Massachusetts Appeals Court Reaffirms that a Trial Court May Not Award Joint Custody in Divorce Without Making Detailed Findings About Allegations of Domestic Violence in Determining Children’s Best Interest
On January 30, 2026, the Massachusetts Appeals Court held in Scott v. Hill that a Probate and Family Court committed reversible error when it awarded joint custody of children without making detailed findings about a mother’s allegations of domestic violence against a father when determining the best interests of the children. The Probate and Family Court had awarded joint custody of the parties’ children despite the mother testifying at trial about abuse she had experienced from the father and having previously obtained an abuse prevention order.
M.G.L. c. 208 § 31A requires that “in issuing any temporary or permanent custody order, the probate and family courts shall consider evidence of past or present abuse towards a parent… as a factor contrary to the best interest of the child.” Additionally, where one parent has obtained a current or prior restraining order against the other a court may not order joint custody without “written findings to support such custody order.” In reviewing the Probate and Family Court’s custody determination, the Appeals Court noted that “domestic violence is an issue too fundamental and frequently recurring to be dealt with only by implication.” Consequently, though the Probate and Family Court noted the mother’s testimony at trial in its opinion, its failure to state whether it credited that testimony and failure to make detailed findings on the impact of the alleged domestic violence on the children’s welfare was reversible error.
Search terms: domestic violence, divorce, abuse prevention order, child custody.