Page 25 - BusinessWest July 10, 2023

Parental Pitfalls
Love May Make a Family, But Is the Law Protecting Yours?
BY JULIE DICK, ESQ.
Laws that govern familial rights and responsibilities are not always intuitively related to the continual social evolution of what it means to be a family. Many do not
consider the legal realities of their family structure until a moment of crisis, and a lack of planning can cause difficult legal situations down the line.
When laws governing parentage were written, they contemplated families in which there was a biological mother and a biological father, and marriage was heavily incentivized. Since then, family structures and paths to existence have diversified. The law and society have both recognized a significant growth of LGBTQ+ visibility
and rights, assisted reproductive technology has become increasingly accessible, and more children are being born to unmarried parents.
During the fight for marriage equality in the U.S., the importance of marriage to family building and parentage was one of the central talking points of the movement, and
it is no wonder why. Marriage is often a social, religious,
and cultural event, but it is also a legal contract that confers many protections, benefits, and obligations unavailable to unmarried people. From the right to access a spouse’s health insurance to the availability of some forms of family leave
to financially significant tax and estate-planning benefits
— the legal and financial impacts of marriage are broad. Until recently, those benefits, and the benefits associated with parentage, were categorically unavailable to LGBTQ+
families.
In Massachusetts, the automatic rights and
responsibilities accorded to individuals within a family
are still largely dependent on whether the birth parent
is married. If a married person gives birth to a child, the second party to that marriage is automatically presumed
to be the second parent. That parentage comes with obligations, but also rights, including a presumption of shared legal and physical custody (i.e., the right to make decisions on behalf of the minor child and to have that child live with them).
Massachusetts was the very first U.S. state to allow marriage equality. A 2004 case, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, interpreted civil marriage to mean “the voluntary union of two persons as spouses, to the exclusion of all others,” recognizing that doing so would advance
the state’s interests in “providing a stable setting for childrearing.”
“During the fight for marriage equality
in the U.S., the importance of marriage to family building
and parentage was one of the central talking points of the movement, and it is no wonder why.”
The decision directs the reader of Massachusetts marriage laws to interpret terms like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ in a gender-neutral way. In 2015, marriage equality became available nationwide with a landmark case, Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Supreme Court’s majority opinion boldly stated that “no union is more profound than marriage,”
recognizing that
it is so essential,
Family
>>
Continued on page 28
Where Family And Law Meet
Bulkley Richardson is pleased to announce the return of our Family Law practice, handling a range of legal issues involving domestic relationships.
We welcome Julie Dick, a fierce advocate for her clients, who will lead the Family Law practice. Bulkley Richardson is committed to handling all matters with respect, compassion and discretion.
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