## Facts

- A paternal grandmother had legal custody of her grandchild; the child’s parents were never married.
- The child’s biological mother went to the grandmother’s home to see or retrieve the child.
- The grandmother alleged the mother physically assaulted her by hitting and pushing her several times before leaving.
- The grandmother sought an abuse-prevention order under Massachusetts G.L. c. 209A.
- A District Court judge issued an emergency ex parte order.
- At the extension hearing, another judge refused to extend the order, reasoning the grandmother and mother were not “related by blood or marriage” and thus were not “family or household members” under c. 209A.

## Issues

1. Whether a custodial paternal grandmother and the child’s biological mother qualify as “family or household members” under G.L. c. 209A, § 1, despite no direct blood or marital relationship between the two women.
2. Whether the District Court erred by denying extension of a c. 209A order solely for lack of a direct blood or marital relationship between the parties.

## Decision

- The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the denial of the extension and remanded.
- The court held the grandmother and mother are “family or household members” within G.L. c. 209A, § 1.
- The court ruled the District Court’s relationship-based disqualification was a misinterpretation of the statute.

## Legal Principles

- G.L. c. 209A is remedial and must be interpreted liberally to provide prompt, flexible protection against abuse by covered family or household members.
- “Related by blood or marriage” in G.L. c. 209A, § 1 is not limited to direct consanguinity between the adult parties; family relationships can include extended family connections tied to the child’s family unit.
- The existence of a child connecting the parties supports treating them as within the statute’s protected relationship categories; c. 209A should not be construed to create gaps that exclude foreseeable intrafamily abuse arising from child-centered disputes.

## Conclusion

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a custodial grandmother may seek an abuse-prevention order under G.L. c. 209A against the child’s mother because their relationship, defined by family ties through the child, falls within the statute’s “family or household members” coverage; the denial of the extension was vacated and the matter remanded.


Turner v. Lewis, 749 N.E.2d 122 (Mass. 2001)