An important note on guardianship. Well-established Massachusetts case law makes clear that a parent, biological or adoptive, is presumed "fit" to care for his or her child. Absent a showing of "unfitness," a parent will prevail in a custody dispute over a non-parent. Whether a proceeding is to remove custody of children from parents or to restore custody to parents from a legal guardian, a parent is denied custody only if the Court finds him or her unfit to further the welfare of the children. Consistent with these principles, courts look at current fitness, rather than at a history of unfitness. "The mere fact that (a parent) has an occasion shown some lack of interest or involvement in the child's life clearly does not rise to level of disinterest, abandonment, or inattentiveness which demonstrates parental unfitness. Lack of involvement "in the past does not, standing alone," render a parent unfit. At the same time, a judge is allowed to consider a past pattern of parental conduct for its "prognostic value" in determining current parental fitness.
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