A Caregiver Authorization is an alternative to going to court for a guardianship of a minor. It is a form that allows a parent to give a Caregiver the power to make medical and education decisions for a child. A Caregiver is someone the child lives with who is not a parent.

A Caregiver Authorization is different from a Guardianship in a few major ways:

1. It does not give the Caregiver custody of the child, only the right to make decisions.

2. It does not take away any powers from the parents, and the parents retain final decision making authority.

3. A Caregiver Authorization can be revoked by a parent via letter to the caregiver.

A Caregiver Authorization is good for two years or until a parent revokes it.

For more information regarding why you would use a Caregiver Authorization and how to complete it read the Massachusetts Caregiver Instructions provided by the Court.

Click here to obtain the Caregiver Authorization Form.

In Massachusetts, the standard for a no-fault divorce is whether or not you subjectively believe that your marriage is irretrievably broken down with no chance of reconciliation.

If you are separated but believe that there is a chance of reconciliation, then you should not get divorced (and you do not meet the legal standard to do so anyway).

However, if you are separated and you do believe that your marriage is over, then there are some compelling reasons not to wait to get divorced. This four part post will highlight the most compelling of these reasons.

Reason #1 Not to Wait: Cutting Financial Ties

So long as you are married, you have a financial link to your spouse. In Massachusetts any property that you hold either jointly or individually can be considered marital property subject to division by the family court. This means that if you acquire financial assets after your separation your spouse may have a claim to those, even if they didn't pay a dime to help you obtain those assets.

Similarly, if your spouse incurs debt after your separation, you may have some obligation to help pay that debt. This is true even if you had nothing to do with the items purchased.

The Court does not ignore the fact of your separation, and it may have a significant impact on how those post-separation assets or debts are divided. But the separation is only one factor among many that the Court must weigh. This means that until the divorce is filed, you are financially linked to your spouse whether or not you are physically separated (and whether or not you separate your finances).

Read Reason #2: The Ticking Time Bomb.

Casino Billionaire to pay $100,000 per Month in Child Support for Non-Biological Child: As reported in a recent Boston.com Article, Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, the major shareholder of MGM Resorts International, has settled with Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, to whom he was married for only 28 days, to pay over $10 million in child support arrears as well as $100,000 in child support per month. Even more shocking than the figures and the short term of the marriage is the fact that Mr. Kerkorian is not the biological father of the child and was purposefully defrauded by the mother who faked a DNA test.

In Massachusetts, a person who is married within 300 days of the birth of the child to the mother is the legal parent of the child even if they are not the biological parent. This is a presumption that can be overcome with a paternity test. However, even if the paternity test proves that the husband is not the biological father, this does not necessarily mean he is not the legal father. Someone who acts like a parent for a period of time long enough for the child to be attached to them as a parent has certain rights and obligations. The best interest of the child require that a "de-facto" parent continue to be involved in their life (i.e. have custody and visitation rights), and in some cases also pay child support.

Even absent a marriage, if a father signs a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity and is added to the Birth Certificate, then they are presumed to be the Father. After one year passes it becomes almost impossible to undo this legal acknowledgement of parentage. In the case of a faked paternity test or other fraud it might be possible to have a Court undo the acknowledgement even after the one year period. However, in many cases, as was the case with Mr. Kerkorian, the father has now been involved in the child's life and would be considered a "de-facto" parent anyway.

Although, California law may be different than Massachusetts law regarding these types of cases, it is still refreshing to see Mr. Kerkorian willing to pay significant child support and take responsibility for a child that is biologically not his. Of course, this reinforces what we've already learned from so many other non-traditional and adoptive families: You don't have be genetically related to a child to be a good parent.