R.D. v. A.H.

This case concerns a custody dispute between the plaintiff, R.D., who has been a de facto parent of the child, Thomas (pseudonym), for much of the child’s life, and the defendant, A.H., the child’s biological father. After a thirteen-*707day trial, a judge in the Probate and Family Court (Probate Court) denied R.D.’s petition to be appointed permanent guardian with custody, finding that A.H. was not unfit and was therefore entitled to the custody of his son. R.D. appeals. She argues that (1) in a custody dispute between a legal parent and a de facto parent, custody should be awarded on the basis…