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Grandparents and the law

If DCF decides to place children away from the parents or guardians DCF policy is supposed to look for “family first” as placement such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins( also to a certain extent family friends, teachers etc.).  The reason is that the transition will be easier for the child.  You should at least […]

Talking to social workers, court investigators and GAL’s is stressful.  They are looking at you like you are on stage and looking to see if you are a loving, stable and thoughtful parent. A few hints are:  keep focus on children not your or significant other or ex if you need to make focus on […]

Many times in probate and family court, the court refers you to probation or family service. What this means is in some contested cases, the court feels that it may be helpful to meet with a probation officer or family service officer(FSO). The term is for the same office. The idea is that sometimes you […]

You can file something called a “contempt” action saying that the other side has violated the court order. You need to show what the court order is and how it was violated. There are technical requirements but the order should be clear and the violation should be straightforward. The court has a lot of remedies […]

As you probably guessed the answer is YES! Be very careful what you post. I have seen people claim to have no money in front of a judge and be confronted with Facebook posts of expensive vacations or new cars. I have seen many cases where one parent badmouths the other ( and sometimes the […]

In guardianships of a minor there is a legal process where a child under the age of 18 is not in his/her parents care. In Massachusetts a Judge can give custody and care of that child to a guardian if a couple of things occur. 1. If the parents give permission; or the court finds […]

Grandparents rights are very limited.  In MA, there is a complaint for grandparent visitation but to meet the burden a grandparent has a high burden.  The grandparent must show that they basically cared for the child at some point.  It is almost easier to get custody through a guardianship where the grandparent must show that […]