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Legal Information: Massachusetts

Custody

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Updated: 
December 14, 2023

How much does it cost to file for custody?

There is a $115 fee to file for custody, visitation, or paternity. If you are filing for custody as part of a divorce, the fee is $215 to file for divorce.1 (These costs are accurate as of December 2023.) If you cannot afford the filing fee, ask the clerk if you can apply to get the fee waived. This will require filling out an “affidavit of indigency,”2 which is a sworn statement in which you give facts to prove you are a person of low-income.

1 See the Massachusetts Court System website
2 M.G.L. 261 § 27B

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