Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 18 Sec. 5071

  • following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • 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 may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See

§ 5071. Birth certificates; who to make; return

(a) On or before the fifth business day of each live birth that occurs in this State, the attending physician or designee or midwife or, if no attending physician or midwife is present, a parent of the child or a legal guardian of a mother under 18 years of age shall file with the State Registrar a report of birth in the form and manner prescribed by the State Registrar. The State Registrar shall register the report in the Statewide Registration System if it has been completed properly and filed in accordance with this chapter. The portion of the registered birth report that is not confidential under section 5014 of this title is the birth certificate.

(b) At the time of the birth of a child, each parent shall furnish the following information to enable completion of the report of birth required under subsection (a) of this section: the parent’s name, address, and Social Security number and the name and date of birth of the child.

(c)(1) Whoever assumes the custody of a live-born infant of unknown parentage shall file a report of birth with the State Registrar in the form and manner prescribed by the State Registrar.

(2) If the child is identified and a certificate of birth is found or obtained, the report and any certificate created under this section and copies thereof shall be deposited with the State Registrar and kept confidential, to be opened upon court order only.

(d) The name of the father shall be included on the report of birth and on any birth certificate of the child of unmarried parents only if the father and mother have signed a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage or a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction has issued an adjudication of parentage.

(e) When a birth certificate is issued, a parent or parents shall be identified with gender-neutral nomenclature. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. March 1, 1961; 1979, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1989, No. 220 (Adj. Sess.), § 26; 1997, No. 63, § 18, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; 2013, No. 183 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2017, No. 46, § 20, eff. July 1, 2019.)