USA – MASSACHUSETTS Law and Practice Contributed by: Patricia Annino, Rimon, P.C.
9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children The Massachusetts Parentage Act (effective as of 1 January 2025), updating MGL c 209C, strengthens protections for parents who use surrogacy, in vitro fertilisation or other forms of assisted reproduction. A parent can now establish legal parentage through one of eight methods: presumption of parentage (both marital and non-marital presumptions), court adjudi - cation by a court of competent jurisdiction, acknowl - edgement through signing a voluntary acknowledge - ment of parentage, genetic connection (excluding egg or sperm donors), adoption, de facto parentage (defined), intended parentage through assisted repro - duction, and intended parentage through a surrogacy agreement. Explanation of Terms “Intended parent” An “intended parent” is a person, married or unmar - ried, who intends to be legally recognised as a parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction. “Presumed parent” A “presumed parent” is an individual assumed to be the parent of a child, unless the presumption is legally challenged or a valid denial of parentage is issued, or a court judges them as a parent. An individual is considered a presumed parent if they are married to the child’s birth parent at the time of the child’s birth, if the child is born within 300 days of the termination of the parties’ marriage, or if the individual resides in the same household as the birth parent and child and has de facto parent status. The petitioner must provide clear and convincing evidence of: • living with the child as a regular member of the household for at least 40% of the child’s life or for at least three years; • consistently taking on care-giving responsibilities for the child; • assuming full and permanent responsibility for the child without expecting financial compensation; • presenting the child to others as their own; • forming a bonded, dependent relationship with the child that is parental in nature;
• receiving consent from all the legal parents for this relationship; and • demonstrating that formal adjudication of parent - age serves the child’s best interests. Legal parents Under the new law, a court may recognise more than two legal parents if multiple individuals have claims to parentage, and if acknowledging more than two parents serves the child’s best interests. Adopted children An adopted person is considered the child of the adopting parents and not of their natural parents. If the child is adopted, they are entitled to inherit under intestacy laws from the adopted parents, not the birth parents. If a child is placed for adoption and was legally adopted, that child will not inherit from their birth parent, unless the child was adopted by a blood relative. If a child is adopted by their parent’s spouse, that does not affect intestate inheritance law (MGLC c 190B, Section 2-114). Posthumously conceived children A posthumously conceived child is entitled to inherit under the laws of intestacy if the child survives for 120 hours (MGLC c 190B, Section 2-108). 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage Massachusetts was the first state in the country to recognise same sex marriage in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s opinion, Goodridge v Department of Health . Massachusetts also recognises domestic partner - ships. To register as domestic partners, the couple must be over 18 years of age and unmarried. They must declare themselves as domestic partners at a courthouse or government office and if the domestic partnership ends, they must notify the government. To qualify as domestic partners, the couple must also share living expenses, be responsible for each other’s well-being and that of any dependants, be mentally capable of entering into a contract, and not already have a domestic partnership with someone else. Domestic partners have rights to hospital visits, fam - ily healthcare coverage, correctional facility visitation rights, access to a dependent child’s school records,
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