ESTABLISHMENT OF PARENTAGE

CS 329P Parentage Disestablishment, Overview

04/87 Revised 09/01/25 Training Completed 09/15/25 Last Reviewed 09/30/25

Utah Code 26B-8-101, 26B-9-206, 81-5-102, 81-5-204, 81-5-601

CIC: Refer to procedures found in CS 1329 CIC Parentage Rescinded.

Definitions

1. Adjudicated (ordered) father: Defined in Utah Code 81-5-102 as follows:

“(1) ‘Adjudicated father’ means a man who has been adjudicated by a tribunal to be the father of a child.”

Utah Code 81-5-102 defines a tribunal as follows:

“(28) ‘Tribunal’ means a court of law, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage.”

2. Declarant father: Defined in Utah Code 81-5-102 as follows:

“(9) ‘Declarant father’ means a male who:

(a) along with the birth mother, claims to be the genetic father of a child; and

(b) signs a voluntary declaration of paternity to establish the man’s parentage.”

3. Presumed father: Defined in Utah Code 81-5-102 as follows:

“(22) ‘Presumed father’ means a man who, by operation of law under Section 81-5-204, is recognized as the father of a child until that status is rebutted or confirmed in accordance with this chapter.”

Utah Code 81-5-204 explains the circumstances that create a presumption of parentage as follows:

“(1) A man is presumed to be the father of a child if:

(a) the man and the birth mother of the child are married to each other and the child is born during the marriage;

(b) the man and the birth mother of the child were married to each other and the child is born within 300 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce, or after a decree of separation;

(c) before the birth of the child, the man and the birth mother of the child married each other in apparent compliance with law, even if the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born during the invalid marriage or within 300 days after the marriage’s termination by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce or after a decree of separation; or

(d) after the birth of the child, the man and the birth mother of the child married each other in apparent compliance with law, whether or not the marriage is, or could be declared, invalid, the man voluntarily asserted the man’s parentage of the child, and there is no other presumptive father of the child, and:

(i) the assertion is in a record filed with the Office of Vital Records and Statistics;

(ii) the man agreed to be and is named as the child's father on the child's birth certificate; or

(iii) the man promised in a record to support the child as his own.”

Categories

If a parent wishes to contest parentage after it has been legally established, the appropriate procedures will fall into one of seven categories:

1. Parentage has been established by a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity (VDP), 60 days or less since the VDP was signed, and no support order has been established. (See CS 329P-1 Parentage Disestablishment, Rescission of the “Affidavit for Voluntary Declaration of Paternity by Parents”.)

2. Parentage has been established by VDP, more than 60 days have passed since the VDP was signed, and no support order has been issued. (See CS 329P-1.)

3. Parentage has been established by VDP, and a judicial support order has been issued. (The 60-day timeframe does not matter once a support order has been established.) (See CS 329P-1.)

4. Parentage has been established by VDP and an administrative support order has been issued. (See CS 329P-1.)

5. Parentage has been adjudicated by a judicial order. (See CS 329P-2 Parentage Disestablishment, Judicial Order Required.)

6. Parentage has been adjudicated by an administrative order. (See CS 329P-3 Parentage Disestablishment, Amending Administrative Orders Based on Genetic Test Results.)

7. Parentage was presumed in an administrative order because the father met the definition of “presumed father” found in Utah Code 78B-15-204. (See CS 329-3.)

For additional information and procedures, refer to the appropriate Parentage Disestablishment subsections listed below.

1. CS 329P-1 Rescission of the “Affidavit for Voluntary Declaration of Paternity by Parents”

2. CS 329P-2 Judicial Order Required

3. CS 329P-3 Amending Administrative Orders Based on Genetic Test Results

4. CS 329P-4 Genetic Testing After the Order

Refunding Support Payments

If parentage is disestablished and/or the current support obligation is terminated prospectively, do NOT refund any support payments to a noncustodial parent (NCP) unless ordered by the court. Except for rare situations, the previously adjudicated father/presumed father will continue to be considered the legally established father with a legal support obligation for the period preceding the disestablishment or termination of the support obligation; therefore, any support obligations due prior to disestablishment remain his responsibility. If the mother was the NCP and paid support, her obligation is not affected by the disestablishment of parentage. Only the CSS or ORS Director may approve an exception.

EXAMPLE: The court determines that process of service was invalid and rules that the order is void and all collected money must be returned to the previously adjudicated father. If payments were made on a IV-A debt, refund the money to the previously adjudicated father. If payments were made on a non-IV-A debt and sent to the custodial parent (CP), there is no money for CSS to refund. The order should state that the CP is to repay the money to the previously adjudicated father.