26-2-5 - Birth certificates -- Execution and registration requirements.
26-2-5. Birth certificates -- Execution and registration requirements.
(1) As used in this section, "birthing facility" means a general acute hospital or birthingcenter as defined in Section 26-21-2.
(2) For each live birth occurring in the state, a certificate shall be filed with the localregistrar for the district in which the birth occurred within 10 days following the birth. Thecertificate shall be registered if it is completed and filed in accordance with this chapter.
(3) (a) For each live birth that occurs in a birthing facility, the administrator of thebirthing facility, or his designee, shall obtain and enter the information required under thischapter on the certificate, securing the required signatures, and filing the certificate.
(b) (i) The date, time, place of birth, and required medical information shall be certifiedby the birthing facility administrator or his designee.
(ii) The attending physician or nurse midwife may sign the certificate, but if the attendingphysician or nurse midwife has not signed the certificate within seven days of the date of birth,the birthing facility administrator or his designee shall enter the attending physician's or nursemidwife's name and transmit the certificate to the local registrar.
(iii) The information on the certificate about the parents shall be provided and certifiedby the mother or father or, in their incapacity or absence, by a person with knowledge of thefacts.
(4) (a) For live births that occur outside a birthing facility, the birth certificate shall becompleted and filed by the physician, nurse, midwife, or other person primarily responsible forproviding assistance to the mother at the birth. If there is no such person, either the presumed ordeclarant father shall complete and file the certificate. In his absence, the mother shall completeand file the certificate, and in the event of her death or disability, the owner or operator of thepremises where the birth occurred shall do so.
(b) The certificate shall be completed as fully as possible and shall include the date, time,and place of birth, the mother's name, and the signature of the person completing the certificate.
(5) (a) For each live birth to an unmarried mother that occurs in a birthing facility, theadministrator or director of that facility, or his designee, shall:
(i) provide the birth mother and declarant father, if present, with:
(A) a voluntary declaration of paternity form published by the state registrar;
(B) oral and written notice to the birth mother and declarant father of the alternatives to,the legal consequences of, and the rights and responsibilities that arise from signing thedeclaration; and
(C) the opportunity to sign the declaration;
(ii) witness the signature of a birth mother or declarant father in accordance with Section78B-15-302 if the signature occurs at the facility;
(iii) enter the declarant father's information on the original birth certificate, but only ifthe mother and declarant father have signed a voluntary declaration of paternity or a court oradministrative agency has issued an adjudication of paternity; and
(iv) file the completed declaration with the original birth certificate.
(b) If there is a presumed father, the voluntary declaration will only be valid if thepresumed father also signs the voluntary declaration.
(c) The state registrar shall file the information provided on the voluntary declaration ofpaternity form with the original birth certificate and may provide certified copies of thedeclaration of paternity as otherwise provided under Title 78B, Chapter 15, Utah Uniform
Parentage Act.
(6) (a) The state registrar shall publish a form for the voluntary declaration of paternity, adescription of the process for filing a voluntary declaration of paternity, and of the rights andresponsibilities established or effected by that filing, in accordance with Title 78B, Chapter 15,Utah Uniform Parentage Act.
(b) Information regarding the form and services related to voluntary paternityestablishment shall be made available to birthing facilities and to any other entity or individualupon request.
(7) The name of a declarant father may only be included on the birth certificate of a childof unmarried parents if:
(a) the mother and declarant father have signed a voluntary declaration of paternity; or
(b) a court or administrative agency has issued an adjudication of paternity.
(8) Voluntary declarations of paternity, adjudications of paternity by judicial oradministrative agencies, and voluntary rescissions of paternity shall be filed with and maintainedby the state registrar for the purpose of comparing information with the state case registrymaintained by the Office of Recovery Services pursuant to Section 62A-11-104.
Amended by Chapter 3, 2008 General Session