Legal Information: Massachusetts

Custody

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Updated: 
October 24, 2018

What options are there for legal custody?

A court may award one parent sole legal custody, or both parents shared legal custody.

  • Sole legal custody means one parent will have the right to make major decisions about the child’s well-being, including matters of education, medical care and religious development.
  • Shared legal custody means that both parents have the right to take part in major decisions about the child’s well-being.1

1 M.G.L.A. 208 § 31

Next: What options are there for physical custody?
Legal Information

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