Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209C, § 7

Representation in parentage actions; appointment of counsel; burden of proof

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

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 parentage. 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 parentage shall be by clear and convincing evidence.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 13 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1988–2025 · leading case: Cc v. Ab

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Cc v. Ab (1990) mass · cites it 2× “G.L.c. 209C, § 7. The Department of Public Welfare (department) may similarly bring a paternity action against a man other than the husband if the child is or was a recipient of public assistance.”

G.E.B. v. S.R.W. (1996) mass “209C, § 17, refers back to the burden in G. L. c. 209C, § 7, to establish paternity by clear and convincing evidence.”

Department of Revenue v. Jarvenpaa (1989) mass “Chapter 209C, however, does require proof of paternity by clear and convincing evidence (G. L. c. 209C, § 7), a standard that is not required by Federal due process considerations.”

C.C. v. A.B. (1990) mass · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 209C, § 7. The Department of Public Welfare (department) may similarly bring a paternity action against a man other than the husband if the child is or was a recipient of public assistance.”

McDonald v. Bellotti (1990) massappct “218, § 35A, as contrasted with clear and convincing evidence under G. L. c. 209C, § 7). This argument fails to recognize the interlocutory nature of the ‘show cause’ proceedings in the Quincy District Court.”

Department of Revenue v. B.P. (1992) mass “There is no constitutional impediment to the admission of a party’s refusal to submit to blood and genetic marker testing in a paternity action.”

D.H. v. R.R. (2012) mass “” G. L. c. 209C, § 7. In 1990, we *761 revised our common law to conform with c.”

Flynn v. Connors (1995) massappct “273, with a lesser burden of proof (as to paternity), G. L. c. 209C, § 7, and without jury trial, id.”

A.B. v. C.D. (1998) massappct “The defendant ¿Iso argues that the Probate Court judge erred by physically comparing him to the child without hearing expert testimony as to whether any perceived similarities were genetic.”

Department of Revenue v. Spinale (1990) mass “He was entitled to believe her testimony and, having done so, he ruled on clear and convincing evidence (G. L. c. 209C, § 7 [1988 ed.]) that the defendant was the child’s father.”

Michael J. Ryan v. Rachael B. Lovendale (2025) massappct · cites it 3× “We need not decide the constitutional issue, however, because G. L. c. 209C, § 7, already states, "In actions in which custody or visitation are contested, court may appoint counsel to represent either party whenever the interests of justice require.”

Care and Protection of Jaylen (2024) mass “" G. L. c. 209C, § 7. 18Indeed, where a complaint to establish paternity or support is filed in the District Court or the BMC and the complaint also includes a request relative to custody or visitation, it "shall be filed only in the [P]robate and [F]amily [C]ourt [D]epartment"…”

Show all 13 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.