Child Support

You can seek a child support order if you are raising your child and living separately from the other parent. It does not matter whether you are married or unmarried.¹

A person is assumed (“presumed”) to be the parent of the child if s/he is married to the person who gave birth to the child.² However, if the parents are unmarried, before the court can issue a child support order, the parentage of the person who is being sued for support has to be established. The parents can voluntarily acknowledge parentage by signing and filing an acknowledgment of parentage in front of a notary public or at the hospital at birth.³ Or, either parent can file a parentage petition in court, and the judge can order genetic testing and establish parentage through that process.⁴ Note: In 2025, Massachusetts laws substituted the word “parentage” in place of ”paternity.” 

Child support can be filed as part of a divorce, separation, custody, or parentage proceeding, or it can be filed as a separate action. You can also receive a temporary child support order as part of a 209A abuse prevention order.⁵

¹ M.G.L. 209C § 9; M.G.L. 208 § 28; M.G.L. 209 § 37
² M.G.L. 209C § 6(a)
³ M.G.L. 209C § 11
⁴ M.G.L. 209C §§ 2; 17
⁵ M.G.L. 209A § 3(e)