An Act To Permit Modification of Department-initiated Paternity Judgments Concerning Parental Rights
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0628
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 19-A MRSA §1565

Legislative Document 
No. 628 
H.P.477 
House of Representatives, February 8, 2007 
An Act To Permit Modification of Department-initiated Paternity 
Judgments Concerning Parental Rights 
Reported by Representative SIMPSON of Auburn for the Family Law Advisory 
Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A, section 354, subsection 2. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be if 'enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 19-A MRSA §1565, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and 
affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read: 
2. Parental rights and responsibilities. The court may order an initial allocation of 
parental rights and responsibilities. The order of the court must provide notice that if 
either.party objects to the allocation, that party may file a complaint pursuant to section 
1654 and that an order from that action supersedes this initial allocation of parental rights 
and responsibilities. It is within the court's discretion to award or allocate parental rights 
and responsibilities under this subchapter and the department is not a party to this issue. 
lOIn resolving parental rights and responsibilities issues, the court may not delay entering a 
determination of paternity and an initial order concerning child support. After a final 
paternity order has been entered, the department may file a motion to withdraw. Whether 
or not the department has withdrawn, a party or a parent may file a motion to modifr 
pursuant to section 1653 or section 2009. 
A copy of the motion must be served in 
accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure on the other parent and the 
department, if the department has not withdrawn. A showing of substantial change in 
circumstances is not required if the moving party has not previously appeared in the 
action. 
Sec. 2. Application. This Act applies to orders issued under the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 19-A, section 1565, regardless of the date of issuance, if the initial 
allocation of parental rights and responsibilities is still in effect. 
SUMMARY 
This bill is a recommendation of the Family Law Advisory Commission. 
This bill addresses situations in which the Department of Health and Human Services 
initiates a paternity action and the court establishes an initial allocation of parental rights 
and responsibilities. Under current law, a parent interested in changing that allocation 
must file a new complaint in District Court. This bill allows a parent or other party to file 
a motion to modify the allocation as part of the paternity case rather than requiring the 
filing of a new court action. The motion to modify is the same as any other motion to 
modify in cases involving parental rights and responsibilities. 
This bill also allows the Department of Health and Human Services to file a motion 
to withdraw from the case once the final paternity order has been issued. Withdrawal 
does not prohibit the department from petitioning to be made a part of action later if 
necessary. 
If the party filing the motion for modification of parental rights and responsibilities 
did not appear in the action, that party is not required to show a substantial change in 
circumstances as is otherwise required in motions to modify. 
Page I - 123LR0473(Ol)-1 
I 
This bill includes an application section to make it clear that a new action need not be 
filed to modify an initial allocation of parental rights and responsibilities made prior to 
the effective date of this Act, as long as the initial allocation is still in effect.