reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 209c § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 1 - Declaration of Purpose; Definition; Responsibility for Support

Section 1. Children born to parents who are not married to each other shall be entitled to the same rights and protections of the law as all other children. It is the purpose of this chapter to establish a means for such children either to be acknowledged by their parents voluntarily or, on complaint by one or the other of their parents or such other person or agency as is authorized to file a complaint by section five, to have an acknowledgment or adjudication of their paternity, to have an order for their support and to have a declaration relative to their custody or visitation rights ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction. For the purpose of this chapter, the term ''child born out of wedlock'' shall refer to any child born to a man and woman who are not married to each other and shall include a child who was conceived and born to parents who are not married to each other but who subsequently intermarry and whose paternity has not been acknowledged by word or deed or whose paternity has not been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction; and a child born to parents who are not married to each other whose paternity has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction, including an adjudication in a proceeding pursuant to this chapter or prior law. Every person is responsible for the support of his child born out of wedlock from its birth up to the age of eighteen, or, where such child is domiciled in the home of a parent and principally dependent upon said parent for maintenance, to age twenty-one. Each person charged with support under this section shall be required to furnish support according to his financial ability and earning capacity pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 2 - Paternity; Acknowledgment or Adjudication; Statistical Information of Parties; Transmission to Registrar

Section 2. Paternity may be established by filing with the court, the clerk of the city or town where the child was born or the registrar of vital records and statistics an acknowledgment of parentage executed by both parents pursuant to section 11 or pursuant to an action to establish paternity filed pursuant to this chapter; provided, however, that if a judgment or finding of paternity has been issued by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction under the law of another state or foreign country or if both parents executed a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage in accordance with the law of another state or foreign country, such judgment, finding or voluntary acknowledgment shall be accorded full faith and credit and paternity shall not be relitigated. Upon receipt of an acknowledgment of paternity, the clerk of such city or town shall forward the original acknowledgment to said registrar as provided in chapter 46. Upon receipt of an acknowledgment of parentage or upon an adjudication of paternity under this chapter, the court shall transmit to the registrar of vital records and statistics a certified copy of the acknowledgment or order establishing paternity, together with such statistical information as said registrar may require, upon such form and in such format as designated by said registrar, which shall include the name, residence, date of birth, place of birth and social security number of each of the parties and the child, the sex of the child, and such additional information as the commissioner of public health deems useful for statistical and research purposes. Actions to establish support obligations or for custody or visitation rights may also be filed pursuant to this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 4 - Venue; Service

Section 4. Actions under this chapter to establish paternity, 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 the child then the complaint shall be filed in the judicial district or county where the child lives; but, if the parents have been parties to a prior action under this chapter and that action has not been dismissed, a subsequent action under this chapter may be filed in the judicial district or county where the earlier action was filed. The fact that the child was conceived, was born, or lives outside the commonwealth does not bar a proceeding to establish paternity pursuant to this chapter. Service of the complaint shall be made in accordance with applicable rules of court. In addition to those otherwise authorized to serve civil process, any officer authorized under the laws of the commonwealth to serve criminal process may serve any process under this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 6 - Presumption of Paternity; Mandatory Joinder

Section 6. (a) In all actions under this chapter a man is presumed to be the father of a child and must be joined as a party if:  (1) he is or has been married to the mother and the child was born during the marriage, or within three hundred days after the marriage was terminated by death, annulment or divorce; or  (2) before the child's birth, he married or attempted to marry the mother by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child was born during the attempted marriage or within three hundred days after its termination; or  (3) after the child's birth, he married or attempted to marry the mother by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and  (i) he agreed to support the child under a written voluntary promise, or  (ii) he has engaged in any other conduct which can be construed as an acknowledgment of paternity; or  (4) while the child is under the age of majority, he, jointly with the mother, received the child into their home and openly held out the child as their child; or  (5) he has acknowledged paternity in a parental responsibility claim as provided in section four A of chapter two hundred and ten and the mother, having received actual notice thereof, has failed within a reasonable time, to object thereto; or  (6) with respect to a child born before April 13, 1994, with his consent and the consent of the child's mother, he is named as the child's father on the birth certificate as provided in section one of chapter forty-six.  (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), a husband or former husband shall not be required to be joined as a party if non-paternity of the child has previously been adjudicated in a proceeding between the husband and the mother of such child in a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction.  (c) Notice to a party joined as herein provided shall be sufficient if the summons is mailed to the last known address by a form of mail requiring a receipt and, if actual notice shall not be made as aforesaid, by publishing a copy of the notice once in each of three successive weeks in a newspaper designated by the court.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 7 - Representation in Paternity Actions; Appointment of Counsel; Burden of Proof

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 paternity. In actions in which custody or visitation are contested, court may appoint counsel to represent either party whenever the interests of justice require.  The burden of proof in proceedings under this chapter to establish paternity shall be by clear and convincing evidence.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 8 - Judgment of Paternity; Age of Father; Notice

Section 8. On complaint to establish paternity, the court shall make a judgment establishing or not establishing paternity which shall be determinative for all purposes. Upon default of the defendant or his failure to personally appear, the court shall make a judgment establishing paternity if a showing is made that the complaint was served in accordance with the applicable rules of court and that the mother or putative father submits that sexual intercourse between the parties occurred during the probable period of conception. For good cause shown, the court may set aside an entry of default and, if a judgment has been entered, may likewise set it aside in accordance with rule 60(b) of the Massachusetts Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure. The age of the person alleged to be the father or mother in any action under this chapter, including a filing of a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage, shall not be a bar to the establishment of paternity or entry of a support order pursuant to section nine. If the child or the mother on behalf of the child is a recipient of public assistance and if the department of transitional assistance, the department of children and families, the division of medical assistance or any other public assistance program has not been made a party as required by section five, the court shall notify the IV–D agency as set forth in chapter 119A of the judgment. If the judgment is at variance with the child's birth certificate, the court shall order that a new birth certificate be issued under section thirteen of chapter forty-six.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 12 - Trial; Exclusion of Public

Section 12. In actions under this chapter, the trial shall be by the court without a jury. In an action to establish paternity, the court shall, upon request of any party, exclude the general public from the room where the trial is held and may admit only persons directly interested in the case, including officers of the court and witnesses.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 13 - Inspection of Documents; Copies; Segregation of Records

Section 13. In an action to establish paternity or in which paternity of a child is an issue, all complaints, pleadings, papers, documents or reports filed in connection therewith, docket entries in the permanent docket and record books shall be segregated and unavailable for inspection only if the judge of the court where such records are kept, for good cause shown, so orders or the person alleged to be the father is adjudicated not to be the father of the child; provided, however, that the child, the child's mother, the person adjudicated to be the father and the department of transitional assistance, the department of children and families, the division of medical assistance or any other public assistance program and the IV–D agency as set forth in chapter 119A, when the child who is or was the subject of the complaint is a recipient of public assistance or the attorney for any of them, and the department of children and families, when the child who is or was the subject of the complaint is within the care and protection of the department of children and families, is the subject of a petition for such care or protection pursuant to chapter 119 or is the subject of a petition to dispense with consent for adoption pursuant to subsection (b) of section 3 of chapter 210, shall have access to and the right to obtain copies of the papers, docket books and judgments in actions pursuant to this chapter. For good cause shown, which may be made ex parte or upon credible evidence, parties may file a complaint without the address, and the court shall impound a party's address by excluding it from the complaint and from all other court documents and testimony, and shall ensure that the address is kept confidential from each other party except the IV–D agency as set forth in chapter 119A.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 14 - Complaints Brought Prior to Birth

Section 14. An action to establish paternity of a child may be instituted during pregnancy of the mother but shall only be filed by the mother or her representative or by the IV–D agency as set forth in chapter 119A on behalf of the mother. In the case of any complaint brought prior to the birth of the child, no final judgment on the issue of paternity shall be made until after the birth of the child; provided, however, that the court may order temporary support or health care coverage.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 18 - Judgments or Orders of Support; Enforcement

Section 18. Each judgment or order of support which is issued, reviewed or modified pursuant to this chapter shall conform to and shall be enforced in accordance with the provisions of chapter one hundred and nineteen A.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 19 - Judgment or Temporary Order of Support; Enforcement

Section 19. A judgment of support issued in conclusion of a proceeding under this chapter or a temporary support order issued under this chapter may be enforced with one or more of the following methods:  (1) contempt in accordance with sections thirty-four and thirty-four A of chapter two hundred and fifteen;  (2) execution of the judgment;  (3) attachment of or lien against property;  (4) trustee process, in accordance with the provisions of chapter two hundred and forty-six;  (5) equitable actions to reach and apply for the enforcement of judgments; and  (6) any other civil remedy available for the enforcement of judgments or for the enforcement of support or custody orders entered under chapter two hundred and eight, and two hundred and nine, or received, entered or registered pursuant to chapter two hundred and nine D, including any remedy available under chapter 119A.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 21 - Action to Determine Mother and Child Relationship

Section 21. Any interested party may bring an action to determine the existence of a mother and child relationship. Insofar as practicable, the provisions of this chapter applicable to establishing paternity shall apply.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 22 - Proceedings Barred Under This Chapter

Section 22. (a) A decree or judgment entered on a petition filed pursuant to sections three or six of chapter two hundred and ten shall be a bar to a proceeding under this chapter.  (b) A proceeding under chapter two hundred and seven, two hundred and eight, two hundred and nine, two hundred and seventy-three, or two hundred and nine D shall not be a bar to any proceeding under this chapter. An action brought under this chapter may be consolidated with an action brought under chapters two hundred and seven, two hundred and eight, two hundred and nine or two hundred and nine D if both actions are pending in the same department of the trial court.  (c) If an action under chapter two hundred and seven, two hundred and eight, or two hundred and nine, is filed after the commencement of proceedings or after a judgment under this chapter, any order or judgment for support of a child issued in the annulment, divorce or separate support proceedings shall supersede any prior order or judgment for support of the same child under this chapter; and any assignment made under this chapter shall be superseded by an assignment made in the divorce, separate support, or annulment proceeding; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prevent the court in such annulment, separate support or divorce proceeding from entering an order or judgment enforcing any previous support order or judgment for support under this chapter which has not been paid, consistent with the provisions of section nine.  (d) No proceeding hereunder shall be barred by a prior finding or adjudication under any repealed sections of chapter two hundred and seventy-three or by the fact that a child was born prior to the effective date of this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 23 - Intermarriage of Parents; Jurisdiction

Section 23. (a) If, after adjudication of paternity or voluntary acknowledgment of parentage, the parents of the child intermarry, any order or judgments of the court relative to support, custody, visitation and restraint on personal liberty shall be null and void, except as to any support arrearage which is owed to the commonwealth as reimbursement for public assistance and which accrued before the date that the parents intermarry and the court shall have no continuing jurisdiction over the parties under this chapter.  (b) If, after proceedings are commenced but before an adjudication of paternity is issued, the parents intermarry, the court may adjudicate paternity hereunder but shall have no other jurisdiction over the child or the parents under this chapter.  (c) An action under this chapter may be commenced after the intermarriage of the parents of the child only to determine paternity.
MA Gen L ch 209c § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 209c - Children Born Out of Wedlock|Section 24 - Forms

Section 24. The administrative justices of the district, Boston municipal and the probate and family court department of the trial court shall jointly promulgate forms for complaints, agreements and registrations of parentage for use under this chapter, which shall be in such form and language to permit a person to prepare and file such forms pro se.
MA Gen L ch 210 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 210 - Adoption of Children and Change of Names|Section 1 - Nature of Adoption; District or Juvenile Court

Section 1. A person of full age may petition the probate court in the county where he resides for leave to adopt as his child another person younger than himself, unless such other person is his or her wife or husband, or brother, sister, uncle or aunt, of the whole or half blood. A minor may likewise petition, or join in the petition of his or her wife or husband, for the adoption of a natural child of one of the parties. If the petitioner has a husband or wife living, competent to join in the petition, such husband or wife shall join therein, and upon adoption the child shall in law be the child of both; provided, however, that the prayer of the petition may be granted although the spouse of the petitioner is not a party to the petition if the court finds: (i) the failure of the spouse to join in the petition or to consent to the adoption is excused by reason of prolonged unexplained absence, legal separation, prolonged separation, incapacity or circumstances constituting an unreasonable withholding of consent; (ii) the husband and wife are not in the process of an ongoing divorce; and (iii) the granting of the petition is in the best interests of the child. If a person not an inhabitant of this commonwealth desires to adopt a child residing here, the petition may be made to the probate court in the county where the child resides.  The district or juvenile court may, if it appears necessary or convenient, exercise the powers authorized by this chapter, but only in respect to a pending proceeding before such district or juvenile court.
MA Gen L ch 210 § 2a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 210 - Adoption of Children and Change of Names|Section 2a - Decree of Adoption; Entry; Conditions Precedent

Section 2A. No decree of adoption shall be entered for the adoption of a child below the age of fourteen until one of the following conditions has been met:—  (A) The child sought to be adopted has been placed with the petitioners for adoption by the department of children and families or by an agency authorized by said department for such purpose, or  (B) The petitioner is a blood relative of the child sought to be adopted, or  (C) The petitioner is a step-parent of the child sought to be adopted, or  (D) The petitioner was nominated in the will of a deceased natural parent of the child as a guardian or an adoptive parent, or  (E) The petition for adoption has been approved in writing by the department of children and families or by an agency authorized by said department. Any petitioner aggrieved by the refusal of the department or of an agency to approve such petition after being requested to do so, may appeal such refusal to the probate court in which the petition for adoption is pending, which court shall make final determination as to the allowance or dismissal of the petition.
MA Gen L ch 210 § 2b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part II - Real and Personal Property and Domestic Relations|Title III - Domestic Relations|Chapter 210 - Adoption of Children and Change of Names|Section 2b - Adoption Decrees; Mandatory Language

Section 2B. Every decree of adoption entered by the court shall include the words ''This adoption is final and irrevocable.''