If you die without a Will in Massachusetts, the Intestacy Laws of Massachusetts will determine who inherits your assets.   If you die without a Will, you were set to have died interstate and that can be what your intent was for your assets; or your estate to go to. However, you are leaving that […]

This is one that is effected by custody and parenting time; where the child support guidelines will change depending on who has custody; or if the time with the “non-custodial” parent is less than 1/3 or more than a 1/3 and it changes with the child support guidelines are.

In Massachusetts, it does not allow suspending visits because of not getting child support. However, you can file a Contempt of Court and ask for attorney’s fees from the other side. Some states do allow visitation to be suspended, but not in Massachusetts.

DCF can either support or unsupported the allegation. The unsupported report means that DCF found that there is no evidence indicating that the children were abused or neglected. A supported report means that DCF believes that there is evidence tending to show that the child or children were abuse or neglected; or at risk for […]

A basic estate plan usually consists of Wills, typically one for each spouse, a Power of Attorney, again one for each spouse, a Durable Power of Attorney and the Healthcare Proxy, one for each spouse. The costs varies significantly between what the attorney’s charges for this. It can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars […]

A 51A is an allegation of neglect or abuse. If the report describes an emergency, DCF may present the 51A to the judge and obtain permission to take your child or children away from you without notifying you beforehand. However, if this emergency procedure is used, you may not hear about the 51A until after […]

The answer to that questions is no. There is a lot that DCF can consider doing; including, asking you to sign a Voluntary Placement Agreement, but the most typical situation is that DCF will ask for “Family Assessment” and that Family Assessment is used to determine whether or not the family needs services and working […]

The Fault Statute of Massachusetts G.L. Ch. 208, Section 1 is that the courts are authorized in specific fault situations of adultery, impotence, deserting for one (1) year, gross and confirmed habits of intoxication caused by voluntary in excessive use of liquor, opium or other drugs, cruel and abusive treatment, imprisonment. Those are what is […]

You can file an appeal and ask for something called a “Fair Hearing”. This is where you can contest DCF’s decision; and what will occur, is that it is an administrative hearing, where the hearing officer, who is not part of the case, will listen to what DCF says and what you say, and then […]

A 51A becomes either supported or unsupported. Unsupported means that DCF found that there is not any evidence If the report is supported, DCF could try and take custody of your child or children; or they may just want to offer services to your family. Other times DCF might try and ask that you voluntarily […]