Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 210, § 6A (2026)

Certificates of adoption

✓ current as of July 2026

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

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 the facts relating to the adopting parent, or parents, as appearing in the statement required to be filed by section six, the name of, and all other facts relating to, the person adopted, as appearing in any copy of birth record or decree of adoption filed as required by said section, the name of the court making such decree and the date thereof, and, if such decree authorizes a change in the name of the person adopted, his name as so changed; provided, that if such person has been born out of wedlock, the name, or names, of, and all other facts relating to, his natural parent, or parents, shall be omitted from such certificate.

Certificates under this section shall be made on forms furnished by the commissioner of public health, and shall provide for the indicating thereon by the adopting parent, or parents, as to whether or not a correction of the record of the birth of the person adopted is desired; and, in case such desire is so indicated, the court shall forthwith send a certified copy of such certificate to the clerk of the city or town where such person was born.

If either of the parents who have adopted a child so request, the register of probate shall issue a special certificate of adoption upon which the original or prior name of the child and the names of its natural parents shall not appear.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases, 1977–2002 · leading case: Sec'y of the Commonwealth v. City Clerk of Lowell, 366 N.E.2d 717 (Mass. 1977).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Sec'y of the Commonwealth v. City Clerk of Lowell, 366 N.E.2d 717 (Mass. 1977). · cites it 2× “190, § 7), and (3) that a child's name and surname (collectively hereafter referred to as "name") shall continue to be the appropriate record name of that person for the purpose of vital records concerning him or her, unless it is lawfully changed of record by or as the result…”

Richards v. Mason, 767 N.E.2d 84 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). “We note that a change of name may occur upon the adoption of a child, G. L. c. 210, § 6A, and that if the child is “above the age of twelve,” his assent to the adoption is required.”

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.