Skip to main content

Three's Company - Who is a Legal Parent? Part 7

By
Post by Julie Tolek.  Julie is an Associate at Skylark Law & Mediation, PC and runs her own practice, Think Pink Law.  Julie's practice includes family law & divorce representation, firearms licensing & NFA trusts, estate planning & probate, and adoptions.

Three's Company: Three Parent Adoptions

When most people think of legal parenthood, they probably think of it as a single or joint endeavor with another person. An often overlooked but equally legal option is to have more than two legal parents. In situations in which there are more than two people who would like to care for a child and have legal parental rights, a three parent adoption can accomplish this and bring together three legal parents to create a larger loving and supportive family setup.

In Massachusetts, there are a several cases involving three parent adoptions, most of which have been handled by Joyce Kauffman, an attorney widely recognized for her work in assisted reproduction, adoption and the rights and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and families.

In a three parent adoption, all three parties are the legal parents of a child.

Let's take a look at an example. Sue and Lisa are a married couple who would like to have a baby. They ask their long time friend Tony to be the sperm donor for Sue, so she can get pregnant and carry the baby. The natural or biological parents of the resulting child would be Sue and Tony, and thus it would typically be Sue and Tony who would have legal rights in raising the child. However there are a few other options.

First, Tony could give up his legal rights to be the child's parent. After he gives up his rights, Lisa could file a petition for a second parent adoption where she would adopt the child, with Sue’s consent of course, and Sue and Lisa would both be the legal parents of the child. This is usually the typical family setup that comes to mind with a second parent adoption and a sperm donor, especially if the sperm donor is unknown (which is different from our example here, where Tony is a friend who is a donor).

Typically a child born into a marriage is presumed to be a child of that marriage and both spouses’ names will go onto the birth certificate. In Massachusetts the two spouses’ names would be on the child’s birth certificate. However, it is important to also keep in mind that the ever changing landscape of marriage, even with the recent US Supreme Court decisions, is one where same sex parents cannot be too thorough in protecting their rights as parents and as a family unit. Read our previous post for more information on co-parent adoption.

Back to our family example with Sue and Lisa. Three parent adoption is also an option for Sue, Lisa, and Tony to consider. If Tony wants to stay involved in the child’s life, or has already been involved as the child grows up, he does not have to relinquish his legal parenting rights. In this case, where Sue, Lisa, AND Tony want to parent the child, Lisa could again petition for a third parent adoption without Tony having to relinquish his rights as a father.

While there is no statute specifically naming three parent adoptions in Massachusetts, there is also nothing preventing three parent adoptions. Cases in Massachusetts from the 1940s support three parent adoptions, in that any “person” can adopt a child, citing no limitation on how many persons this might include (Petition of Curran, 314 Mass. 91 (1943)) and that the only real question is whether the best interests of the child would be served by the adoption. (Merrill v. Berlin, 316 Mass. 87 (1944)).

In a family situation where there are more than two loving, involved parents of a child, a three parent adoption could be a great option to ensure that all three parties establish their legal parental rights and make it easier to actually be an intact family without worrying about future legal issues regarding any of the parents’ rights.

Previous Post: Co-Parent Adoption - Who is a Legal Parent? Part 6

 Next Post: De Facto Parents - Who is a Legal Parent: Part 8
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the purpose of the Divorce Nisi waiting period?

By
In Massachusetts the statutory waiting period after a Judgment of Divorce and before the divorce becomes final (or absolute) is called the Nisi period. After a divorce case settles or goes to trial, a Judgment of Divorce Nisi will issue and it will become Absolute after a further ninety (90) days. This waiting period serves the purpose of allowing parties to change their mind before the divorce becomes final. If the Judgment of Divorce Nisi has issued but not become final yet, and you and your spouse decide you don't want to get divorced, then you can file a Motion to Dismiss and the Judgment will be undone. Although many of my clients who are getting divorced think the idea of getting back together with their ex sounds crazy, I have had cases where this happened. In addition to offering a grace period to change your mind, the Nisi period has three other legal effects: 1. The most obvious effect of the waiting period is that you cannot remarry during the Nisi period, be...
76 comments
Read more

New Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines (2021): Big Changes, Little Changes, Typos & some Unexpected Results

By
UPDATE: The court has released a web calculating version of the 2021 MA Child Support Guidelines Worksheet .  It resolves some of the typos referred to below, but the unexpected calculations still apply. Every four years, per federal mandate, the Massachusetts Probate & Family Court revisits the Child Support Guidelines through the work of a Task Force appointed by the Chief Justice.  The 2021 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines were recently posted.  They take effect on October 4, 2021.    If you are interested in a training on all of these changes to the new Child Support Guidelines: DMTA Presents the 2021 MA Child Support Guidelines Update  – Attend this event to learn the key updates you need to know for your mediation clients. Presented by Justin Kelsey of  Divorce Mediation Training Associates  and  Skylark Law & Mediation, PC . For a full comparison of all the  tracked changes between the 2018 and 2021 Massachusetts Ch...
Post a Comment
Read more

Online Tool for Creating Parenting Plans

By
It is our hope that all families find a way to resolve conflict peacefully.  This is especially true when children are involved.  Divorced or separated parenting has many complications and the first is just deciding how to share time with a child from two separate households.  Developing a schedule can result in a lot of tension, especially if parents have trouble picturing how this new schedule will interact with their work schedules and the schedules of their children. To help make this easier, we've created an online tool for creating parenting plans that is simple and easy to use: We encourage parents, regardless of the process they are using to divorce, to use this form to assist in evaluating and settling custody disputes. The form allows you to choose between the Model Parenting Plan proposals or customize your parenting plan over a four week period by clicking directly on the form.  When you click on a section of the calendar it switches between ...
Post a Comment
Read more