General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 46 Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths
- Massachusetts General Laws - Certificates of birth, marriage, death and acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity; contents; residence defined - Chapter 46, Section 1
Each town clerk shall receive or obtain and record the following facts, as well as such additional information that may be required under federal statutes...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Certificates of birth resulting in stillbirth; filing - Chapter 46, Section 11/2
The state registrar shall establish a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth for fetal deaths, as defined in section 202 of chapter 111, occurring in...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Birth records of abandoned children or foundlings - Chapter 46, Section 1A
Each town clerk shall receive or obtain and record in the record of births facts relative to births of abandoned children and foundlings found within...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Filing reports of out-of-state births or adoptions - Chapter 46, Section 1B
Any resident of the commonwealth who is the parent of a child born outside the commonwealth may personally present to the town clerk of the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Filing reports of out-of-state deaths - Chapter 46, Section 1C
The spouse or heirs at law of any resident of this commonwealth who dies outside the commonwealth may personally present to the town clerk of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Adoption of surname upon marriage - Chapter 46, Section 1D
Each party to a marriage may adopt any surname, including but not limited to the present or birth-given surname of either party, may retain or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Definitions - Chapter 46, Section 1E
As used in this chapter the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: (a) “Administrator”, the hospital administrator or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Separate registries for births, deaths and marriages - Chapter 46, Section 2
Separate indexes of births, marriages and deaths shall be kept, and each entry shall be numbered in its order. The town clerk shall preserve all...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Disclosure of information about vital statistics; conditions - Chapter 46, Section 2A
Examination of records and returns of children born out of wedlock or abnormal sex births, or fetal deaths, or of the notices of intention of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Pre-adoption birth certificates; application for inspection by adopted persons - Chapter 46, Section 2B
Upon written application, which shall include proof of identity and payment of applicable fees, by an adopted person 18 years of age or older who...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Pre-adoption birth certificates; access by child of deceased adopted parent - Chapter 46, Section 2C
If an adopted person is deceased, his child, if 18 years or older, or such child’s parent or guardian if such child is less than...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Physician’s record of birth; out of hospital birth - Chapter 46, Section 3
Every physician or hospital medical officer shall keep a record of birth of every child of which he is in charge showing the information required...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Hospital administrator’s duties; report; verification - Chapter 46, Section 3A
The administrator or person in charge of a hospital shall be required to obtain, within twenty-four hours after a birth occurring therein or the admittance...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Birth without immediate admittance to hospital for postnatal care; report - Chapter 46, Section 3B
Every physician attending a birth after which the mother and child are not admitted to a hospital for postnatal care immediately after birth shall, within...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Children born out of wedlock; information regarding benefits and responsibilities of parentage; voluntary acknowledgment of parentage - Chapter 46, Section 3C
Prior to obtaining the report required by section three, if a birth is of a child whose mother was unmarried at the time of birth...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity; records available to IV-D agency - Chapter 46, Section 3D
The state registrar shall accept for filing acknowledgments of paternity obtained by the hospital administrator and the city and town clerk pursuant to this chapter...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Birth without attending physician; report; recording; petition; hearing - Chapter 46, Section 4
The mother of a child who was born without a physician or hospital medical officer in attendance shall, within thirty days after the birth of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Local officials; processing of birth certificates - Chapter 46, Section 4A
Each town clerk upon receipt of the return of a birth in his town shall determine that it is filled out in accordance with the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Artificial insemination - Chapter 46, Section 4B
Any child born to a married woman as a result of artificial insemination with the consent of her husband, shall be considered the legitimate child...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1968, 84, Sec. 5 - Chapter 46, Section 5
Repealed, 1968, 84, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Notification of births and deaths - Chapter 46, Section 6
Parents, within forty days after the birth of a child, and every householder, within forty days after a birth in his house, shall cause notice...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Report of births and deaths at sea - Chapter 46, Section 7
The master or other commanding officer of a vessel shall give notice, with the facts required for record, of every birth or death occurring among...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Report of births on airplanes; penalty for violation - Chapter 46, Section 7A
The captain or other commanding officer of an airplane shall give notice, with the facts required for record, of every birth occurring among the persons...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Penalty for failure to report births and deaths - Chapter 46, Section 8
A parent, keeper, superintendent or other person required by section six to give or cause to be given notice of a birth or death, neglecting...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Death certificates; issuance; contents; declaration of death by nurse, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant - Chapter 46, Section 9
A physician, after the death of a person whom he has attended during such person’s last illness, or the physician declaring such person dead, or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1977, 598, Sec. 1 - Chapter 46, Section 9A
Repealed, 1977, 598, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Penalties - Chapter 46, Section 9B
A physician or officer neglecting or refusing to furnish a certificate as provided in section nine or making a false statement therein, shall forfeit not...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Death certificates of veterans; contents; penalty for violation - Chapter 46, Section 10
A physician or officer furnishing a certificate of death as required by section nine or by section forty-five of chapter one hundred and fourteen, shall,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Duties of undertakers - Chapter 46, Section 11
Every undertaker or other person in charge of a funeral shall forthwith obtain the physician’s or officer’s certificate required by section nine, enter thereon the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Certified copies of birth certificates and death records; transmission to parents or next of kin; exceptions - Chapter 46, Section 12
Except as hereinafter provided, the clerk of a city or town shall forthwith make a certified copy of the record of each birth and death...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Correction of records - Chapter 46, Section 13
(a) If the record relating to a birth, marriage, acknowledgment or adjudication of paternity, or death does not contain all the required facts, or if...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Correction of birth records; procedure - Chapter 46, Section 13A
If it is claimed that a child was born in a city or town in this commonwealth and the clerk or registrar of such city...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Penalty for false returns - Chapter 46, Section 14
Whoever wilfully makes a false return relative to a birth, marriage or death shall forfeit not more than fifty dollars.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 2010, 327, Sec. 1 - Chapter 46, Section 15
Repealed, 2010, 327, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Blank forms for vital records; security features; approval of non-state registrar supplied forms; standards for forms used for permanent records - Chapter 46, Section 16
The state registrar shall prepare and furnish forms of uniform size to the clerks, boards of health, physicians, hospitals, the chief medical examiner, funeral directors,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Birth records; state registrar; originals; certified copies - Chapter 46, Section 17
Effective January 1, 2000, the clerk of each town and of each city shall, on or before the tenth day of the second month following...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Marriage records; state registrar; originals; certified copies - Chapter 46, Section 17A
Effective January 1, 2000, the clerk of each city and town shall, on or before the tenth day of the second month following every month...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Death records; state registrar; originals; certified copies - Chapter 46, Section 17B
Effective January 1, 2000, the clerk of each city and town shall, on or before the tenth day of the month, transmit to the state...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Original forms and evidence of amendments and corrections in birth, marriage and death records - Chapter 46, Section 17C
The original form and documentary evidence of such amendments and corrections in birth, marriage and death records as have not been previously returned shall be...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Amended birth, marriage and death records; certified copies to holders of originals - Chapter 46, Section 17D
If an amendment to a birth, death or marriage record is completed at the state registry, the state registrar shall forward a certified copy of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Script used on forms; state standards for uniformity, security, materials, devices and preservation - Chapter 46, Section 18
Records transmitted by the town clerk under section 12 and sections 17 to 17D, inclusive, shall be written in legible hand, typewritten, printed using an...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Use of records as evidence - Chapter 46, Section 19
The record of the town clerk relative to a birth, marriage or death shall be prima facie evidence of the facts recorded, but nothing contained...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Unauthorized reproduction of records; penalty - Chapter 46, Section 19A
Reproductions of certificates or records referred to in section nineteen by any person other than the town clerk, assistant clerk, commissioner of public health shall...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Certified copies of birth records; restricted information regarding mother - Chapter 46, Section 19B
A certified copy of a birth record furnished under section two A shall not, unless the applicant so requests or unless the certificate is to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Authentication of copies of birth, marriage and death records; use as evidence - Chapter 46, Section 19C
The state registrar shall use the seal of the department of public health for the purpose of authenticating copies of birth, marriage and death records,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Births and deaths in Tewksbury Hospital; records - Chapter 46, Section 20
Records of birth and death previously held by the superintendent of Tewksbury Hospital shall be transferred to the town clerk of Tewksbury. No certified copies...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1976, 486, Sec. 15 - Chapter 46, Section 21
Repealed, 1976, 486, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Registrars of vital statistics - Chapter 46, Section 22
Any city, except Boston, and any town containing more than ten thousand inhabitants, may provide for the appointment of a person other than the clerk...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Prosecution of persons failing to file required reports - Chapter 46, Section 23
The town clerk shall give written notice of the requirements of this chapter to any person neglecting to comply therewith, and upon the continuance of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Statements of births and deaths; penalty - Chapter 46, Section 24
In any statement of births or deaths printed by a town the name of a child born out of wedlock or of its parents shall...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Disposition of fines and forfeitures - Chapter 46, Section 25
All fines and forfeitures recovered under this chapter shall, except as provided in sections twenty-four and twenty-seven, accrue to the benefit of the town where...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Fees - Chapter 46, Section 26
The town clerk shall receive the following fees from the town upon presenting to the town treasurer a certificate of the receipt of the prescribed...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Clerks; penalty for neglecting required duties - Chapter 46, Section 27
A city or town clerk or registrar refusing or neglecting to perform any duty required of him under this chapter shall be punished by a...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Administration of oaths - Chapter 46, Section 28
An oath required by this chapter may be administered by the clerk, assistant clerk or registrar of a town.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Attestation of certificates - Chapter 46, Section 29
Town clerks or registrars shall attest their copies of the record of births, marriages or deaths with the official seal of the town.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Alteration, forgery or counterfeiting; penalty - Chapter 46, Section 30
Whoever falsely makes, alters, forges or counterfeits, or procures or assists another to falsely make, forge or counterfeit, a copy of a record of birth,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Adoption contact information registry - Chapter 46, Section 31
The registry of vital records and statistics, subject to appropriation, shall establish and maintain an adoption contact information registry for the purpose of connecting parents...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Reasonable cause to believe there has been misconduct regarding vital records; actions by clerk and state registrar - Chapter 46, Section 32
When a clerk at the registry or a town clerk has reasonable cause to believe that a vital record may have been falsely made, altered,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Centralized, automated database for vital records and statistics; certified copies issued from database; capacity requirements of database; maintenance and preservation of original paper records - Chapter 46, Section 33
The state registrar shall establish, maintain and operate a centralized, automated database for the system of vital records and statistics, subject to appropriation. The state...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Agreements to verify existence of birth, marriage or death records - Chapter 46, Section 34
The state registrar may enter into agreements with state and federal agencies administering public health and welfare programs, registrars of motor vehicles, passport agencies or...
Last modified: September 11, 2015