Custody
One of the most important aspects to any divorce in which children are involved is the determination of child custody and support. Each family is unique in this respect, but all must come to grips with questions such as where and with whom will the children live, who will make important decisions about their lives, what contact will they have with each of the two parents, and how will their financial needs be met. Hopefully, the parents can weigh these questions together and try to reach the best possible arrangement for the children. If not, then the custody issue must be decided by the court.

There are two types of custody. Legal custody means who makes the major decisions about issues such as education, health, medical care, emotional development and religion. (An important exception is that even a parent with sole legal custody can't take the children from Massachusetts permanently without the prior permission of the other parent or court.) Physical custody refers to the time the child spends with each parent. Joint legal custody, in which the decision-making responsibility is shared by both parents, is quite common.

Divorce
A divorce from the bond of matrimony may be granted on various grounds. Some examples include desertion, cruel and abusive treatment, willful neglect and refusing to provide suitable support and maintenance for the other spouse, irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. A legal process through the court system, with a final agreement of the two parties, is needed to provide the complete and final legal dissolution of a marriage.

Guardianship
A legal guardian is someone who is appointed by a court to care for the person and property of someone who has become incapable of caring for himself or herself. Some legal grounds for appointment of a guardian are mental illness (a term which may include not only psychosis but also organically-based mental conditions such as Alzheimer's disease), physical incapacity or illness, mental retardation and spendthrift status.

Modifications
Child support orders cannot be changed on a whim. Any changes must be based on evidence proving that there is good reason to make the change. This usually requires that a person who wants to make the change show a “changed circumstance” – show that the facts that existed when the last order was entered have changed. In the many years a child support order is in place, the parent's circumstances may change many times. If one parent's income has substantially changed (either gone up or down), this may require a modification of the support order.