W. Sanford Durland III

At Warner, Federico & Ryan LLP in Boston, Massachusetts, attorney W. Sanford Durland III delves deeply into domestic relations, family law, and probate and equity litigation, both at trial and on appeal. His journey through the legal landscape includes navigating and advocating in pivotal appellate cases, which include cases which have interpreted the Alimony Reform Act, calculating income for child support, assessing percentage-based alimony, the attribution of income, valuing businesses, managing pass-through/K-1 income, dividing inherited and family-based assets, tackling alimony-related tax issues and unraveling the complexities of the law pertaining to the division of pensions. 

Mr. Durland's academic path began with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1983, followed by a Juris Doctor from the Northeastern University School of Law in 1987. That same year, he earned his Massachusetts law license. Among his notable cases include those which interpreted the Alimony Reform Act (such as Chin vs. Merriot, Holmes vs. Holmes, Young vs. Young, and Dolan vs. Dolan), dividing private and federal pension interests (Cerbone vs. Cerbone), dividing inherited assets (Jones vs. Jones), child support income determinations (Wasson vs. Wasson), percentage-based alimony orders (Wooters vs. Wooters) and income attribution (C.D.L. vs. M.M.L.).

Beyond the courtroom, Mr. Durland has contributed to various legal works, including “Defending Accounts,” Equity Actions in the Probate Court (MCLE), and chapters on “Pre-Trial Hearings” and “Financial Statement” in the Divorce Law Practice Manual (MCLE). His insights have been included in articles for the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations and Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly. He has lectured and shared his knowledge on topics such as the Alimony Reform Act, child support, custody and parenting plans, equitable property division, and the latest in divorce and family law.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Durland was a partner at a niche family law practice in Boston and earlier served as a legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a member of the Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association and is on the panel of court-appointed conciliators through the Essex County Bar Association. The quality of his legal prowess is reflected in a "Superb" rating on Avvo and an AV Preeminent* peer-review rating through Martindale-Hubbell.

*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer-review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.