In Massachusetts it is called “Best interest of the Child Standard” and it is a child centered standard. It is focusing not on the parents needs, but the child’s needs in which a parent or if both parents are best suited to meet the child’s needs. There is not a difference between genders that the […]

In that case, the mother has sole legal and physical custody unless and until the court order provides otherwise. This occurs even if the father has a formally acknowledged paternity.  However, there is no prejudice to father because of this and the courts.

In Massachusetts if the parents are married to each other, both parents share legal and physical custody of the child unless there is another court order.

There is sole legal custody and that is where one parent makes all the decisions regarding the child’s main welfare issues; such as education, medical decisions, religious decisions and the like. Shared legal custody means that both parents are going to work together to make those major decisions listed above. Sole physical custody means that […]

In Massachusetts most of the time Judges in Probate and Family Court determine the custody, parenting time or visitation.  These are involved through divorces, paternity, legal separations and the like. There also can be other exceptions where a 209A or a restraining order in district court might have jurisdiction at least for a time regarding […]

So, if the court does make a determination and supervision of a parent/child visit needs to occur, the courts will try and have the least restrictive options that would be in the children’s best interest.  This can include a family member or friend that either both parties agree to supervise the visit, or that one […]

In Massachusetts you do need to make a written request to the local area DCF office or a copy of the redacted records which means the blacked-out records. You should also keep a copy of the letter with that request in a file in case there is a disagreement.  In addition, if you have a […]

It is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. It is a way in a divorce action to divide retirement accounts in a technical process that avoids penalties that would otherwise exist if the retirement account was divided. You should speak to an attorney about the specifics of this but it is a very good mechanism to […]

How do you Serve Divorce Papers if My Spouse is in Jail? You can have a sheriff or Constable serve them at the prison and there usually is a coordinator to be able to properly serve them.  You will still need to have them properly served whether or not they are in prison or not.

If your Spouse is in Prison, would your Divorce be Contested or Not? It is a similar analysis in Massachusetts to see whether or not your spouse would agree with the divorce as in agreement with things such as child custody, spousal support if any, property division, health insurance and so forth. If you are […]