Practice Areas

Child custody is often the most critical part of a divorce action, and is frequently an issue for further litigation is the post-divorce process. Our child custody attorneys can help you establish, modify or enforce child custody-related matters including:

1. Child Custody & Visitation
2. Child Support
3. Visitation & Parenting Plans
4. Parental Alienation
5. Child Support Enforcement
6. Long-Distance Child Custody Agreements
7. Father’s Rights
8. Establishing Temporary Orders
9. Modification (Support & Custody)
10. Contempt Proceedings

Child Custody & Visitation

Your children are our first priority and our firm works with you to protect them and to ensure that their needs remain at the forefront of your case.

When making child custody evaluations or parenting plan decisions, the Massachusetts Court considers many factors, including:

• The physical, mental and emotional health of the child
• The mental and physical health of the parents
• The relationships between the child and the parents
• The relationships between the child and any siblings
• The role each parent will play in the child’s upbringing
• Each parent’s ability to allow the child to have contact with the other parent
• Each parent’s demonstrated ability to maintain a close relationship with the child
• Any history of abuse
• Other issues the court deems appropriate

Whether you are seeking child custody or visitation rights, to prevent an abusive spouse from unsupervised visits, or a modification of your parenting plan due to a significant change of circumstances, you want an experienced child custody lawyer representing your legal interests. We understand your legal objectives, we understand Massachusetts law, and we understand the process. For more ideas, learn about Children and Divorce.

When you contact us to discover how we can put our experience to work for you, your next step should be to complete the Child Care Checklist. Many clients have found this to be the first step towards analyzing what is in the best interest of your children as it relates to the ideal custody and visitation plan.

Child Support

Every child in Massachusetts has the legal right to receive financial support from their parents, whether the parents are separated, divorced or were never married. Child support keeps many families from needing public assistance. Combined with a parent’s wages, child support can make a family self-sufficient.

There are child support guidelines used by the judges of the Trial Court. These formulas are used to set orders for current child support, or to decide whether to approve agreements for child support.

These guidelines are presumed to be correct unless it is shown that the proposed support amount would be unjust or inappropriate under the particular circumstances in a case. Reasons for deviation from the guidelines are, for example, a parent ordered to pay support that has other minor children and has insufficient financial resources available; or a parent who may have extraordinary expenses such as travel-related visitation expenses, or a high amount of uninsured medical expenses.

One of the best things you can do with regards to child support is to keep an accurate and up-to-date Child Support Ledger. This is a highly-organized way of showing the Court the extent both parties have complied with the child support order.

Important Note:
It is very important for a parent to keep current with child support payments. Although it may be frustrating paying support to your former spouse, it is important to remember that the support is actually for the well-being of your child.

A simple overview of the process for Massachusetts child support cases is as follows:

• You will have an initial consultation with your child custody attorney
• Your attorney will file paperwork with the Probate & Family Court
• Your attorney will arrange the exchange of financial documents
• You and your attorney will negotiate for a settlement
• There will be a final hearing where the judge will enter a court order

Our attorneys believe that both parents need to provide for their children while still being able to remain on stable financial ground themselves. For this reason, we work hard to ensure that the settlement agreement we draft on your behalf includes all the best clauses and issues –child care, educational and medical expenses and certain extracurricular expenses – and that support obligations are determined in an equitable way.

The legal process in any child support case can seem daunting when you don’t understand how the procedure works or how long it will take. But aligning yourself with experienced legal counsel, and by educating yourself about the process, you can reduce your stress by increasing your level of understanding and sense of control. Start the education process by learning about books to read and movies to watch. Contact Us

Visitation & Parenting Plans

In an effort to diminish the importance parents place on the terms custody and visitation, Massachusetts is moving away from these terms and making more references to the parenting plan. This plan, much like a contract between the parents, refers to who makes the major decisions for the children, whether it will be one or both spouses, or a combination, depending on the type of decision. It also outlines parenting time, the holiday schedule, joint responsibilities, etc. The form of decision-making responsibility that is most appropriate and in the best interests of your children will depend on your unique situation.

Having experience with a great variety of cases, we can help you assess your individual situation to determine what type of must-have clauses to include in your parenting plan. Even where parents are in agreement on where the children should live, frequently problems arise when considering things like vacation and holiday schedules.

We have the benefit of many years of experience in working with families to determine the optimum arrangement for all. Contact us about a no-obligation consultation or to get a copy of our latest CD program, “Transitioning Children Through Divorce” where we go into great detail about how to draft a bullet-proof parenting plan.

Parental Alienation Syndrome

When one parent makes derogatory remarks and tries to either brainwash or give your child a negative image of you, your children may suffer from parental alienation syndrome. Some warning symptoms psychologists have observed in children suffering from this toxic syndrome include giving a child the choice as to whether or not to visit with the other parent, telling the child details about the marital relationship or reasons for the divorce, refusal to acknowledge that the child has property and may want to transport possessions between residences or asking the child to choose one parent over the other.

If you are an alienated parent, the Boston child custody attorneys can help you turn your anger and hurt over being treated so poorly into a legitimate court action which poses the question of whether the current custody arrangement or parenting plan is truly in the child’s best interest. After all, how could a parent who poisons their child about another parent be acting in that child’s best interest? Evidence of alienation often rises to a level where a Complaint for Modification relating to either custody or the parenting plan is warranted. Contact Us

Child Support Enforcement

As experienced Boston child support attorneys, we are aggressive in filing motions for contempt when individuals violate child support orders. When representing clients in contempt motions, we vigorously strive to attain orders for violating to pay our client’s legal fees in additional to overdue support.

When you call us to represent you in a support enforcement case, we promise better representation than you would get from the Department of Revenue (DOR), and we’ll put our best foot forward in getting you reimbursed your attorneys’ fees.

Long-Distance Child Custody Agreements

Because of the unique circumstances of traveling long distance, more flexibility must be allowed in long-distance child custody agreements. The attorneys in our office are experienced in negotiating visitation schedules that allow for unique sets of circumstances so that you can see your children on a regular basis. Contact Us

Father’s Rights

As Boston child custody attorneys, we provide effective legal counsel for fathers who want to maintain strong relationships with their children after divorce.

One of the most overt forms of discrimination still condoned in America is against the divorcing father. Protective orders and evictions are issued without evidence at a moments notice…restraining orders are issued without testimony…at times, custody is even awarded without testimony, and false child abuse allegations against fathers are rampant. Contacting The Law Offices of Irwin M. Pollack might be the help you’re looking for.

Establishing Temporary Orders

Once a divorce action begins, temporary orders are made by the court and are valid until the court holds another hearing or until you arrive at your own settlement. The main objective is to establish, then maintain, the status quo – weekly support, household bills, living arrangements, etc. Along with mandating that the parents attend a court-approved parent education class, the court may make other orders pendent elite. (“Pendent elite” is a Latin phrase that means “while the action is pending.”) If the person ordered to make any payments fails to do so, a judge could take steps to enforce that order by garnishing wages or bank accounts or holding a person in contempt of court. Contact Us

An Important Note:

If you are about to face the temporary order stage, you must understand that establishing the status quo is a crucial stage in the child custody process. Simply stated, you cannot leave the relationship with your children to chance!

Without the support and experienced counsel of a knowledgeable team of child custody attorneys, you cannot be sure that justice and reason will prevail. Many parents who have attempted to navigate this process on their own have ended up with results that they deeply regretted. Many are even shocked to lose the custody and visitation rights that they both expected – and deserved.

Contact us to fight aggressively and protect the best interests of your children.

Modification (Support & Custody)

It is impossible to predict the future. Many circumstances can change after your case that is not covered by your final agreement. For example, if you move to a new house that affects the parenting time schedule, your agreement may need to be modified. The firm has even represented cases when a former spouse married, long-standing health insurance coverage was lost and there was no money to pay for new health coverage. While you and the other parent may agree upon the change, it’s a good idea to get the agreement in writing and file it with the court in case there is a dispute after you agreed to the change.

If the other parent doesn’t agree to your requested modification, you can file a motion with the court requesting that the original agreement be changed because of your new situation. The likelihood of your success depends on the facts in your particular case, but having lawyers who are part of our parent firm, the Massachusetts Family Law Group gives you the advantage of a broader base of knowledge to plan your case and assess your chances of success. Contact Us

Contempt Proceedings

Whenever our attorneys can show the Court clear and convincing evidence that a party has willfully disobeyed a Court order, we file a Complaint for Contempt. We also zealously pursue attorney’s fees to protect our wronged-party client. Moreover, as Officers of the Court, it is our ethical duty to call to the judge’s attention to the need to ensure a wrong-doer’s compliance with a Court order.

Judges take great offense to violations. Wrong-doers are tried and, if found guilty, punished. Such punishments come with varied repercussions – anything from a mild warning to incarceration. Attorney Irwin M. Pollack cautions clients that despite the temptation, provocations and seemingly brilliant inspiration, they must not jeopardize their position by engaging in contemptuous acts. Contact Us

Contact us about your legal matter today!