WARNING

The next step in the destruction of the father-child relationship and a transformation to a matriarchal society is the change from the "best interests of the child" custody standard to the "primary caretaker" standard.  This change in the law will trump all shared parenting legislative efforts.  The program to change custody law to a default standard whereby mothers will virtually always become the sole custodial parent is the result of a decade-long effort by family-law specialists working on a national level to negate any hope that fathers may have of achieving equal custodial rights by virtue of "shared parenting" legislation.

AN ACT FURTHER DEFINING THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD.

      Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 31 of Chapter 208 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2000 Official Edition, is hereby amended in line 25 by inserting at the end thereof the following text:—
“The court shall give consideration to the extent to which and whether each parent has been the primary caretaker or psychological parent throughout the child’s life. In determining the extent to which each parent has been the primary caretaker, the court shall consider among other factors, who: (1) cares for the child’s physical needs; (2) supervises the child’s daily activities; (3) arranges and monitors alternative care; (4) attends to the child’s health needs when (s)he is sick and schedules appointments with medical care providers; (5) disciplines the child; (6) provides religious, cultural, and social education; (7) teaches the child basic skills or assists with school work and interacts with teachers; (8) nurtures emotional growth. In determining which parent is the psychological parent, the court shall consider who is most aware of the child’s needs and interests and best able to distinguish his or her own needs from those of a child.”

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage.