McCarter partners Kia Freeman and Wyley Proctor filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Women’s Bar Association and Massachusetts Law Reform Institute in a landmark case deciding how Massachusetts treats evidence of domestic abuse in child custody modification cases. In its Dec. 26th decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed that (1) a judge must consider all evidence of domestic abuse in child custody cases, regardless of when the abuse occurred, and (2) the presumption that awarding custody to an abuser is not in a child’s best interest applies in all custody proceedings, including modification proceedings. This important decision makes it harder for abusive parents to get custody of children.
1.8.2020