| | |
parent of the child or to a gestational agreement with the intent | | to be the parent of the child born pursuant to the agreement. The | | parent-child relationship is also created if for the first two | | years of the child's life, a person resided in the same household | | with the child and that person openly held out the child as that | | person's child. Section 1841 clarifies who the child's parent or | | parents are and who is responsible for all aspects of that child's | | welfare, including the child's financial welfare. Section 1841 | | creates stability and security for every child in Maine. |
|
| | | §1842.__No discrimination based on marital status |
|
| | | A child born to parents who are not married to each other has | | the same rights under the law as a child born to parents who are | | married to each other. |
|
| | | (This is section 202 of the UPA.) |
|
| | | Source: UPA (1973) § 2 and Massachusetts Gen. Laws ch. 209C, § | | 1. |
|
| | | From a legal and social policy perspective, this is one of the | | most significant substantive provisions of the Act, reaffirming | | the principle that regardless of the marital status of the | | parents, children and parents have equal rights with respect to | | each other. As discussed in the Prefatory Note, supra, U.S. | | Supreme Court decisions and lower federal and state court | | decisions require equal treatment of marital and nonmarital | | children without regard to the circumstances of their birth. |
|
| | | Nonetheless, the equal treatment principle does not | | necessarily eliminate all distinctions in the application of | | other substantive laws to different kinds of children. For | | example, as amended in 1991 the Uniform Probate Code § 2-705(b), | | states: |
|
| | | Y in construing a dispositive provision of a transferor who is | | not a natural parent, an individual born to the natural parent is | | not considered a child of that parent unless the individual while | | a minor lived as a regular member of the household of that parent | | or of that parent's parent, brother, sister, spouse, or surviving | | spouse. |
|
| | | In short, the UPC provides that an individual is presumed not | | to be included in a class gift from someone other than the | | child's parent unless that individual lived as a member of the | | parent's family during childhood. This presumed intent of the |
|
|
