Although readers may be familiar with the best interest of the child standard, understanding how that principle is applied in practice can still be confusing. Although both parents may be concerned about their child's welfare during a divorce, disagreements may arise over legal and physical custody, child support and visitation arrangements.
Our law firm focuses...
Divorce is a painful process for many people in Massachusetts. Even when it is the best choice for you, your spouse and your children, it can be hard to get over some of the feelings you experienced before or during the divorce. When you have children, however, setting those feelings aside can make the...
For a lot of parents across Massachusetts -- or the nation for that matter -- their children mean everything to them, which is why the prospect of losing custody of them is oftentimes a devastating thought for so many. Unfortunately, because of how our state laws are set up, parents can lose custody of...
If you're a regular reader of our blog then you know how important it is for fathers to establish paternity here in Massachusetts. Not only does it create a legal link between father and child -- which is helpful is custody and support cases -- it also makes it easier to get answers about...
When parents separate or divorce, the court’s top priority in Massachusetts is the best interests of the child. In some cases, judges decide that regular visitation is not safe or appropriate without oversight. This is where supervised visitation comes into play.
Supervised visitation means a parent can only...
If you're a long-time follower of our blog, then you may have read our post about Sherri Shepherd, a former host from the show "The View," which appeared on our blog near the end of May last year. In the post, we explained that Shepherd was embroiled in two separate child custody disputes....
A birth certificate is more than a vital record—it establishes essential legal rights and responsibilities. When questions about paternity arise, families often wonder if it’s possible to change the father listed on a Massachusetts birth certificate. The answer is yes, but the process depends on the circumstances.
In Massachusetts,...
Here in Massachusetts, our laws afford families a number of options when it comes to custody arrangements. While the preferred arrangement is joint or shared custody between the child's parents, different arrangements may be necessary, such as awarding full custody to one parent or to another family member altogether. This oftentimes happens in situations...
As some of our more frequent readers know, child custody issues are not just domestic affairs. They can actually cross international lines as well, which can turn problematic, especially if the other country does not recognize our laws.
We have seen this through a number of cases over the past few decades. And while some...
