Section 45. If a divorce is granted for a cause constituting a crime, committed within the commonwealth and within the time provided by law for making complaints and finding indictments therefor, the court granting the divorce may, in its discretion, cause notice of such facts to be given by the clerk of the court or register of probate to the district attorney for the district where such crime was committed, with a list of the witnesses proving such crime and any other information which it considers proper and thereupon the district attorney may cause complaint therefor to be made before a magistrate having jurisdiction thereof, or may present the evidence thereof to the grand jury.

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 208 sec. 45

  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 208 Contents