26-2-15 - Petition for establishment of unregistered birth or death -- Court procedure.
26-2-15. Petition for establishment of unregistered birth or death -- Courtprocedure.
(1) A person holding a direct, tangible, and legitimate interest as described in Subsection26-2-22(2)(a) or (b) may petition for a court order establishing the fact, time, and place of a birthor death that is not registered or for which a certified copy of the registered birth or deathcertificate is not obtainable. The person shall verify the petition and file it in the Utah districtcourt for the county where:
(a) the birth or death is alleged to have occurred;
(b) the person resides whose birth is to be established; or
(c) the decedent named in the petition resided at the date of death.
(2) In order for the court to have jurisdiction, the petition shall:
(a) allege the date, time, and place of the birth or death; and
(b) state either that no certificate of birth or death has been registered or that a copy ofthe registered certificate cannot be obtained.
(3) The court shall set a hearing for five to 10 days after the filing of the petition.
(4) (a) If the time and place of birth or death are in question, the court shall hear availableevidence and determine the time and place of the birth or death.
(b) If the time and place of birth or death are not in question, the court shall determinethe time and place of birth or death to be those alleged in the petition.
(5) A court order under this section shall be made on a form prescribed and furnished bythe department and is effective upon the filing of a certified copy of the order with the stateregistrar.
(6) (a) For purposes of this section, the birth certificate of an adopted alien child, asdefined in Section 78B-6-108, is considered to be unobtainable if the child was born in a countrythat is not recognized by department rule as having an established vital records registrationsystem.
(b) If the adopted child was born in a country recognized by department rule, but aperson described in Subsection (1) is unable to obtain a certified copy of the birth certificate, thestate registrar shall authorize the preparation of a birth certificate if he receives a writtenstatement signed by the registrar of the child's birth country stating a certified copy of the birthcertificate is not available.
Amended by Chapter 3, 2008 General Session