Massachusetts Statutes

Section 28O. (a) Except as otherwise provided in sections 28M or 28N, upon the birth of a child conceived by assisted reproduction under a genetic surrogacy agreement, each intended parent shall be, by operation of law, a parent of the child, notwithstanding the death of an inten…

Section 28P. (a) Subject to subsection (d) of section 28L, if a genetic surrogacy agreement is breached by a genetic surrogate or 1 or more intended parents, the non-breaching party is entitled to the remedies available at law or in equity. (b) Specific performance shall not be a…

Section 28Q. (a) A law of a jurisdiction outside the commonwealth that authorizes a child to be removed from the care or custody of a parent or guardian based on the parent or guardian allowing their child to receive gender-affirming health care services, as defined in section 11…

Section 3. (a) The district, Boston municipal and the probate and family court departments of the trial court shall have concurrent jurisdiction over complaints to establish parentage or support and the registration of voluntary acknowledgments of parentage under this chapter; pr…

Section 4. Actions under this chapter to establish parentage, support, custody or visitation of a child shall be filed in the judicial district or county in which the child and 1 of the parents lives and if neither of the parents lives in the same judicial district or county as t…

Section 5. (a) Complaints under this chapter to establish parentage, support, visitation or custody of a child may be commenced by the person who gave birth to the child, whether a minor or not; by a person presumed to be or alleging himself to be the father, whether a minor or n…

Section 6. (a) A person is presumed to be the parent of a child and shall be joined as a party in all actions under this chapter if: (1) the person is or has been married to the person who gave birth to the child and the child was born during the marriage, or within three hundred…

Section 7. Actions under this chapter shall be civil actions. The IV–D agency, as set forth in chapter one hundred and nineteen A, may appear on behalf of a plaintiff in an action to establish parentage. In actions in which custody or visitation are contested, court may appoint c…

Section 8. On complaint to establish parentage, the court shall make a judgment establishing or not establishing parentage which shall be determinative for all purposes. Upon default of the defendant or the defendant's failure to personally appear, the court shall make a judgment…

Section 9. (a) If the court finds that a parent is chargeable with the support of a child, the court shall make an order in accordance with subsection (c) requiring a parent to pay weekly or at other fixed periods a sum for and toward the current support and maintenance of such c…

Section 1–101. Short title. This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.

Section 1–102. Definitions. In this chapter: (1) ''Child'', an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the pare…

Section 1–103. Tribunals and support enforcement agency of the commonwealth. (a) The probate and family court, the district court and the Boston municipal court departments of the trial court are the tribunals of the commonwealth. (b) The department of revenue is the support enfo…

Section 1–104. Remedies cumulative. (a) Remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and do not affect the availability of remedies under other law or the recognition of a foreign support order on the basis of comity. (b) This chapter does not: (1) provide the exclusive metho…

Section 1–105. Application of this chapter to resident of foreign country and foreign support proceeding. (a) A tribunal of the commonwealth shall apply Articles 1 to 6, inclusive, and, as applicable, Article 7, to a support proceeding involving: (1) a foreign support order; (2) …

Section 2–201. Bases for jurisdiction over nonresident. (a) In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of the commonwealth may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual or the individual's guardian o…

Section 2–202. Duration of personal jurisdiction. Personal jurisdiction acquired by a tribunal of the commonwealth in a proceeding under this chapter or other law of the commonwealth relating to a support order continues as long as a tribunal of the commonwealth has continuing, e…

Section 2–203. Initiating and responding tribunal of the commonwealth. Under this chapter, a tribunal of the commonwealth may serve as an initiating tribunal to forward proceedings to a tribunal of another state and as a responding tribunal for proceedings initiated in another st…

Section 2–204. Simultaneous proceedings. (a) A tribunal of the commonwealth may exercise jurisdiction to establish a support order if the petition or comparable pleading is filed after a pleading is filed in another state or a foreign country only if: (1) the petition or comparab…

Section 2–205. Continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify child support order. (a) A tribunal of the commonwealth that has issued a child support order consistent with the law of the commonwealth has and shall exercise continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its child supp…

Section 2–206. Continuing jurisdiction to enforce child support order. (a) A tribunal of the commonwealth that has issued a child support order consistent with the law of the commonwealth may serve as an initiating tribunal to request a tribunal of another state to enforce: (1) t…

Section 2–207. Determination of controlling child support order. (a) If a proceeding is brought under this chapter and only 1 tribunal has issued a child support order, the order of that tribunal controls and must be recognized. (b) If a proceeding is brought under this chapter a…

Section 2–208. Child support orders for 2 or more obligees. In responding to registrations or petitions for enforcement of 2 or more child support orders in effect at the same time with regard to the same obligor and different individual obligees, at least 1 of which was issued b…

Section 2–209. Credit for payments. A tribunal of the commonwealth shall credit amounts collected for a particular period pursuant to any child support order against the amounts owed for the same period under any other child support order for support of the same child issued by a…

Section 2–210. Application of chapter to nonresident subject to personal jurisdiction. A tribunal of the commonwealth exercising personal jurisdiction over a nonresident in a proceeding under this chapter, under other law of the commonwealth relating to a support order or recogni…

Section 2–211. Continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify spousal support order. (a) A tribunal of the commonwealth issuing a spousal support order consistent with the law of the commonwealth has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify the spousal support order throughout …

Section 3–301. Proceedings under this chapter. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, this article applies to all proceedings under this chapter. (b) An individual petitioner or a support enforcement agency may initiate a proceeding authorized under this chapter by fil…

Section 3–302. Proceeding by minor parent. A minor parent or a guardian or other legal representative of a minor parent, may maintain a proceeding on behalf of or for the benefit of the minor's child.

Section 3–303. Application of law of the commonwealth. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a responding tribunal of the commonwealth shall: (1) apply the procedural and substantive law, generally applicable to similar proceedings originating in the commonwealth and may …

Section 3–304. Duties of initiating tribunal. (a) Upon the filing of a petition authorized by this chapter, an initiating tribunal of the commonwealth shall forward the petition and its accompanying documents: (1) to the responding tribunal or appropriate support enforcement agen…

Section 3–305. Duties and powers of responding tribunal. (a) When a responding tribunal of the commonwealth receives a petition or comparable pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly pursuant to section 3–301 (b), it shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and no…

Section 3–306. Inappropriate tribunal. If a petition or comparable pleading is received by an inappropriate tribunal of the commonwealth, the tribunal shall forward the pleading and accompanying documents to an appropriate tribunal of the commonwealth or another state and notify …

Section 3–307. Duties of support enforcement agency. (a) In a proceeding under this chapter, a support enforcement agency of the commonwealth, upon request: (1) shall provide services to a petitioner residing in a state; (2) shall provide services to a petitioner requesting servi…

Section 3–308. Duty of attorney general. (a) If the attorney general determines that the support enforcement agency is neglecting or refusing to provide services to an individual, the attorney general may order the agency to perform its duties under this chapter or may provide th…

Section 3–309. Private counsel. An individual may employ private counsel to represent the individual in proceedings authorized by this chapter.

Section 3–310. Duties of state information agency. (a) The department of revenue is the state information agency under this chapter. (b) The state information agency shall: (1) compile and maintain a current list, including addresses, of the tribunals in the commonwealth which ha…

Section 3–311. Pleadings and accompanying documents. (a) In a proceeding under this chapter, a petitioner seeking to establish a support order, to determine parentage of a child or to register and modify a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country must fil…

Section 3–312. Nondisclosure of information in exceptional circumstances. If a party alleges in an affidavit or a pleading under oath that the health, safety or liberty of a party or child would be jeopardized by disclosure of specific identifying information, that information mu…

Section 3–313. Costs and fees. (a) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs. (b) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal of the commonwealth may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney's fees, other costs, and necessary travel…

Section 3–314. Limited immunity of petitioner. (a) Participation by a petitioner in a proceeding under this chapter before a responding tribunal, whether in person, by private attorney or through services provided by the support enforcement agency, does not confer personal jurisd…

Section 3–315. Nonparentage as defense. A party whose parentage of a child has been previously determined by or pursuant to law may not plead nonparentage as a defense to a proceeding under this chapter.

Section 3–316. Special rules of evidence and procedure. (a) The physical presence of a nonresident party who is an individual in a tribunal of the commonwealth is not required for the establishment, enforcement or modification of a support order or the rendition of a judgment det…

Section 3–317. Communications between tribunals. A tribunal of the commonwealth may communicate with a tribunal outside the commonwealth in a record or by telephone, electronic mail or other means, to obtain information concerning the laws, the legal effect of a judgment, decree …

Section 3–318. Assistance with discovery. A tribunal of the commonwealth may: (1) request a tribunal outside the commonwealth to assist in obtaining discovery; and (2) upon request, compel a person over which it has jurisdiction to respond to a discovery order issued by a tribuna…

Section 3–319. Receipt and disbursement of payments. (a) A support enforcement agency or tribunal of the commonwealth shall disburse promptly any amounts received pursuant to a support order, as directed by the order. The agency or tribunal shall furnish to a requesting party or …

Section 4–401. Establishment of support order. (a) If a support order entitled to recognition under this chapter has not been issued, a responding tribunal of the commonwealth with personal jurisdiction over the parties may issue a support order if: (1) the individual seeking the…