As gamblor956 has also pointed out, it's very jurisdiction- and time-dependent. This was Massachusetts in 1999. It might well have changed here since then, and/

As gamblor956 has also pointed out, it's very jurisdiction- and time-dependent. This was Massachusetts in 1999. It might well have changed here since then, and/or always been different other places. If I were in a similar situation again, I'd have a lawyer check things out all over again to account for such differences.