A Probate & Family Court judge had the authority to award visitation rights to a non-relative who was the child's "de facto parent," the Supreme Judicial Court ruled today 4-2, addressing an issue of first impression in Massachusetts.

Even though there is no statutory provision permitting visitation to be awarded to someone who "stands in a parent-like position," the SJC said that judges have such authority under their "broad" equity jurisdiction.

"The court's duty as parens patriae necessitates that its equitable powers extend to protecting the best interests of children in actions before the court, even if the Legislature has not determined what the best interests require in a particular situation," Justice Ruth I. Abrams wrote, upholding a visitation award to the longtime lesbian partner of the child's biological mother.

Justice Charles Fried dissented, calling the majority's ruling "a remarkable example of judicial lawmaking."

"[The majority] greatly expands the courts' equity jurisdiction with respect to the welfare of children and adopts the hitherto unrecognized principle of de facto parenthood as a sole basis for ordering visitation," Fried wrote, in an opinion joined by Justice Neil L. Lynch.

The case is E.N.O. v. L.M.M. The full-text of the decision can be found at:  http://www.lawyersweekly.com/sjc/1015699.htm.