Mass. Gen. Laws » Part II Title III Chapter 209B
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209B, § 7 (2026)

Jurisdiction; determination of appropriate forum; factors

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 7. (a) A court which has jurisdiction pursuant to section two may decline to exercise its jurisdiction at any time prior to making a custody determination upon finding that its assumption of jurisdiction would be (i) violative of the purposes of this chapter; or (ii) would be based upon the illegal or otherwise wrongful conduct of a party; or (iii) would constitute an inconvenient forum and that a court of another state would constitute a more convenient forum.

(b) A court may decline jurisdiction for any of the reasons set forth in paragraph (a) upon motion of a party or of any representative of the child entitled to appear before the court or upon the court's own motion.

(c) In order to determine whether it is the appropriate forum, a court of the commonwealth may, in its discretion, at any time during the pendency of the custody proceeding, communicate and exchange information with a court or courts of any other relevant jurisdiction.

(d) For the purposes of this section, a court may consider the following factors:

(1) whether another state is or recently was the child's home state;

(2) whether another state has a closer connection with the child and his family or with the child and one or more of the contestants;

(3) whether more substantial evidence concerning the child's present or future care, protection, training, and personal relationships is available or whether such evidence is more readily available in another state;

(4) whether the parties have agreed on another forum which is not less appropriate; and

(5) whether the exercise of jurisdiction by a court of the commonwealth would contravene any of the purposes of this chapter.

(e) If a court shall find that a court of another jurisdiction is or may be a more appropriate forum under the terms of this chapter for the adjudication of the custody proceeding, it may do one or more of the following:

(1) dismiss the proceeding with or without prejudice;

(2) vacate any order or judgment already entered;

(3) stay the proceeding upon condition that a custody proceeding be initiated or prosecuted in another state in a timely manner or upon any other condition that the court might deem just;

(4) retain jurisdiction over any action to which the custody proceeding is incident, while declining to render a custody determination;

(5) enter such temporary order or orders as may be required, in the court's discretion, pursuant to clause (ii) of paragraph (3) of section two;

(6) assess any or all of the costs of the custody proceeding in this state, having due regard for the purposes of this chapter, including the reasonable travel and other expenses of any party and his or her witnesses, the reasonable attorneys' fees of any party, the costs of the court's communications and information exchanges with other courts and the fees and costs of any person entitled to appear before the court as the representative of a child;

(7) assess sanctions against any party whom the court finds has engaged in illegal or otherwise wrongful conduct;

(8) enter any other order or judgment which may be meet and just under the circumstances of the case.

(f) A court shall communicate to the court of any other relevant jurisdiction any determination or finding made pursuant to this section.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 24 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1987–2026 · leading case: Custody of Brandon, 551 N.E.2d 506 (Mass. 1990).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Custody of Brandon, 551 N.E.2d 506 (Mass. 1990). · cites it 5× “See G. L. c. 209B, § 7 (c). 3 On July 5, 1988, the probate judge granted shared legal custody of Brandon to both George and Brenda, with physical custody awarded to Brenda.”
Bak v. Bak, 511 N.E.2d 625 (Mass. App. Ct. 1987). · cites it 2× “See G. L. c. 209B, § 7. We perceive no abuse of discretion.”
Adoption of Anisha, 55 N.E.3d 986 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). · cites it 2× “This communication with the court in another jurisdiction is expressly permitted under G. L. c. 209B, § 7(/).” 3 The judge sent a letter, with the memorandum of decision, to the special magistrate in Tennessee, requesting that she review it so that they could “discuss how best…”
E.N. v. E.S., 852 N.E.2d 1104 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006). · cites it 2× “” The father has asserted no claim under G. L. c. 209B, § 7. “Section 7 provides discretion to refuse to exercise jurisdiction if the assumption of jurisdiction would violate the purposes of the statute, reward the wrongful *195 conduct of a party, or compel the parties to…”
Commonwealth v. Beals, 541 N.E.2d 1011 (Mass. 1989). · cites it 2× “251 (1988); G. L. c. 209B, § 7 (a) (ii) (a court has discretion to decline jurisdiction in a custody dispute if the parent seeking jurisdiction has engaged in wrongful conduct); UCCJA § 8(c), supra; G.”
Orchard v. Orchard, 686 N.E.2d 1066 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997). · cites it 2× “In addition, as authorized by statute, G. L. c. 209B, § 7(c), *779 the Probate Court judge sent a letter, written contemporaneously with his decision, to the Michigan court.”
Adoption of Yvette, 881 N.E.2d 1159 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). “See G. L. c. 209B, § 7(c) (authorizing the communication and exchange of information relevant to deciding whether a Massachusetts court is “the appropriate forum”); § 10(a) (authorizing a Massachusetts court to request another State court to hold a hearing to adduce evidence,…”
Umina v. Malbica, 538 N.E.2d 53 (Mass. App. Ct. 1989). “As authorized in the statute (G. L. c. 209B, § 7[c] and [f]), the Massachusetts judge communicated with his Colorado counterpart to notify her that he was ordering the parties and the children to appear before her and to recommend that custody be awarded to the father.”
Qiuyue Shao v. Yue Ma, 861 N.E.2d 788 (Mass. App. Ct. 2007). · cites it 2× “209B, § 2, purposes, the judge did not then undertake the necessary factual analysis to decide, pursuant to G. L. c. 209B, §§ 7 and 14, whether Massachusetts should exercise such jurisdiction as it had or defer to the Beijing court’s subsequent judgment.”
Archambault v. Archambault, 555 N.E.2d 201 (Mass. 1990). “See G. L. c. 209B, § 7 (c); Custody of Brandon, ante 1, 5 n.”
Khan v. Saminni, 842 N.E.2d 453 (Mass. 2006). “209B, § 2 (d), 7 bars *93 the exercise of jurisdiction while a custody proceeding is pending in another jurisdiction, and that G. L. c. 209B, § 7 (a), 8 provides a judge with discretion to decline to exercise jurisdiction at any time prior to making a custody determination on…”
Tazziz v. Tazziz, 533 N.E.2d 202 (Mass. App. Ct. 1988). “The findings below do not demonstrate to us that these considerations have been sufficiently taken into account by the judge with recognition that the present complex circumstances may give her some of the usual broad discretionary powers of a probate judge and a duty to…”
Show all 24 citing cases →
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209B, § 7(c) — 4 cases
Orchard v. Orchard, 686 N.E.2d 1066 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997). “In addition, as authorized by statute, G. L. c. 209B, § 7(c), *779 the Probate Court judge sent a letter, written contemporaneously with his decision, to the Michigan court.”
Adoption of Yvette, 881 N.E.2d 1159 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). “See G. L. c. 209B, § 7(c) (authorizing the communication and exchange of information relevant to deciding whether a Massachusetts court is “the appropriate forum”); § 10(a) (authorizing a Massachusetts court to request another State court to hold a hearing to adduce evidence,…”
Adoption of Anisha, 55 N.E.3d 986 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). “This communication with the court in another jurisdiction is expressly permitted under G. L. c. 209B, § 7(/).” 3 The judge sent a letter, with the memorandum of decision, to the special magistrate in Tennessee, requesting that she review it so that they could “discuss how best…”
E.N. v. E.S., 852 N.E.2d 1104 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006). “” The father has asserted no claim under G. L. c. 209B, § 7. “Section 7 provides discretion to refuse to exercise jurisdiction if the assumption of jurisdiction would violate the purposes of the statute, reward the wrongful *195 conduct of a party, or compel the parties to…”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209B, § 7(o)(i) — 1 case
Qiuyue Shao v. Yue Ma, 861 N.E.2d 788 (Mass. App. Ct. 2007). “209B, § 2, purposes, the judge did not then undertake the necessary factual analysis to decide, pursuant to G. L. c. 209B, §§ 7 and 14, whether Massachusetts should exercise such jurisdiction as it had or defer to the Beijing court’s subsequent judgment.”
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.