Rubin v. Rubin

After six years of marriage, the husband (Merck) brought a complaint for divorce under G. L. c. 208, § IB. The judge entered a temporary order for spousal and child support in an amount which exceeded that provided for in a “separation” agreement signed by the parties a year earlier upon their reconciliation but now challenged by the wife (Mary Lou) as unfair, unreasonable, and the product of coercion and duress. Merek sought relief under the first paragraph of G. L. c. 231, § 118. A single justice of this court entered an order for a separate trial of the “question of the validity and…