Massachusetts General Laws|Chapter 46 - RETURN AND REGISTRY OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS

Section 1 - Certificates of birth, marriage, death and acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity; contents; residence defined

Section 11/2 - Certificates of birth resulting in stillbirth; filing

Section 1A - Birth records of abandoned children or foundlings

Section 1B - Filing reports of out-of-state births or adoptions

Section 1C - Filing reports of out-of-state deaths

Section 1D - Adoption of surname upon marriage

Section 1E - Definitions

Section 2 - Separate registries for births, deaths and marriages

Section 2A - Disclosure of information about vital statistics; conditions

Section 2B - Pre-adoption birth certificates; application for inspection by adopted persons

Section 2C - Pre-adoption birth certificates; access by child of deceased adopted parent

Section 3 - Physician's record of birth; out of hospital birth

Section 3A - Hospital administrator's duties; report; verification

Section 3B - Birth without immediate admittance to hospital for postnatal care; report

Section 3C - Children born out of wedlock; information regarding benefits and responsibilities of parentage; voluntary acknowledgment of parentage

Section 3D - Acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity; records available to IV–D agency

Section 4 - Birth without attending physician; report; recording; petition; hearing

Section 4A - Local officials; processing of birth certificates

Section 4B - Artificial insemination

Section 5 - Repealed, 1968, 84, Sec. 5

Section 6 - Notification of births and deaths

Section 7 - Report of births and deaths at sea

Section 7A - Report of births on airplanes; penalty for violation

Section 8 - Penalty for failure to report births and deaths

Section 9 - Death certificates; issuance; contents; declaration of death by nurse, nurse practitioner or physician's assistant

Section 9A - Repealed, 1977, 598, Sec. 1

Section 9B - Penalties

Section 10 - Death certificates of veterans; contents; penalty for violation

Section 11 - Duties of undertakers

Section 12 - Certified copies of birth certificates and death records; transmission to parents or next of kin; exceptions

Section 13 - Correction of records

Section 13A - Correction of birth records; procedure

Section 14 - Penalty for false returns

Section 15 - Repealed, 2010, 327, Sec. 1

Section 16 - Blank forms for vital records; security features; approval of non-state registrar supplied forms; standards for forms used for permanent records

Section 17 - Birth records; state registrar; originals; certified copies

Section 17A - Marriage records; state registrar; originals; certified copies

Section 17B - Death records; state registrar; originals; certified copies

Section 17C - Original forms and evidence of amendments and corrections in birth, marriage and death records

Section 17D - Amended birth, marriage and death records; certified copies to holders of originals

Section 18 - Script used on forms; state standards for uniformity, security, materials, devices and preservation

Section 19 - Use of records as evidence

Section 19A - Unauthorized reproduction of records; penalty

Section 19B - Certified copies of birth records; restricted information regarding mother

Section 19C - Authentication of copies of birth, marriage and death records; use as evidence

Section 20 - Births and deaths in Tewksbury Hospital; records

Section 21 - Repealed, 1976, 486, Sec. 15

Section 22 - Registrars of vital statistics

Section 23 - Prosecution of persons failing to file required reports

Section 24 - Statements of births and deaths; penalty

Section 25 - Disposition of fines and forfeitures

Section 26 - Fees

Section 27 - Clerks; penalty for neglecting required duties

Section 28 - Administration of oaths

Section 29 - Attestation of certificates

Section 30 - Alteration, forgery or counterfeiting; penalty

Section 31 - Adoption contact information registry

Section 32 - Reasonable cause to believe there has been misconduct regarding vital records; actions by clerk and state registrar

Section 33 - Centralized, automated database for vital records and statistics; certified copies issued from database; capacity requirements of database; maintenance and preservation of original paper records

Section 34 - Agreements to verify existence of birth, marriage or death records