must be considered based on its own individual facts, at least one retired former judge in Massachusetts will still be expected to continue paying his wife $42,000 a year in alimony.
Voluntary retirement is a factor that can be considered in a petition to reduce alimony, but it doesn’t automatically end the former spouse’s obligation to pay, the state’s top court ruled today in a case brought by Rudolph Pierce, a well-known former federal magistrate and Massachusetts judge. Hence, Pierce, who has earned as much as $570,000 annually in private practice, must continue to ante up to his ex-wife, reports the Boston Globe.
His obligation to his former spouse of 32 years was reduced from $110,000 to $42,000 annually after he voluntarily retired at age 65, the newspaper notes. The couple divorced in 1999.
“Fundamentally, in this case the message is he retired prematurely,” says attorney Anthony Doniger, who represents Pierce. “He’s got to keep working because he’s got to keep paying her, albeit a reduced amount.”
Carneice Pierce needs alimony because she lost her job and is not yet 65, explains the opinion by Associate Justice Ralph Gants.
