Who can get a Restraining Order (209A) Order in Massachusetts? The Judge can only issue a restraining order where the Plaintiff and the Defendant were married to one another; where they are living together; live in the same household; they are related by blood or marriage; have a child together; have been in a substantive […]

An emergency Restraining Order is issued by a Judge for up to 10 days. The Order is issued after what is called an “Ex-Parte” or where only one side is present, the Plaintiff or person seeking the Order. The Plaintiff or the person that is seeking the Order files an Affidavit explaining why they need […]

It is called the Juvenile Court.   Judge’s look to apply something that is called the “Good Cause Test”. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has also held that a parent who testifies in a Care and Protection does not waive their 5th Amendment Privilege in their criminal case.  There are two relatively recent supreme court […]

There is not.  You can have assets as little as $10 or millions and millions of dollars. There are different implications including tax implications regarding the amount of assets you have but anyone can have and should have a Will.

A Child Custody Journal is a term for keeping notes, notebook or a journal that helps provide a fairly systematic and steady journal of both good and bad events when your children are with you or the other parent.  It is showing both the positives and the negatives; showing the activities that are occur; what […]

If there is a current child support order, then support is due to the date of the Order if the parent is not making the court ordered payments. You can file a Complaint for Contempt requesting that the Judge make a finding and issue sanctions for failure to pay the obligation that was either a […]

In Massachusetts if child support has never been ordered then whether it is retroactive support will depend in large part about whether the child was born during the marriage or out of wedlock. There is a presumption in Massachusetts that married couples will support each other and the children and therefore child support can only […]

Although, a frequent question and a large concern of the parent paying the child support in Massachusetts there does not have to be an accounting or specifics of what the child support is being used for by the party that is receiving the child support.  In general, Massachusetts assumes things such as food, shelter, clothing […]

There are a variety of factors in the Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210, Section 3C to determine parental unfitness.  Not limited but includes where the parents abused or neglected the child or another immediate family member. The parents have maintained contact with the child for previous 6 months. The child who is 4 or older […]

There is something called the “UCCJEA” where the home state is for an initial custody order and where the child has resided for the prior 6 months leading up to the divorce so long as one parent continues to reside in that state.  That means that the Home State would be the controlling state and […]