Legal Information: Massachusetts

Custody

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Updated: 
December 9, 2022

What options are there for physical custody?

A judge may award one parent sole physical custody or both parents shared physical custody.

  • Sole physical custody means the child will live with one parent and be under that parent’s supervision. The other parent will be allowed to have visitation with the child, unless the judge decides that visitation would not be in the best interest of the child.
  • Shared physical custody (also called joint custody) means the child will split his/her time between both parents’ homes. The time will be split so that the child will have a lot of contact with both parents.1

1 M.G.L. 208 § 31

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