WomensLaw serves and supports all survivors, no matter their sex or gender.
Legal Information: Massachusetts
Updated:
December 14, 2023What 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
© 2008–2024 WomensLaw.org is a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is funded in part through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). NNEDV is a 501©(3) non-profit organization; EIN 52-1973408.
English
Español
