Page 12 - BusinessWest February 17, 2025

LAW>>
The
Massachusetts
Parentage Act
A Step Toward Parentage Equality for All
BY JULIE A. DIALESSI-LAFLEY, ESQ. AND BRITANEY N. GUZMAN-BAILEY, ESQ.
The Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA), a new law that went into effect on Jan. 1, revolutionizes how parentage may be legally recognized in the Commonwealth.
The MPA replaces outdated language with inclusive, gender-neutral language so that its provisions reflect the great diversity of families in Massachusetts. For example, ‘paternity’ is now ‘parentage,’ ‘mother and father’ is now ‘parents,’ and the statute is now titled “Non-marital Children and Parentage
of Children” rather than “Children Born Out of Wedlock.”
Parentage is the legal relationship between a child and a parent of the child.
Establishing parentage is important for the well-being of a child because the relationship is the foundation of various rights and responsibilities for the parent and child alike, including access to educational and medical records, tax benefits, health insurance, government benefits, inheritance rights, financial support, cus- tody, and parenting time.
The MPA does not make changes to custody, parenting time, or child support. The changes pertain to who can be the legal parent of a child and how parentage
“Establishing parentage is important for the well-being of
a child because the relationship is the foundation of various rights and responsibilities for
the parent and child alike, including access to educational and medical records, tax benefits, health insurance, government benefits, inheritance rights, financial support, custody, and parenting time.”
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