Chapter 209B

Section 1. As used in this chapter the following words, unless the context requires otherwise, shall have the following meanings:— ''Contestant'', a person who claims a legal right to custody or visitation with respect to a child; ''Custody determination'', any court order, instr…

Section 10. (a) A court of the commonwealth may request the appropriate court of another state to hold a hearing to adduce evidence, to order a party to produce or give evidence under other procedures of that state, or to have an investigation made with respect to the custody of …

Section 11. (a) Upon request of the court of another state the courts of the commonwealth which are competent to hear custody matters may order a person in the commonwealth to appear at a hearing to adduce evidence or to produce or give evidence under other procedures available i…

Section 12. (a) A certified copy of a custody judgment of another state may be filed in the office of the clerk or register of any court of competent jurisdiction in the commonwealth. The clerk or register shall treat the judgment in the same manner as a custody judgment of a cou…

Section 13. In any custody proceeding in the commonwealth the court shall preserve the pleadings, orders and judgments and any record that has been made of its hearings, investigations and other pertinent documents until the child reaches eighteen years of age. Upon appropriate r…

Section 14. To the extent that the legal institutions of other nations have rendered custody determinations in substantial conformity with the provisions of this chapter, the courts of the commonwealth shall grant due recognition to such determinations.

Section 15. (a) A law of a jurisdiction outside the commonwealth that authorizes a child to be removed from the care or custody of a parent or guardian based on the parent or guardian allowing their child to receive gender-affirming care health care services, as defined in sectio…

Section 2. (a) Any court which is competent to decide child custody matters has jurisdiction to make a custody determination by initial or modification judgment if: (1) the commonwealth (i) is the home state of the child on the commencement of the custody proceeding, or (ii) had …

Section 3. (a) Every party in any custody proceeding shall state in an affidavit which shall be filed together with his first pleading the following information:— (1) the child's present address of residence; (2) each address at which the child has resided during the two years im…

Section 4. (a) After examination of the pleadings, affidavits, certified copies of the documentation relative to other custody proceedings and such oral testimony as it may require, the court shall determine the proper parties to the custody proceeding. (b) During the pendency of…

Section 5. (a) Reasonable notice in conformity with section six and an opportunity to be heard shall be given to the contestants, to any parent whose parental rights have not been previously terminated, to any person acting as parent, and to any other persons designated proper pa…

Section 6. (a) Notice to a person in the commonwealth shall be given in accordance with the applicable Massachusetts rules of court or in such other manner as is prescribed by law. (b) Notice required for the exercise of jurisdiction over a person outside the commonwealth shall b…

Section 7. (a) A court which has jurisdiction pursuant to section two may decline to exercise its jurisdiction at any time prior to making a custody determination upon finding that its assumption of jurisdiction would be (i) violative of the purposes of this chapter; or (ii) woul…

Section 8. (a) The court may order any party to the proceeding who is in the commonwealth to appear personally before the court. If that party has physical custody of the child the court may order that he or she appear personally with the child. (b) If a party to the proceeding w…

Section 9. In addition to other procedural devices available to a party, any party to the proceeding or a guardian ad litem or other representative of the child may adduce testimony of witnesses, including parties and the child, by deposition or otherwise, in another state. The c…