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Legal Information: Massachusetts

Custody

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Laws current as of November 14, 2024

What options are there for legal custody?

A judge 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. 208 § 31

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