Massachusetts law about paternity (parentage)

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

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Best bet

Paternity issues: family law advocacy for low and moderate income litigants, 3d 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.

Massachusetts laws

MGL c. 209C Children born out of wedlock

“A man is presumed to be the father of a child and must be joined as a party if (1) he is or has been married to the mother and the child was born during the marriage, or within three hundred days after the marriage was terminated by death, annulment or divorce.”

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

MGL c. 119A, § 3A Establishment of paternity; 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 child born out of wedlock; conclusiveness of adjudication or acknowledgment of paternity

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

Massachusetts regulations

830 CMR 18A.1 Cooperation by applicants for and recipients of public assistance with efforts by the Child Support Enforcement 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

Paternity forms (English & Portuguese)

Selected cases

Selected court cases on the topic of paternity (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.

Information for DOR customers who need to establish paternity or go to court, Mass. Dept. of Revenue (Videos available in English and Spanish)
Explains the process of asking for DOR’s help to establish paternity.

Learn about establishing paternity, Mass. Dept. of Revenue.
Explains the process of asking for DOR’s help to establish paternity.

Learn about paternity testing, Mass. Dept. of Revenue.
Information about testing procedure, receiving results, and cost.

Parents who were never married: establishing paternity in Massachusetts, Lynch & Owens, P.C., 2016.
Provides a comprehensive explanation of how to establish paternity.

Paternity in Massachusetts, Divorce.net. 
“Learn how you can establish paternity and why it's beneficial for your child in Massachusetts.”

TAFDC child support rules, Mass. Legal Help, 2024.
"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.

Family law and practice, 4th ed., (Mass. Practice v. 3), Thomson Reuters 2013 with annual supplement. Chapter 89 (includes forms on disk).

LexisNexis practice guide: Massachusetts family law, LexisNexis, chap. 10. 

Massachusetts domestic relations, LexisNexis, with supplement, vol. 2, chap. 23 (includes forms).

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

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

Last updated:	August 13, 2024