§ 26-2-5. Birth certificates -- Execution and registration requirements.

(1) As used in this section, "birthing facility" means a general acute hospital or birthing center as defined in Section 26-21-2.

(2) For each live birth occurring in the state, a certificate shall be filed with the local registrar for the district in which the birth occurred within 10 days following the birth. The certificate 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 the birthing facility, or his designee, shall obtain and enter the information required under this chapter 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 certified by the birthing facility administrator or his designee.

(ii) The attending physician or nurse midwife may sign the certificate, but if the attending physician 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 nurse midwife's name and transmit the certificate to the local registrar.

(iii) The information on the certificate about the parents shall be provided and certified by the mother or father or, in their incapacity or absence, by a person with knowledge of the facts.

(4)

(a) For live births that occur outside a birthing facility, the birth certificate shall be completed and filed by the physician, nurse, midwife, or other person primarily responsible for providing assistance to the mother at the birth. If there is no such person, either the presumed or declarant father shall complete and file the certificate. In his absence, the mother shall complete and file the certificate, and in the event of her death or disability, the owner or operator of the premises 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, the administrator 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 the declaration; and

(C) the opportunity to sign the declaration;

(ii) witness the signature of a birth mother or declarant father in accordance with Section 78B-15-302 if the signature occurs at the facility;

(iii) enter the declarant father's information on the original birth certificate, but only if the mother and declarant father have signed a voluntary declaration of paternity or a court or administrative 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 the presumed father also signs the voluntary declaration.

(c) The state registrar shall file the information provided on the voluntary declaration of paternity form with the original birth certificate and may provide certified copies of the declaration 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, a description of the process for filing a voluntary declaration of paternity, and of the rights and responsibilities 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 paternity establishment shall be made available to birthing facilities and to any other entity or individual upon request.

(7) The name of a declarant father may only be included on the birth certificate of a child of 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 or administrative agencies, and voluntary rescissions of paternity shall be filed with and maintained by the state registrar for the purpose of comparing information with the state case registry maintained by the Office of Recovery Services pursuant to Section 62A-11-104.

Amended by Chapter 3, 2008 General Session