POSITIVES:

• Massachusetts' PTA appropriately takes into account the effect of the PTA on both parents' households.

• Massachusetts' PTA appropriately results in no presumptive child support transfer payment when parental income and parenting time are both equal.

NEGATIVES: 

• Massachusetts' PTA has an extraordinarily and unjustifiably high threshold of 182 days.

• Massachusetts' PTA has an extremely large discontinuity (or discontinuities), creating an extremely large cliff effect or multiple cliff effects.

• Massachusetts' PTA significantly overestimates the fixed, duplicated costs involved in shared parenting.

POSITIVES:

• Massachusetts statute has a rebuttable presumption of shared legal custody of children during temporary orders; deviations from this require a finding that shared legal custody is not in the best interest of the child and the court must provide written findings supporting such a determination. MASS. GEN. LAWS CH. 208 § 31

• Massachusetts statutes explicitly define “shared legal custody,” “sole legal custody,” “shared physical custody,” and “sole physical custody.” MASS. GEN. LAWS CH. 208 § 31

NEGATIVES: 

• Massachusetts statute does not contain any policy statement or other language encouraging shared parenting.

• Massachusetts has no statutory preference for, or presumption of, shared physical custody for temporary or final orders.

• Massachusetts defines ‘shared physical custody’ weakly: “a child shall have periods of residing with and being under the supervision of each parent.” MASS. GEN. LAWS CH. 2

Massachusetts proclaimed April 26 Shared Parenting Day in 2021. Director of Operations Lianna Mika led this effort. Read more here.