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Parenting Plan bill
An Act Amending G.L.c. 208* and related statutes to create PARENTAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES April 2008 A Working Group of the Boston Bar Association Family Law Steering Commitee has been asked to amend Massachusetts General Laws chapter 208 and related statutes by adding new words to our legal vocabulary. This bill is the result. Our bill allows parents to use the terms "parental rights and responsibilities," or "parenting plans," instead of the older "custody and visitation" language. Some other states that have used these less adversarial and more accurate words for over 10 years are Maine, Ohio and Vermont. To meet the concerns of those who feel more protected by "custody and visitation" our bill keeps these terms as the basic approach unless the parties agree otherwise. New Hampshire's recent chapter 461-A is a good example of the benefits of this approach. The court has used the law to help create an excellent Parentining Plan form which parties use to define the terms of their particular plan. Go to "Parenting Plan" on the following link: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/superior/selfhelp/divorceforms.htmWe welcome your comments at our email addresses below. Thank you for your interest in this step to reduce acrimony and protect children from needless conflict between their parents. “Recommendation 1: Courts and legislatures should replace the terms ‘custody’ and ‘visitation’ with terms that more accurately describe parenting responsibilities and are less likely to foster conflict, such as ‘parental decision-making,’ ‘parenting time,’ and ‘residential arrangements’ for children.” Parenting Our Children, Report of the U.S. Commission on Child and Family Welfare (1996) NOTE: This bill has been prepared by Jennifer Rivera-Ulwick, Kelly Leighton and John A. Fiske with the assistance of Joan Armstrong and Mark Warner as a Working Group, reflecting numerous revisions to get this far. We are recommending this bill to the Steering Committee on April 30, 2008 for favorable consideration at their meeting May 13, 2008. If they agree, the bill will be circulated within the BBA and then presented to the BBA Council for approval. We hope the BBA and others including family lawyers, bar associations, related organizations, parents and others interested will support the submission of this bill to the legislature for adoption. We understand the bill may undergo further amendments for approval by the Steering Committee and BBA Council before being submitted to the Legislature, we hope in 2008. We welcome your comments, considered criticisms and suggestions. jennifer.rivera-ulwick@jud.state.ma.us jadamsfiske@yahoo.com kleighton@gbls.com jarmstrong@murthalaw.com *Our only amendment to chapter 208 adds a new section 31B. We also recommend amending c. 209C and related statutes in the same manner, such as c. 71 section 34H governing access to student records. See
or, if you prefer, here it is in its entirety: The Recommendation of the Working Group to the BBA Family Law Steering Committee April 30, 2008
AN ACT RELATIVE TO PARENTAL CHOICE OF TERMINOLOGY IN CERTAIN DOMESTIC RELATIONS MATTERS Section 31B. Parental rights and responsibilities; parenting plans; use of terms. 1. In agreements relative to custody or parenting plans pursuant to section 31 of this chapter, the parties may use alternative terms if they specifically agree to do so in writing. The following terms may be substituted, the definitions of which are identical to the terms contained in section 31. Any provision of law or court order or court rule that allocates “parental rights and responsibilities” shall correspond to the definitions of custody as provided in section 31 and any provision of law or court order or court rule that refers to the “custody” of minor children shall correspond to the definitions in this section. 2. For the purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the following meaning unless the context requires otherwise: “Sole decision making responsibility,” one parent shall have the right and responsibility to make major decisions regarding the child’s welfare including matters of education, medical care and emotional, moral and religious development. This term corresponds with “sole legal custody.” “Shared decision making responsibility,” continued mutual responsibility and involvement by both parents in major decisions regarding the child’s welfare including matters of education, medical care and emotional, moral and religious development. This term corresponds with “shared legal custody.” “Primary residential responsibility,” a child shall reside with and be under the supervision of one parent, subject to reasonable time with the other parent, unless the court determines that such time with the other parent would not be in the best interest of the child. This term corresponds with “sole physical custody.” “Shared residential responsibility,” a child shall have periods of residing with and being under the supervision of each parent; provided, however, that such periods shall be shared by the parents in such a way as to assure a child frequent and continued contact with both parents. This term corresponds with “shared physical custody.” “Parental rights and responsibilities” means all rights and responsibilities parents have concerning their child, including decision-making responsibility and residential responsibility. This term corresponds with “custody.” “Parenting plan” means a written plan describing the rights and responsibilities of each parent. A parenting plan may include, without limitation, provisions relating to: (a) decision-making responsibility and residential responsibility; (b) information sharing and access, including telephone and electronic access; (c) legal residence of a child for school attendance; (d) parenting schedule, including (1) holiday, birthday and vacation planning, (2) weekends, including holidays and school in-service days preceding or following weekends; (e) transportation and exchange of the child; (f) relocation of parents; (g) the safety of the child and of the parents; (h) procedure for review and adjustment of the plan; and (i) methods for resolving disputes. We believe this bill is very solid and invite anyone interested to submit her or his comments, criticisms, suggestions to us in writing as soon as possible for consideration at the Steering Committee meeting on May 13. We have asked the Committee to vote to submit the bill to the BBA Council for approval, depending on the responses from the Committee members and other interested lawyers, associations, groups and individuals. Joan Armstrong, John A. Fiske, Kelly Leighton, Jennifer Rivera-Ulwick and Mark Warner
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