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May 13, 2024 Clouds | 65°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Section 2-201: Bases for jurisdiction over nonresident

Section 2–201. Bases for jurisdiction over nonresident. (a) In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of the commonwealth may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual or the individual's guardian or conservator if:

(1) the individual is personally served with a notice within the commonwealth;

(2) the individual submits to the jurisdiction of the commonwealth by consent in a record, by entering a general appearance or by filing a responsive document having the effect of waiving any contest to personal jurisdiction;

(3) the individual resided with the child in the commonwealth;

(4) the individual resided in the commonwealth and provided prenatal expenses or support for the child;

(5) the child resides in the commonwealth as a result of the acts or directives of the individual;

(6) the individual engaged in sexual intercourse in the commonwealth and the child may have been conceived by that act of intercourse;

(7) the individual asserted parentage of a child under chapter 46 or chapter 209C; or

(8) there is any other basis consistent with the constitutions of the commonwealth and the United States for the exercise of personal jurisdiction.

(b) The bases of personal jurisdiction set forth in subsection (a) or in any other law of the commonwealth may not be used to acquire personal jurisdiction for a tribunal of the commonwealth to modify a child support order of another state unless the requirements of Section 6–611 are met or, in the case of a foreign support order, unless the requirements of Section 6–615 are met.