State requirements / Massachusetts
Massachusetts parenting class requirement
One designated online course, 4 hours
Massachusetts orders parents in divorce, separate support, paternity, and custody cases to complete a single court-approved online co-parenting course. Register within 30 days of service, finish within 30 days of registering, and file the certificate within 14 days of finishing.
The requirement at a glance
| Who must attend | All parents in a complaint for divorce (except a joint petition), separate support, establishing paternity, or custody, support, and parenting time, filed on or after the standing order's effective date, unless the requirement is waived. Post-judgment modification and contempt cases are at the court's discretion. Custody and parenting time are presumed disputed unless a written agreement is on file. |
| Hours required | 4 |
| Deadline | Register within 30 calendar days of service of the complaint, complete the online course within 30 days of registering, and file the certificate of completion with the Court no later than 14 calendar days after finishing. |
| Authority | P&F Ct. Standing Order 3-23 |
| Fees and waivers | A flat fee per parent paid to the provider at registration, with 30 days of course access. A fee waiver runs through an affidavit of indigency, and the approved waiver is uploaded at the provider's site. |
| Our price | $25 for one parent, $50 for both parents on the same case. Scholarship seats are funded by donors, so no parent is turned away for money. |
| Our registry status | We are not pursuing this state yet, and we would rather tell you than let you wait. It either requires the class to be delivered live and in person, which our self-paced course cannot be, or it has no route for a new provider at all. Use your court's own list. If that changes, this page changes with it. |
What the law actually says
“Parents must register for the “Two Families Now” course within thirty (30) calendar days of service of the complaint and complete the online course within thirty (30) days of registering.”
Probate and Family Court Standing Order 3-23, paragraph BQuoted from the official text. Read it yourself at the source below.The part nobody explains
Filing your certificate
You file your own certificate of completion with the Court within 14 days of completing. The plaintiff or their counsel must also serve the course pamphlet and the notice to parents along with the complaint and summons.
If the deadline passes
The Court may impose sanctions for failure to complete the co-parenting course.
Who approves providers in Massachusetts
Massachusetts named one course and approved only that course, by standing order of the Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court. There is no provider list, no application process, and no in-person alternative. Entry would require the Court to amend or replace the standing order, which makes Massachusetts the hardest state in the country for a new provider. We watch it rather than claim it.
What you get from us
- The full course, start to finish, on a phone or a laptop, with your progress saved. Lifetime access, no thirty-day expiry and no extension fees.
- Your certificate the moment you finish, by email, free. A mailed paper copy is optional.
- Free instant verification for your court. A clerk or judge confirms the certificate at our verification page with no account and no phone call.
- Our acceptance guarantee: if your specific court declines this certificate, you get a full refund, no processing fee and no deadline to claim it.
Check us on the law
Every fact on this page traces to an official source. Read them yourself.