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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;
13 ▸ states that a presumption of maternity shall be determined in the same manner as a
14 presumption of paternity; and
15 ▸ addresses the presumption of parentage.
16 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
17 None
18 Other Special Clauses:
19 None
20 Utah Code Sections Affected:
21 AMENDS:
22 62A-11-307.1, as last amended by Laws of Utah 1997, Chapters 174 and 232
23 78B-6-120, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 458
24 78B-15-201, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 3
25 78B-15-607, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 3
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27 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
28 Section 1. Section 62A-11-307.1 is amended to read:
29 62A-11-307.1. Collection directly from responsible parent.
30 (1) The office may issue or modify an order under Section 62A-11-304.2 and collect
31 under this part directly from a responsible parent if the procedural requirements of applicable
32 law have been met and if public assistance is provided on behalf of that parent's dependent
33 child. The direct right to issue an order under this Subsection (1) is independent of and in
34 addition to the right derived from that assigned under Section 35A-3-108.
35 (2) An order issuing or modifying a support obligation under Subsection (1), issued
36 while public assistance was being provided for a dependent child, remains in effect and may be
37 enforced by the office under Section 62A-11-306.1 after provision of public assistance ceases.
38 (3) (a) The office may issue or modify an administrative order, subject to the
39 procedural requirements of applicable law, that requires that obligee to pay to the office
40 assigned support that an obligee receives and retains in violation of Subsection
41 62A-11-307.2(4) and may reduce to judgment any unpaid balance due.
42 (b) The office may collect the judgment debt in the same manner as it collects any
43 judgment for past-due support owed by an obligor.
44 (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Office of Recovery Services shall
45 have full standing and authority to establish and enforce child support obligations against an
46 alleged parent currently or formerly in a same-sex marriage on the same terms as the Office of
47 Recovery Services' authority against other mothers and fathers.
48 Section 2. Section 78B-6-120 is amended to read:
49 78B-6-120. Necessary consent to adoption or relinquishment for adoption.
50 (1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), consent to adoption of a child, or
51 relinquishment of a child for adoption, is required from:
52 (a) the adoptee, if the adoptee is more than 12 years of age, unless the adoptee does not
53 have the mental capacity to consent;
54 (b) a man or woman who:
55 (i) by operation of law under Section 78B-15-204, is recognized as the father or mother
56 of the proposed adoptee, unless:
57 (A) the presumption is rebutted under Section 78B-15-607; or
58 (B) the man or woman was not married to the mother of the proposed adoptee until
59 after the mother consented to adoption, or relinquishment for adoption, of the proposed
60 adoptee; or
61 (ii) is the father of the adoptee by a previous legal adoption;
62 (c) the mother of the adoptee;
63 (d) a biological parent who has been adjudicated to be the child's biological father by a
64 court of competent jurisdiction prior to the mother's execution of consent to adoption or her
65 relinquishment of the child for adoption;
66 (e) consistent with Subsection (3), a biological parent who has executed and filed a
67 voluntary declaration of paternity with the state registrar of vital statistics within the
68 Department of Health in accordance with Title 78B, Chapter 15, Utah Uniform Parentage Act,
69 prior to the mother's execution of consent to adoption or her relinquishment of the child for
70 adoption;
71 (f) an unmarried biological father, of an adoptee, whose consent is not required under
72 Subsection (1)(d) or (1)(e), only if he fully and strictly complies with the requirements of
73 Sections 78B-6-121 and 78B-6-122; and
74 (g) the person or agency to whom an adoptee has been relinquished and that is placing
75 the child for adoption.
76 (2) (a) The consent of a person described in Subsections (1)(b) through (g) is not
77 required if the adoptee is 18 years of age or older.
78 (b) The consent of a person described in Subsections (1)(b) through (f) is not required
79 if the person's parental rights relating to the adoptee have been terminated.
80 (3) For purposes of Subsection (1)(e), a voluntary declaration of paternity is considered
81 filed when it is entered into a database that:
82 (a) can be accessed by the Department of Health; and
83 (b) is designated by the state registrar of vital statistics as the official database for
84 voluntary declarations of paternity.
85 Section 3. Section 78B-15-201 is amended to read:
86 78B-15-201. Establishment of parent-child relationship.
87 (1) (a) The mother-child relationship is established between a woman and a child by:
88 [
89 Part 8, Gestational Agreement;
90 [
91 [
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93 gestational mother if the agreement was validated under Part 8, Gestational Agreement, or is
94 enforceable under other law[
95 (v) an unrebutted presumption of maternity of the child established in the same manner
96 as under Section 78B-15-204.
97 (b) In this chapter, the presumption of maternity shall be treated the same as a
98 presumption of paternity as established in Subsection 78B-15-201(2)(a).
99 (2) The father-child relationship is established between a man and a child by:
100 (a) an unrebutted presumption of the man's paternity of the child under Section
101 78B-15-204;
102 (b) an effective declaration of paternity by the man under Part 3, Voluntary Declaration
103 of Paternity Act, unless the declaration has been rescinded or successfully challenged;
104 (c) an adjudication of the man's paternity;
105 (d) adoption of the child by the man;
106 (e) the man having consented to assisted reproduction by a woman under Part 7,
107 Assisted Reproduction, which resulted in the birth of the child; or
108 (f) an adjudication confirming the man as a parent of a child born to a gestational
109 mother if the agreement was validated under Part 8, Gestational Agreement, or is enforceable
110 under other law.
111 Section 4. Section 78B-15-607 is amended to read:
112 78B-15-607. Limitation -- Child having presumed father.
113 (1) Paternity of a child conceived or born during a marriage with a presumed father, as
114 described in Subsection 78B-15-204(1)(a), (b), or (c), may be raised by the presumed father
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116 for divorce or in the pleadings at the time of the divorce of the parents.
117 (a) If the issue is raised prior to the adjudication, genetic testing may be ordered by the
118 tribunal in accordance with Section 78B-15-608. Failure of the mother of the child to appear
119 for testing may result in an order allowing a motherless calculation of paternity. Failure of the
120 mother to make the child available may not result in a determination that the presumed father is
121 not the father, but shall allow for appropriate proceedings to compel the cooperation of the
122 mother. If the question of paternity has been raised in the pleadings in a divorce and the
123 tribunal addresses the issue and enters an order, the parties are estopped from raising the issue
124 again, and the order of the tribunal may not be challenged on the basis of material mistake of
125 fact.
126 (b) If the presumed father seeks to rebut the presumption of paternity, then denial of a
127 motion seeking an order for genetic testing or a decision to disregard genetic test results shall
128 be based on a preponderance of the evidence.
129 (c) If the mother seeks to rebut the presumption of paternity, the mother has the burden
130 to show by a preponderance of the evidence that it would be in the best interests of the child to
131 disestablish the parent-child relationship.
132 (d) If a support enforcement agency seeks to rebut the presumption of parentage and
133 the presumptive parent opposes the rebuttal, the agency's request shall be denied. Otherwise,
134 the denial of the agency's motion seeking an order for genetic testing or a decision to disregard
135 genetic test results shall be based on a preponderance of the evidence, taking into account the
136 best interests of the child.
137 (2) For the presumption outside of marriage described in Subsection 78B-15-204(1)(d),
138 the presumption may be rebutted at any time if the tribunal determines that the presumed father
139 and the mother of the child neither cohabited nor engaged in sexual intercourse with each other
140 during the probable time of conception.
141 (3) The presumption may be rebutted by:
142 (a) genetic test results that exclude the presumed father;
143 (b) genetic test results that rebuttably identify another man as the father in accordance
144 with Section 78B-15-505;
145 (c) evidence that the presumed father and the mother of the child neither cohabited nor
146 engaged in sexual intercourse with each other during the probable time of conception; or
147 (d) an adjudication under this part.
148 (4) There is no presumption to rebut if the presumed father was properly served and
149 there has been a final adjudication of the issue.