General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 210 Adoption of Children and Change of Names
- Massachusetts General Laws - Nature of adoption; district or juvenile court - Chapter 210, 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...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Written consent of certain persons; form of consent; identification of father - Chapter 210, Section 2
A decree of adoption shall not be made, except as provided in this chapter, without the written consent of the child to be adopted, if...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Decree of adoption; entry; conditions precedent - Chapter 210, 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...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Adoption decrees; mandatory language - Chapter 210, Section 2B
Every decree of adoption entered by the court shall include the words “This adoption is final and irrevocable.”
- Massachusetts General Laws - Dispensing with required consent in certain cases - Chapter 210, Section 3
(a) Whenever a petition for adoption is filed by a person having the care or custody of a child, the consent of the persons named...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1972, 800, Sec. 3 - Chapter 210, Section 3A
Repealed, 1972, 800, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Registration of interest for pre-adoptive or adoptive placement; criminal record review - Chapter 210, Section 3B
When deciding whether to approve or reject a registration of interest for pre-adoptive or adoptive placement, the department shall conduct a review of any misdemeanor...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Notice - Chapter 210, Section 4
If the written consent required by section two is not submitted to the court with the petition, the court shall, except where the court under...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Fathers of children born out of wedlock; adoption rights - Chapter 210, Section 4A
Whenever the mother of a child born out of wedlock has surrendered the child in accordance with section two, or whenever the right of such...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Failure to object after notice; proceedings - Chapter 210, Section 5
If, after such notice, a person whose consent is required does not appear and object to the adoption, the court may act upon the petition...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Children under fourteen; adoption; regulations; removals - Chapter 210, Section 5A
Upon the filing of a petition for adoption of a child under the age of fourteen, notice shall be given to the department of children...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Adoptive custody; factors considered; request for religious designation - Chapter 210, Section 5B
In making orders for adoption, the judge shall consider the need of the child for loving and responsible parental care and all factors relevant to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Inspection of pleadings, reports, etc.; docket book - Chapter 210, Section 5C
All petitions for adoption, all reports submitted thereunder and all pleadings, papers or documents filed in connection therewith, docket entries in the permanent docket and...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Release of information concerning adoption - Chapter 210, Section 5D
(a) A placement agency, as defined in section 1A of chapter 15D, holding records relating to an adopted person, the biological parents of an adopted...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Department of children and families adoption report - Chapter 210, Section 5E
The department of children and families shall submit a report detailing the number and nature, as defined jointly by department and the University of Massachusetts...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Decree of court; force and effect; private hearings - Chapter 210, Section 6
If the court is satisfied of the identity and relations of the persons, and that the petitioner is of sufficient ability to bring up the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Certificates of adoption - Chapter 210, Section 6A
The court shall forthwith, following the making of a decree of adoption, issue to the petitioner, or petitioners, a certificate of adoption setting forth all...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Adoption nunc pro tunc - Chapter 210, Section 6B
In the event that either of the petitioning adopting parents to a petition for adoption, which has been filed with the probate court, should die...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Agreement for post-adoption contact or communication - Chapter 210, Section 6C
(a) Prior to the entry of an adoption decree, prospective adoptive parents and a birth parent may enter into an agreement for post-adoption contact or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Enforcement of agreement - Chapter 210, Section 6D
A party to a court-approved agreement for post-adoption contact or communication may seek to enforce the agreement by commencing a civil action for specific performance....
- Massachusetts General Laws - Decisions of adoptive parent on behalf of child - Chapter 210, Section 6E
Nothing contained in sections 6C and 6D shall be construed to abrogate the right of an adoptive parent to make decisions on behalf of his
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 2012, 140, Sec. 57 - Chapter 210, Section 7
Repealed, 2012, 140, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 2012, 140, Sec. 58 - Chapter 210, Section 8
Repealed, 2012, 140, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Succession to property; right of child adopted in foreign state - Chapter 210, Section 9
A person adopted in another state or country, in accordance with the laws thereof, shall upon proof of such fact be entitled in this commonwealth...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Second adoption; effect - Chapter 210, Section 10
If the child has been previously adopted, all the legal consequences of the former decree shall, upon a subsequent adoption, determine, except so far as...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Appeals - Chapter 210, Section 11
The supreme judicial court may allow a parent, who, upon a petition for adoption, had no notice of the proceedings before the decree and had...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Adoption services offered by certain persons or agencies; penalty - Chapter 210, Section 11A
Any person or entity other than a duly authorized agent or employee of the department of children and families or a child care or placement...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Petitions for change of name - Chapter 210, Section 12
A petition for the change of name of a person may be heard by the probate court in the county where the petitioner resides. The...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Notice and certificate; decree; entry; conditions precedent - Chapter 210, Section 13
The court shall, before decreeing a change of name, request a report from the commissioner of probation on the person filing the petition and, except...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Annual return of changes of name - Chapter 210, Section 14
Each register of probate shall annually, in December, make a return to the commissioner of public health and the commissioner of probation of all changes...
Last modified: September 11, 2015