Utah Code 26B-9-205. Expedited procedures for establishing paternity or establishing, modifying, or enforcing a support order

26B-9-205. Expedited procedures for establishing paternity or establishing, modifying, or enforcing a support order.

(1)

The office may, without the necessity of initiating an adjudicative proceeding or obtaining an order from any other judicial or administrative tribunal, take the following actions related to the establishment of paternity or the establishment, modification, or enforcement of a support order, and to recognize and enforce the authority of state agencies of other states to take the following actions:

Terms Used In Utah Code 26B-9-205

Adjudicative proceeding: means an action or proceeding of the office conducted in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act. See Utah Code 26B-9-201
Administrator: includes "executor" when the subject matter justifies the use. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
Assistance: means public assistance as defined in Section 26B-9-101. See Utah Code 26B-9-201
Child: means :

(a)	a son or daughter under the age of 18 years who is not otherwise emancipated, self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States;

(b)	a son or daughter over the age of 18 years, while enrolled in high school during the normal and expected year of graduation and not otherwise emancipated, self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States; or

(c)

a son or daughter of any age who is incapacitated from earning a living and is without sufficient means. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Income: means the same as that term is defined in Section 26B-9-101. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.

Obligee: means an individual, this state, another state, or other comparable jurisdiction to whom a duty of child support is owed, or who is entitled to reimbursement of child support or public assistance. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Obligor: means a person, firm, corporation, or the estate of a decedent owing a duty of support to this state, to an individual, to another state, or other corporate jurisdiction in whose behalf this state is acting. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Office: means the Office of Recovery Services. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Past-due support: means the same as support debt. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Person: includes an individual, firm, corporation, association, political subdivision, department, or office. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Personal property: includes :Utah Code 68-3-12.5

Personal property: All property that is not real property.

Property: includes both real and personal property. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5

State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5

Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.

Support: includes past-due, present, and future obligations established by:

(a)	a tribunal or imposed by law for the financial support, maintenance, medical, or dental care of a dependent child; and

(b)

a tribunal for the financial support of a spouse or former spouse with whom the obligor's dependent child resides if the obligor also owes a child support obligation that is being enforced by the state. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Support order: means the same as child support order. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

Tribunal: means the district court, the department, the Office of Recovery Services, or court or administrative agency of any state, territory, possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Native American Tribe, or other comparable domestic or foreign jurisdiction. See Utah Code 26B-9-201

United States: includes each state, district, and territory of the United States of America. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5

(a)

require a child, mother, and alleged father to submit to genetic testing;

(b)

subpoena financial or other information needed to establish, modify, or enforce a support order, including:

(i)	the name, address, and employer of a person who owes or is owed support that appears on the customer records of public utilities and cable television companies; and

(ii)	information held by financial institutions on such things as the assets and liabilities of a person who owes or is owed support;

(c)	require a public or private employer to promptly disclose information to the office on the name, address, date of birth, social security number, employment status, compensation, and benefits, including health insurance, of any person employed as an employee or contractor by the employer;

(d)	require an insurance organization subject to Title 31A, Insurance Code, or an insurance administrator of a self-insured employer to promptly disclose to the office health insurance information pertaining to an insured or an insured’s dependents, if known;

(e)

obtain access to information in the records and automated databases of other state and local government agencies, including:

(i)	marriage, birth, and divorce records;

(ii)	state and local tax and revenue records providing information on such things as residential and mailing addresses, employers, income, and assets;

(iii)

real and titled personal property records;

(iv)	records concerning occupational and professional licenses and the ownership and control of corporations, partnerships, and other business entities;

(v)	employment security records;

(vi)	records of agencies administering public assistance programs;

(vii)

motor vehicle department records; and

(viii)

corrections records;

(f)	upon providing notice to the obligor and obligee, direct an obligor or other payor to change the payee to the office if support has been assigned to the office under Section 35A-7-108 or if support is paid through the office pursuant to the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 654B;

(g)	order income withholding in accordance with 3;

(h)

secure assets to satisfy past-due support by:

(i)

intercepting or seizing periodic or lump-sum payments from:

(A)	a state or local government agency, including unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, and other benefits; and

(B)	judgments, settlements, and lotteries;

(ii)	attaching and seizing assets of an obligor held in financial institutions;

(iii)

attaching public and private retirement funds, if the obligor presently:

(A)	receives periodic payments; or

(B)	has the authority to withdraw some or all of the funds; and

(iv)	imposing liens against real and personal property in accordance with this section and Section 26B-9-214; and

(i)	increase monthly payments in accordance with Section 26B-9-219.

(2)

(a)	When taking action under Subsection (1), the office shall send notice under this Subsection (2)(a) to the person or entity who is required to comply with the action if not a party to a case receiving IV-D services.

(b)

The notice described in Subsection (2)(a) shall include:

(i)	the authority of the office to take the action;

(ii)	the response required by the recipient;

(iii)

the opportunity to provide clarifying information to the office under Subsection (2)(c);

(iv)	the name and telephone number of a person in the office who can respond to inquiries; and

(v)	the protection from criminal and civil liability extended under Subsection (7).

(c)	The recipient of a notice sent under this Subsection (2) shall promptly comply with the terms of the notice and may, if the recipient believes the office’s request is in error, send clarifying information to the office setting forth the basis for the recipient’s belief.

(3)

The office shall in any case in which it requires genetic testing under Subsection (1)(a):

(a)	consider clarifying information if submitted by the obligee and alleged father;

(b)	proceed with testing as the office considers appropriate;

(c)	pay the cost of the tests, subject to recoupment from the alleged father if paternity is established;

(d)	order a second test if the original test result is challenged, and the challenger pays the cost of the second test in advance; and

(e)

require that the genetic test is:

(i)	of a type generally acknowledged as reliable by accreditation bodies designated by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; and

(ii)	performed by a laboratory approved by such an accreditation body.

(4)

The office may impose a penalty against an entity for failing to provide information requested in a subpoena issued under Subsection (1) as follows:

(a)	$25 for each failure to provide requested information; or

(b)	$500 if the failure to provide requested information is the result of a conspiracy between the entity and the obligor to not supply the requested information or to supply false or incomplete information.

(5)

(a)

Unless a court or administrative agency has reduced past-due support to a sum certain judgment, the office shall provide concurrent notice to an obligor in accordance with Section 26B-9-207 of:

(i)	any action taken pursuant to Subsections (1)(h)(i)(B), (1)(h)(ii), (1)(h)(iii), or Subsection 26B-9-208(1)(b) if Subsection (5)(b)(iii) does not apply; and

(ii)	the opportunity of the obligor to contest the action and the amount claimed to be past-due by filing a written request for an adjudicative proceeding with the office within 15 days of notice being sent.

(b)

(i)

Upon receipt of a notice of levy from the office for an action taken pursuant to Subsections (1)(h)(i)(B), (1)(h)(ii), (1)(h)(iii), or Subsection 26B-9-208(1)(b), a person in possession of personal property of the obligor shall:

(A)	secure the property from unauthorized transfer or disposition as required by Section 26B-9-215; and

(B)	surrender the property to the office after 21 days of receiving the notice unless the office has notified the person to release all or part of the property to the obligor.

(ii)

Unless released by the office, a notice of levy upon personal property shall be:

(A)	valid for 60 days; and

(B)	effective against any additional property which the obligor may deposit or transfer into the possession of the person up to the amount of the levy.

(iii)

If the property upon which the office imposes a levy is insufficient to satisfy the specified amount of past-due support and the obligor fails to contest that amount under Subsection (5)(a)(ii), the office may proceed under Subsections (1)(h)(i)(B), (1)(h)(ii), (1)(h)(iii), or Subsection 26B-9-208(1)(b) against additional property of the obligor until the amount specified and the reasonable costs of collection are fully paid.

(c)

Except as provided in Subsection (5)(b)(iii), the office may not disburse funds resulting from action requiring notice under Subsection (5)(a)(i) until:

(i)	21 days after notice was sent to the obligor; and

(ii)	the obligor, if the obligor contests the action under Subsection (5)(a)(ii), has exhausted the obligor’s administrative remedies and, if appealed to a district court, the district court has rendered a final decision.

(d)

Before intercepting or seizing any periodic or lump-sum payment under Subsection (1)(h)(i)(A), the office shall:

(i)	comply with Subsection 59-10-529(4)(a); and

(ii)	include in the notice required by Subsection 59-10-529(4)(a) reference to Subsection (1)(h)(i)(A).

(e)	If Subsection (5)(a) or (5)(d) does not apply, an action against the real or personal property of the obligor shall be in accordance with Section 26B-9-214.

(6)	All information received under this section is subject to Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act.

(7)	No employer, financial institution, public utility, cable company, insurance organization, its agent or employee, or related entity may be civilly or criminally liable for providing information to the office or taking any other action requested by the office pursuant to this section.

(8)	The actions the office may take under Subsection (1) are in addition to the actions the office may take pursuant to 3.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 305, 2023 General Session

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