Massachusetts law about parentage

Laws, regulations, cases, and web sources on establishing who is a child's legal parent.

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Best bet

Information for DOR customers who need to establish parentage or go to court, Mass. Department of Revenue.
Explains the process of asking for DOR’s help to establish parentage. Videos are available in English and Spanish. Also included:

• How to establish parentage
• Learn about establishing parentage
• Learn about genetic marker testing
• Parentage and safety concerns

Massachusetts laws

MGL c. 209C Nonmarital children and parentage of children

MGL c. 46 Return and registry of births, marriages & deaths

MGL c. 119A, § 3A Establishment of parentage; genetic marker tests

MGL c. 190B, § 2-114 Descent and distribution: parent and child relationship

MGL c. 209D, § 4-402 Proceeding to determine parentage

MGL c. 273, § 15 Duty to support nonmarital children; conclusiveness of adjudication or acknowledgment of parentage

St. 2024, c. 166 An act to ensure legal parentage equality

Massachusetts regulations

830 CMR 18 Cooperation with child support enforcement

• 830 CMR 18.18A.1 Cooperation by applicants for and recipients of public assistance with efforts by the Child Support Services Division of the Department of Revenue to establish parentage and establish, modify and enforce child support orders

Federal laws

42 USC §§ 651 et seq. Child support and establishment of paternity

Forms

Parentage forms

Selected cases

Selected court cases on the topic of parentage

Web sources

Common questions about paternity and paternity tests, Mass. Legal Help, 2024.
Includes information regarding establishing paternity if you agree or disagree on paternity, establishing paternity in same-sex relationships, genetic markers, and more.

Paternity issues: Family law advocacy for low and moderate income litigants, 3^rd ed., 2018, Chapter 7. Mass. Legal Services.
Includes how to establish paternity, how to answer a complaint, and information on custody and visitation, with checklists and sample forms.

TAFDC child support rules, Mass. Legal Help, 2025.
"The TAFDC [Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children] child support rules require most people who apply for TAFDC to 'cooperate' in identifying and locating the parent of each child. You must make a good faith effort to help identify and cooperate with child support enforcement unless you have a good reason not to."

Print sources

Disputed paternity proceedings by Nina M. Vitek, Matthew Bender, loose-leaf. (eBook available with library card)

Family law and practice, 4^th ed., (Mass. Practice v. 3), Thomson Reuters, 2013 with annual supplement.
Chapter 89: Proceedings as to the Parentage of Children (includes forms on disk).

LexisNexis practice guide: Massachusetts family law, LexisNexis. (2025 eBook available with library card)
Chapter 10: Paternity.

Massachusetts domestic relations, LexisNexis, with supplement. (eBook available with library card)
Volume 2, chapter 23: Children born out of wedlock (includes forms).

Paternity and the law of parentage in Massachusetts, 3^rd ed., MCLE, 2018 (includes forms).

Summary of basic law, 5^th ed., (Mass. Practice v. 14B) Thomson Reuters, 2014 with annual supplement.
Section 8:145: Voluntary acknowledgement – Rescission.

Last updated:	June 6, 2025