26B-8-119. Petition for establishment of unregistered birth or death — Court procedure.
(1)
A person holding a direct, tangible, and legitimate interest as described in Subsection 26B-8-125(3)(a) or (b) may petition for a court order establishing the fact, time, and place of a birth or death that is not registered or for which a certified copy of the registered birth or death certificate is not obtainable. The person shall verify the petition and file the petition in the Utah court for the county where:
Terms Used In Utah Code 26B-8-119
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
File: means the submission of a completed certificate or other similar document, record, or report as provided under this part for registration by the state registrar or a local registrar. See Utah Code 26B-8-101
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
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
State registrar: means the state registrar of vital records appointed under Section 26B-8-102. See Utah Code 26B-8-101
Vital records: means :
(a)
registered certificates or reports of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment;
(b)
amendments to any of the registered certificates or reports described in Subsection (24)(a);
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 of the registered certificate cannot be obtained.
(3)
The court shall set a hearing for five to 10 days after the day on which the petition is filed.
(4)
(a)
If the time and place of birth or death are in question, the court shall hear available evidence 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 determine the 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 by the department and is effective upon the filing of a certified copy of the order with the state registrar.
(6)
(a)
For purposes of this section, the birth certificate of an adopted alien child, as defined in Section 78B-6-108, is considered to be unobtainable if the child was born in a country that is not recognized by department rule as having an established vital records registration system.
(b)
If the adopted child was born in a country recognized by department rule, but a person described in Subsection (1) is unable to obtain a certified copy of the birth certificate, the state registrar shall authorize the preparation of a birth certificate if the state registrar receives a written statement signed by the registrar of the child’s birth country stating a certified copy of the birth certificate is not available.
Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 306, 2023 General Session
