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7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill allows the enforcement of child support obligations against all parents.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 ▸ allows the enforcement of child support obligations against all parents; and
13 ▸ states that a presumption of maternity shall be determined in the same manner as a
14 presumption of paternity.
15 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
16 None
17 Other Special Clauses:
18 None
19 Utah Code Sections Affected:
20 AMENDS:
21 62A-11-307.1, as last amended by Laws of Utah 1997, Chapters 174 and 232
22 78B-6-120, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 458
23 78B-15-201, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 3
24 78B-15-607, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 3
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26 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
27 Section 1. Section 62A-11-307.1 is amended to read:
28 62A-11-307.1. Collection directly from responsible parent.
29 (1) The office may issue or modify an order under Section 62A-11-304.2 and collect
30 under this part directly from a responsible parent if the procedural requirements of applicable
31 law have been met and if public assistance is provided on behalf of that parent's dependent
32 child. The direct right to issue an order under this Subsection (1) is independent of and in
33 addition to the right derived from that assigned under Section 35A-3-108.
34 (2) An order issuing or modifying a support obligation under Subsection (1), issued
35 while public assistance was being provided for a dependent child, remains in effect and may be
36 enforced by the office under Section 62A-11-306.1 after provision of public assistance ceases.
37 (3) (a) The office may issue or modify an administrative order, subject to the
38 procedural requirements of applicable law, that requires that obligee to pay to the office
39 assigned support that an obligee receives and retains in violation of Subsection
40 62A-11-307.2(4) and may reduce to judgment any unpaid balance due.
41 (b) The office may collect the judgment debt in the same manner as it collects any
42 judgment for past-due support owed by an obligor.
43 (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Office of Recovery Services shall
44 have full standing and authority to establish and enforce child support obligations against an
45 alleged parent currently or formerly in a same-sex marriage on the same terms as its authority
46 against other mothers and fathers.
47 Section 2. Section 78B-6-120 is amended to read:
48 78B-6-120. Necessary consent to adoption or relinquishment for adoption.
49 (1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), consent to adoption of a child, or
50 relinquishment of a child for adoption, is required from:
51 (a) the adoptee, if the adoptee is more than 12 years of age, unless the adoptee does not
52 have the mental capacity to consent;
53 (b) a man or woman who:
54 (i) by operation of law under Section 78B-15-204, is recognized as the father or mother
55 of the proposed adoptee, unless:
56 (A) the presumption is rebutted under Section 78B-15-607; or
57 (B) the man was not married to the mother of the proposed adoptee until after the
58 mother consented to adoption, or relinquishment for adoption, of the proposed adoptee; or
59 (ii) is the father of the adoptee by a previous legal adoption;
60 (c) the mother of the adoptee;
61 (d) a biological parent who has been adjudicated to be the child's biological father by a
62 court of competent jurisdiction prior to the mother's execution of consent to adoption or her
63 relinquishment of the child for adoption;
64 (e) consistent with Subsection (3), a biological parent who has executed and filed a
65 voluntary declaration of paternity with the state registrar of vital statistics within the
66 Department of Health in accordance with Title 78B, Chapter 15, Utah Uniform Parentage Act,
67 prior to the mother's execution of consent to adoption or her relinquishment of the child for
68 adoption;
69 (f) an unmarried biological father, of an adoptee, whose consent is not required under
70 Subsection (1)(d) or (1)(e), only if he fully and strictly complies with the requirements of
71 Sections 78B-6-121 and 78B-6-122; and
72 (g) the person or agency to whom an adoptee has been relinquished and that is placing
73 the child for adoption.
74 (2) (a) The consent of a person described in Subsections (1)(b) through (g) is not
75 required if the adoptee is 18 years of age or older.
76 (b) The consent of a person described in Subsections (1)(b) through (f) is not required
77 if the person's parental rights relating to the adoptee have been terminated.
78 (3) For purposes of Subsection (1)(e), a voluntary declaration of paternity is considered
79 filed when it is entered into a database that:
80 (a) can be accessed by the Department of Health; and
81 (b) is designated by the state registrar of vital statistics as the official database for
82 voluntary declarations of paternity.
83 Section 3. Section 78B-15-201 is amended to read:
84 78B-15-201. Establishment of parent-child relationship.
85 (1) (a) The mother-child relationship is established between a woman and a child by:
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87 Part 8, Gestational Agreement;
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89 [
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91 gestational mother if the agreement was validated under Part 8, Gestational Agreement, or is
92 enforceable under other law[
93 (v) an unrebutted presumption of maternity of the child established in the same manner
94 as under Section 78B-15-204 .
95 (b) In this chapter, the presumption of maternity shall be treated the same as a
96 presumption of paternity as established in Subsection 78B-15-201(2)(a).
97 (2) The father-child relationship is established between a man and a child by:
98 (a) an unrebutted presumption of the man's paternity of the child under Section
99 78B-15-204;
100 (b) an effective declaration of paternity by the man under Part 3, Voluntary Declaration
101 of Paternity Act, unless the declaration has been rescinded or successfully challenged;
102 (c) an adjudication of the man's paternity;
103 (d) adoption of the child by the man;
104 (e) the man having consented to assisted reproduction by a woman under Part 7,
105 Assisted Reproduction, which resulted in the birth of the child; or
106 (f) an adjudication confirming the man as a parent of a child born to a gestational
107 mother if the agreement was validated under Part 8, Gestational Agreement, or is enforceable
108 under other law.
109 Section 4. Section 78B-15-607 is amended to read:
110 78B-15-607. Limitation -- Child having presumed father.
111 (1) Paternity of a child conceived or born during a marriage with a presumed father as
112 described in Subsection 78B-15-204(1)(a), (b), or (c), may be raised by the presumed father
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114 divorce or in the pleadings at the time of the divorce of the parents.
115 (a) If the issue is raised prior to the adjudication, genetic testing may be ordered by the
116 tribunal in accordance with Section 78B-15-608. Failure of the mother of the child to appear
117 for testing may result in an order allowing a motherless calculation of paternity. Failure of the
118 mother to make the child available may not result in a determination that the presumed father is
119 not the father, but shall allow for appropriate proceedings to compel the cooperation of the
120 mother. If the question of paternity has been raised in the pleadings in a divorce and the
121 tribunal addresses the issue and enters an order, the parties are estopped from raising the issue
122 again, and the order of the tribunal may not be challenged on the basis of material mistake of
123 fact.
124 (b) If the presumed father seeks to rebut the presumption of paternity, then denial of a
125 motion seeking an order for genetic testing or a decision to disregard genetic test results shall
126 be based on a preponderance of the evidence.
127 (c) If the mother seeks to rebut the presumption of paternity, the mother has the burden
128 to show by a preponderance of the evidence that it would be in the best interests of the child to
129 disestablish the parent-child relationship.
130 (d) If a support enforcement agency seeks to rebut the presumption of parentage and
131 the presumptive parent opposes the rebuttal, the agency's request shall be denied. Otherwise,
132 the denial of the agency's motion seeking an order for genetic testing or a decision to disregard
133 genetic test results shall be based on a preponderance of the evidence, taking into account the
134 best interests of the child.
135 (2) For the presumption outside of marriage described in Subsection 78B-15-204(1)(d),
136 the presumption may be rebutted at any time if the tribunal determines that the presumed father
137 and the mother of the child neither cohabited nor engaged in sexual intercourse with each other
138 during the probable time of conception.
139 (3) The presumption may be rebutted by:
140 (a) genetic test results that exclude the presumed father;
141 (b) genetic test results that rebuttably identify another man as the father in accordance
142 with Section 78B-15-505;
143 (c) evidence that the presumed father and the mother of the child neither cohabited nor
144 engaged in sexual intercourse with each other during the probable time of conception; or
145 (d) an adjudication under this part.
146 (4) There is no presumption to rebut if the presumed father was properly served and
147 there has been a final adjudication of the issue.