The Appeals Court decision of Howard v. Howard underscores the significance of effective co-parenting and civility during custody disputes. In this case, the parties continued to live together in the marital home with their four children following the Mother’s filing...
Parenting Time
Can the Judge Give “Decisive Weight” to a Child’s Preference?
Recently in Jouret v. Buteau, Docket-18-P-68 (Mass. App. Ct. April 11, 2019) (Memo and Order Pursuant to Rule 1:28), the Appeals Court of Massachusetts vacated those parts of a modification judgment that eliminated Father's parenting time and prohibited his contact...
50/50 Parenting: Quantity versus Quality
I recently came across Edward Kruk, PhD's article in Psychology Today entitled "Equal Parenting and the Quality of Parent-Child Attachments." The article summarizes research on parenting plans that I have found useful in support of some clients' requests for equal...
Changing the Vocabulary Around Non-Custodial Parenting
In negotiating parenting plans for nearly 20 years, I have gradually eliminated a few different words from my vocabulary. For example, it's been a long time since I've used the words "visit" or "visitation" to describe what a non-custodial parent does when he or she...
New Child Support Guidelines
Following what is described as a comprehensive review of the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines Task Force, the Chief Justice of Massachusetts Trial Court released new Child Support Guidelines that became effective on August 1, 2013. In the Trial Court's June 20,...
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