§ 1 Married persons; separate property and property held as tenants by entirety; liability for debts
§ 1A Tenants by entirety under older deed; electing treatment of tenancy
§ 2 Married woman; power to contract
§ 3 Transfers between husband and wife
§ 4 Married woman; work and labor; presumption
§ 5 Married woman; acting as fiduciary
§ 6 Married woman; power to sue and be sued
§ 7 Married woman; liabilities
§ 8 Husband; liability for wife’s debts
§ 9 Husband; liability on contracts concerning separate property of wife
§ 13 Marriage settlements
§ 14 Disability of husband or wife provisions; release of homestead by wife of ward
§ 15 Disability of husband or wife provisions; wife of ward; joinder with guardian or conservator; sale of realty
§ 16 Disability of husband or wife provisions; disposition of proceeds
§ 17 Disability of husband or wife provisions; partition; joinder of husband or wife of ward with guardian or conservator
§ 18 Mentally ill persons; conveyance or mortgage of real estate; release of homestead
§ 21 Mentally ill spouse; reservation of portion of proceeds upon release of homestead
§ 24 Disability of husband or wife provisions; venue
§ 25 Antenuptial settlements; force and effect
§ 26 Antenuptial settlements; record; description of property
§ 28 Rights of married person coming from another state or country
§ 29 Property rights acquired in other states; effect of residence in this commonwealth
§ 30 Married person abandoned by spouse; sale or conveyance; notice to opposing absent spouse; jurisdiction of court; proof of abandonment; retransfer to opposing absent party
§ 31 Non-resident married woman abandoned by husband; conveyance of realty
§ 32 Married person abandoned by spouse; order prohibiting restraint of personal liberty of spouse; support, custody and maintenance orders; information provided to complainant; domestic violence record search; investigations; factors determining support amoun
§ 32D Judgment for separate support; conveyance of real property; enforcement; vesting of title
§ 32E Judgment or order of support; enforcement
§ 32F Married persons living apart; actions for support
§ 33 Separate support or maintenance; attachment of defendant’s property and trustee process
§ 34 Married person abandoned by spouse; venue
§ 36 Married person abandoned by spouse; spouse living apart; conveyance and will
§ 37 Support orders for children of separated parents; child support guidelines; modification of orders; provisions for education and health insurance; parents convicted of first degree murder
§ 38 Visitation and custody orders; consideration of abuse toward parent or child; best interest of child

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws > Chapter 209 - Husband and Wife

  • Administratrix: The female counterpart of an administrator. See also
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Dower: A widow
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • 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.
  • Executrix: The female counterpart of an executor. See also
  • Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
  • 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.
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.