Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 27 (2026)

Appeals; procedure; notice of right of appeal; time limits

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 27. A child, parent, guardian or person appearing in behalf of such child, or the department, may appeal from the adjudication of the court and from any order of commitment made as a result of the adjudication under the provisions of section twenty-six to the appeals court. The trial justice entering the adjudication or order of commitment shall, prior to said adjudication, or within ten days thereafter, file detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Pending the appeal, the child may be committed to the custody of the department or placed in the care of some suitable person or licensed children's foster care agency. The district court or juvenile court where the order of adjudication was entered shall retain jurisdiction to and may enter any order for the needs of the child. The court shall notify the child, parent, guardian or person appearing in behalf of such child of the right of appeal at the time of adjudication and also at the time of commitment.

The claim of appeal under this section shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the said division of the district court department or the division of the juvenile court department within 30 days of the entry of the adjudication or order of commitment by the court. The completion of said appeal shall be governed by the Massachusetts rules of appellate procedure.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 33 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1975–2026 · leading case: Custody of a Minor, 379 N.E.2d 1053 (Mass. 1978).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Custody of a Minor, 379 N.E.2d 1053 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 2× “The petitioner and the child’s court-appointed counsel appealed to the Superior Court, where, pursuant to G. L. c. 119, § 27, a trial de nova was held.”

Custody of a Minor, 392 Mass. 719 (Mass. 1984). · cites it 3× “The parents exercised their right to claim a de nova trial pursuant to G. L. c. 119, § 27. 6 Subsequently, the visits to the child became somewhat sporadic.”

Custody of a Minor, 386 Mass. 460 (Mass. 1982). · cites it 7× “The petition sought an order in the nature of a writ of prohibition to prevent the juvenile appeals session of the Barnstable Division of the District Court Department from hearing an appeal under G. L. c. 119, § 27. Having *461 concluded that there was no error in the dismissal…”

Custody of a Minor, 13 Mass. App. Ct. 66 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). · cites it 7× “By its terms G. L. c. 119, § 27, 1 permits a de nova appeal to a juvenile appeals session of a District Court in two situations: (1) where a minor is adjudicated to be in need of care and protection or (2) where there is an adjudication under G.”

Adoption of Donald, 694 N.E.2d 373 (Mass. App. Ct. 1998). · cites it 7× “The principal issue presented by this case is whether the ten-day appeal period of G. L. c. 119, § 27, or the sixty-day appeal period of Mass.”

Custody of a Minor, 389 N.E.2d 68 (Mass. 1979). “The mother exercised her right to trial de novo, G. L. c. 119, § 27, see Robinson v. Commonwealth, 242 Mass.”

Custody of Two Minors, 487 N.E.2d 1358 (Mass. 1986). “2 The report is required by G. L. c. 119, § 27, and by Rule 3 of the Interim Supplemental Rules of Appellate Procedure in Care and Protection Cases (effective January 23, 1982).”

Care & Prot. of Three Minors, 467 N.E.2d 851 (Mass. 1984). “After a trial de nova in the Appellate Division of the Juvenile Court Department (Boston Division), G. L. c. 119, § 27, the children were again committed to the custody of the department.”

Custody of a Minor (No. 1), 463 N.E.2d 324 (Mass. 1984). · cites it 2× “This is quite unlike the situation of the mother in Adoption of a Minor, supra, who had only progressed to the initial appeals stage of the custody award process, G. L. c. 119, § 27, when the foster parents’ adoption petition was filed.”

Petitions of the Dep't of Soc. Servs. to Dispense With Consent to Adoption, 503 N.E.2d 1275 (Mass. 1987). “7 The order of permanent commitment was appealed pursuant to G. L. c. 119, § 27. After trial de novo, the permanent custody order was upheld on April 1, 1980.”

Custody of a Minor, 393 N.E.2d 379 (Mass. 1979). “The mother exercised her right to trial de novo, see G. L. c. 119, § 27; Robinson v. Commonwealth, 242 Mass.”

Custody of a Minor, 432 N.E.2d 546 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). · cites it 2× “See G. L. c. 119, § 27, as amended by St. 1973, c.”

Show all 33 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.