Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

custody
I am presently incarcerated for 7 years in a county house of correction in Massachusetts. The mother of my children is seeking full legal custody of my 2 sons, ages 3 and 5. We had a court appearance in April and I was granted a continuance of 90 days to secure legal councel. I am seeking to have the custody changed to temporary legal custody until my release date. How does paternity rights link into this? She has stated that she wants to have her live in boyfriend adopt my boys. Please tell me the details on this procedure. I need to have help with how to word and present my request. My case is on Thurs. 7/10. I feel it is unfair on my part to make any permanent decision on permanent custody until after my release time? Also is there requests I can make of the mother of my children during my incarceration period? ie supervised visitations to me? supervised visitations to the grandparents, etc.? Any info you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Asked on 7/03/08, 9:56 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Gregory Lee Gregory P. Lee, Attorney at Law

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Re: custody

It is unlikely the your children can be adopted without your consent. You will eventually get some visitation, though the exact amount is to be determined.

Given your incarceration, shared legal custody is not a realistic goal. This assumes that the two of you can consult and agree. Where you can't pick up a phone at any given moment, either to make or receive a call, the consultation is not easy. On that basis alone, a judge can deny the request for custody.

This does not mean that you won't get information, just that you probably will not be in the decision making loop.

Answered on 7/03/08, 1:52 pm

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