In practice the vast majority of times the courts do grant a Motion to Dismiss is if the Department seeks it and all parties agree. However, the court does have discretion and can make the parties go forward at trial. I have had that occur a couple of times in my practice; although if DCF […]
22
Feb
There is something that is called a Lampron-Dwyer Protocol you have to file and do a service of a motion. It is under the Mass Rules of Criminal Procedure 17. The idea is if there is a 3rd party record that you are seeking, there are some requirements that need to occur which you can […]
18
Feb
In Massachusetts children are considered to be incompetent legally, meaning making a decision such as whether or not to waive their Therapist Patient Privilege. A GAL would be appointed to not just ask the child what his/her position is, but to substitute their judgment for the child to determine whether or not it would be […]
15
Feb
You need to check with the court and the procedures with the court but usually the answer is yes. You can have a hearing to have some of the conditions amended or changed. A lot of the time those can be conditions regarding a child or children. Other times it can be something as simple […]
11
Feb
In Massachusetts if you decide to hire a new attorney, typically what happens is that new attorney files something called a “Notice of Appearance” providing that to your prior attorney and that attorney would file a “Notice of Withdrawal”. I would send all the relevant paperwork in your file to your new attorney. So, you […]
08
Feb
In general, the cases that I have had have all have been by video conferencing similar to Zoom where you receive a link and are able to have the hearing. Everything is certainly subject to change, but the cases that I have had, have not appeared that they are having in-person hearings for Fair Hearing […]
07
Feb
Who Gets Fido or Kitty? I recently had a case involving a contentious dispute over the custody of a dog and a cat. After coming close to going to trial, we were finally able to resolve the matter between the two parties through negotiation.
02
Feb
The best practice is simply not to stop parenting time on your own unless it is an emergency, but to file what is called a “Complaint for Modification” explaining the circumstances of the risks. You can always file an Emergency Motion along with that and an Affidavit as well. It can be particularly persuasive if […]
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