Are You a Divorced Custodial Parent in Massachusetts?

If you are a divorced custodial parent in Massachusetts, and if you plan to move a substantial distance away or move out of state, the court’s child custody order may have to be modified. That modification will require the services and advice of a Melrose child custody lawyer.

You will also need a Melrose custody lawyer’s help if your child’s other parent takes legal action to oppose your relocation and your request for a modification of the child custody order. If you are the other parent, and you are opposed to the relocation, you’ll likewise need a lawyer’s help.

Massachusetts law does not prevent a custodial parent from relocating, but in most cases, the relocating parent must have the other parent’s consent to relocate with the child or children. Without that consent, a parent must prove that the relocation plan is in the child’s best interests.

What Does the Law Require?

Under the law in Massachusetts, custodial parents cannot move out of the state or move away a substantial distance within the state without the consent of the child’s other parent – or without a court order – if the child is:

  1. a native of this state or has resided in Massachusetts for at least five years, and
  2. the subject of a Massachusetts court’s child custody order

If you plan to relocate with your child or children, the law in Massachusetts requires you to give the other parent notice and the opportunity to file a legal challenge to your relocation plan. If the other parent files a challenge, the court will conduct a child custody order modification hearing.

Massachusetts law does not set forth any specific requirements or deadline for giving the other parent formal notice of a plan to relocate, but in most cases, you should notify the other parent in writing as early as possible after you have consulted a Massachusetts child custody attorney.

What if You Fail to Notify the Other Parent?

When a Massachusetts court schedules a child custody order modification hearing, the court may require one or both parents to post a bond. Posting a bond helps ensure that no relocation takes place without court approval, and the bond amount is returned after the court renders its decision.

If you leave the state without the court’s approval, your child’s other parent has the right to file a custody petition within six months and seek custody of the child.

In a Relocation Case, What Factors Can Affect the Court’s Decision?

If your child’s other parent consents to your relocation plan, that consent must be in writing for court approval. If your child’s other parent challenges your plan, a judge will either block your relocation or allow it. A parent who needs or wants to relocate must be doing so “in good faith.”

If the judge believes that a custodial parent is relocating primarily to frustrate or interfere with the other parent’s visitations, the relocation request probably will not be approved. However, good faith is not the court’s only consideration at a custody order modification hearing.

If your plan is challenged by your child’s other parent, in order to prevail in court, you and your Melrose child custody lawyer will be required to demonstrate to the court that the relocation plan and the modification of the court’s child custody order are in the child’s best interests.

How Are a Child’s “Best Interests” Defined?

There is no single legal definition of a child’s best interests. Rather, the term indicates what the court must consider when it modifies a child custody order. The court must ensure the emotional and physical well-being of the child, and it must ensure a parent provides the best possible home.

At a child custody order modification hearing, the judge will hear testimony from both parents as well as arguments from their attorneys. Judges in these hearings have wide discretion to determine what is in the best interests of a child.

How does a Massachusetts court determine whether a relocation is or is not in the child’s best interests? The following factors will be taken into consideration:

  1. What is the reason for the custodial parent’s relocation request?
  2. How will relocating affect the child’s relationship with the other parent?
  3. How will relocating affect the other parent’s visitations and the visitation schedule?
  4. How will relocating affect the child’s physical and emotional health and needs?

How Can You Prevail at a Modification Hearing?

If your petition to relocate is contested by the child’s other parent, you can help your case by:

  1. proving that you are providing the child with safe housing and a stable environment
  2. showing that you are willing to cooperate with the other parent
  3. conducting yourself appropriately in the courtroom
  4. knowing the details about your child’s activities, education, and health

If you are the parent who is objecting to the modification of the custody order and the relocation, you will probably have to prove to the court that the other parent is not acting in good faith, not providing the child with safe housing and a stable environment, and/or not willing to cooperate.

Relocation requests and child custody order modifications are routine matters for the courts, but a request for a child custody order modification will require an attorney’s help. How can you find a Massachusetts child custody attorney who will fight aggressively for you and your child?

Take Your Relocation Case to Martino Law Group

For decades, the team at Martino Law Group has successfully represented custodial parents who are seeking to relocate as well as non-custodial parents who are opposing relocation requests. We handle divorces, child support disputes, and alimony disputes as well as child custody matters.

We also help clients with personal injury claims, we offer estate planning services, and we defend clients charged with criminal offenses. Our team is led by attorney John J. Martino, who has considerable experience resolving complex, emotionally-charged legal issues and disputes.

If you need to relocate, if you need to oppose a relocation, or if you need legal representation regarding any matter of family law – now or in the future – contact Martino Law Group in Melrose by calling 781-531-8673. Your first legal consultation is free and entails no obligation.