Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

If the biological father will give up all rights to the child and the court will approve it, then you can appoint anyone you want guardian for your child under your Will. However, the biological father must release all rights to the child. You would have to do this in the future, if your husband wanted to adopt your child.

You will need an attorney to assist you with this process.

Good Luck

I agree with Attorney Roth.

The simplest way would be to nominate your husband to be the guardian of your child in the event that you were to pass away. The biological father would always have the right to contest such an appointment.

The best protection possible, and the only way to ensure that a present parent-child relationship is established, is to prepare and file a petition for co-parent adoption. Our firm handles these types of actions throughout the Commonwealth for a fixed flat fee, and I would be happy to discuss the matter with you in greater detail.

One thing you can do now (without the biological father's involvement) is to give your husband legal decision-making authority in the event that you become temporarily unable to care for your child (or if you are just unavailable). You can do this by appointing him as your child's "caregiver." Massachusetts passed a new law in April of 2009 (G.L. Chapter 201F) which enables a custodial parent to designate a non-parent as a "caregiver" with the right to make medical and educational decision about the child. You can find the forms and instructions on the probate court website.