Bill
S 1157
Mass. S.1157 modernizes child custody by best interests, requires detailed parenting plans, clarifies shared vs. primary arrangements, and demands court findings in abuse cases.
Status & Sponsorship
- Senate Docket No.: 1243; Bill No.: 1157 (filed 01/15/2025)
- Filed by: Senator Jason M. Lewis (Fifth Middlesex) — Judiciary Committee referral.
- Hearing scheduled: 04/22/2025 (per docket).
- Note: The legislative packet provided also includes unrelated language from an Idaho S.1157 (elections). This summary focuses only on the Massachusetts measure concerning child custody and parental responsibility.
Purpose
- To revise G.L. c.208, §31 (parenting of children) to (a) modernize and clarify terminology and (b) set clearer rules and expectations for courts and parties when determining parental responsibility and parenting time based on the child's best interests.
Key definitions introduced
- Decision-Making Responsibility
- Shared Decision-Making Responsibility: mutual parental responsibility for major decisions (education, medical care, extracurriculars, emotional/behavioral and religious development).
- Sole Decision-Making Responsibility: one parent has the right/responsibility to make major decisions.
- Residential Responsibility
- Shared Residential Responsibility: child resides with and under supervision of each parent for substantial, frequent, continued contact; one residence may be designated “primary residence.”
- Primary Residential Responsibility: child primarily resides with one parent; the other has parenting time unless court finds it not in child’s best interest.
- Parental Responsibility: encompasses both decision-making and residential responsibility.
- Parenting Plan: a written plan describing parental responsibility for each child.
- Parenting Time: periods when the child is under the care/supervision of a parent (or supervisor).
Key provisions and changes
- Presumes parents’ rights are equal in absence of misconduct; the child's happiness and welfare guide allocation of responsibilities.
- Courts must evaluate current and past living conditions that could adversely affect a child’s physical, mental, or emotional health.
- Upon filing an action (or related filings), parents generally have temporary shared legal custody until judgment, except in emergencies, abuse, or neglect. (This does not create presumptive shared residential responsibility.)
- Courts may order temporary sole decision-making responsibility when shared decision-making would not serve the child’s best interests.
- If a court grants shared decision-making or residential responsibility despite prior or current abuse/domestic violence orders, the court must provide written findings supporting that choice.
- No statutory presumption for or against shared decision-making or shared residential responsibility at trial (reference to limited exceptions in §31A).
- Parties seeking distribution of parental responsibility or parenting time must supply proposed orders; contested cases where shared arrangements are sought require submission of a detailed parenting plan (education, health care, dispute resolution procedures, holiday/vacation schedules, etc.).
- Courts will consider submitted parenting plans against statutory best-interest factors (section C — truncated in provided text).
- Agreements between parents can be adopted by the court unless court makes specific findings they would not be in the child’s best interest.
- Prior orders/agreements are not presumptively continued.
- Child support remains governed by Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines (G.L. c.208, §28) regardless of the shared/primary terminology used.
- Both parents retain access to child’s academic and medical records unless restricted by court order for safety reasons.
Who is affected
- Parents (married, unmarried, or separated), children, guardians, family/probate courts, family law practitioners, mediators and custodial supervisors.
- The rule changes primarily affect how courts frame custody/residence decisions and the documentation (parenting plans) required from parties.
Procedural/timing notes
- The bill replaces existing §31 of G.L. c.208. The text provided is partial — the subsection listing specific best-interest factors (section C) is truncated in the document reviewed. For complete analysis of decision criteria and procedural detail, consult the full bill text as filed with the Legislature.
Potential impacts
- Encourages clearer, written parenting plans and greater emphasis on shared parental involvement when appropriate.
- Requires courts to articulate findings when ordering shared arrangements in contexts of prior abuse orders, potentially adding scrutiny in cases involving domestic violence.
- Clarifies terminology used in orders (shared vs. primary) while preserving existing child support rules.
- May change litigation practice by formalizing submission requirements and by removing presumptions for either shared or sole arrangements.
Recommendation
- Review the full enrolled bill or the complete §31 replacement text (including section C best-interest factors) for a final, authoritative statement of the statutory standards and any procedural mechanics not included in the truncated excerpt.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
Sign in to ask a question.
