ESTABLISH ORDER

CS 354P Referral to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) for Order Establishment

07/88 Revised 07/23/26 Training Completed 08/06/26 Last Reviewed 08/04/26

45 CFR 303.101, 45 CFR 303.4

CIC: Refer to procedures found in CS 1354P CIC Referral to the AGO for Order Establishment.

Introduction

At times it is necessary and appropriate to refer a case that has no support order to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to establish an order judicially. To determine when to create a referral to the AGO on a pre-order case, refer to the sections below.

Individuals who work at the Office of Recovery Services/Child Support Services (ORS\CSS) and attorneys with the AGO who handle CSS cases do not represent the noncustodial parent (NCP), custodial parent (CP) (IV-A or non-IV-A), or their interests, including such issues as parent-time, custody, etc. The NCP and CP may seek private counsel to assist them on these issues. Refer the applicant to the “Notice of Services” section of the Application for Services Packet. CSS and AGO staff may not attempt to define reasonable parent-time or discuss parent-time or custody issues with either party. Remind CPs receiving IV-A services or Medicaid of the IV-A Good Cause option if they have safety concerns for themselves or their children.

In addition, it is not the responsibility of CSS or the AGO to notarize private agreements between the NCP and CP, or to obtain restraining orders for the CP. The CP (IV-A and non-IV-A) should obtain private counsel or private agent service for these actions.

For more information, refer to CS 350P Federal Regulations and State Laws and CS Appendix T-P Federal Performance Standards.

Forms Overview

1. AGO Referral Notice to Participants. This letter is sent to the obligor and the obligee (on CSS cases) when the case is referred to the AGO for judicial action.

Criteria for Referral When Judicial Action is Pending

If a judicial action is pending (e.g., divorce action) and no order has been established on a pre-order case, request the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to establish a child support order if at least one of the criteria listed below applies.

1. The state has a continued interest in the matter. Generally the state is interested in the outcome of judicial actions on all IV-A cases, and could be interested in a Non-IV-A case in some situations.

EXAMPLE 1: There is a provision in a petition for the state to pay attorneys fees and court costs, or comply in some way that does not appear to be supported by the facts and is not in the state’s best interest.

EXAMPLE 2: The children are receiving Medicaid-only services and the petition for divorce does not contain a provision for medical support.

2. The parties to the action are not represented by private attorneys and are unlikely to complete the action correctly.

EXAMPLE: The NCP is acting pro se in a divorce action and the action is not progressing due to other issues s/he is raising. It is not appropriate to initiate the administrative process because the judicial action has already been initiated and a hearing is scheduled in the near future. The AGO can intervene and ask the court for a temporary order.

3. The worksheets do not appear to be in compliance with the guidelines.

EXAMPLE: The NCP on a IV-A case is self-employed and it appears that the gross income amount used in the divorce worksheet is substantially lower than it should be. There is evidence that the amount deducted from the gross business receipts as reasonable business expenses included private travel expenses unrelated to the business.

4. The complaint or petition is incomplete which may affect the final support provisions in the order.

5. The parties to the action are disputing the state’s understanding of a statute which could influence the court’s interpretation of the statute with regard to this case and future cases.

6. The court requests the state’s participation in a judicial action. (The court may order ORS to participate, even if we do not have an open case.)

7. The parties are represented by private attorneys, but the provisions in the legal pleadings and/or guidelines forms are not correct under current law.

If it is appropriate for the AGO to establish a child support order, complete the “AGO Referral for Order Establishment” form. For procedures on the AGO referral, refer to subsection Procedures for AGO Referral, below. The AGO may utilize an intervenor procedure to accomplish this action if a judicial action is pending, but the end goal for ORS purposes is to establish a support obligation for the other parent. Therefore, the referral reason will be establishment.

Existing Judicial Order Does Not Include Support Obligation

If there is an existing judicial order on the case but it does not order either parent to pay support for the child(ren) (e.g. the order only addresses arrears for a certain timeframe and does not address a current child support amount) locate both parents and complete the “AGO Referral for Order Establishment” referral form to request the AGO to establish a judicial child support order, and a medical support order if needed. Do not establish a support order administratively unless the existing judicial order specifically authorizes ORS to do so.

If there is an existing judicial or administrative order that requires one of the parents to pay support and now the other parent should pay due to a change in the physical custody of the child(ren), refer to CS 818P Support Follows the Child – Post Order, Legal Custody Determined for instructions. If the case does not qualify for enforcement against the other parent using support follows the child, locate both parents and complete the “AGO Referral for Order Establishment” form to request the AGO to establish a child support order for both parents. The AGO may utilize a modification procedure to accomplish this action, but the end goal for ORS purposes is to establish a support obligation for the other parent.

If there is an existing judicial or administrative order and a provision in the order needs to be modified, then this is considered a modification. For example, there is a child support provision ordering the parents to pay a support and the support amounts are being changed.

If there is an existing judicial or administrative order with no support provision in the order and a support provision is needed, this is considered an establishment because a provision is being added that was not there before.

EXAMPLE 1: There is a Utah Divorce Decree signed February 28, 2005 ordering the father to pay $132.00 per month. The child’s grandmother is awarded temporary custody in an order dated March 15, 2006 and begins to receive TANF benefits for the child; however, there is no provision for the mother to pay support. Create a referral to the AGO using the “AGO Referral for Order Establishment” form requesting the establishment of a two-parent support and medical order.

EXAMPLE 2: There is a Utah Divorce Decree that is signed September 5, 1997 ordering the father to pay $75.00 per month in child support; there is no amount for the mother to pay. The mother sends in a written request for a review. The case qualifies for the 30% increase in income for the father. Open a referral to the AGO using the “AGO Referral for Modification” form using the “Review and Adjustment Referral” referral form requesting a modification to the support and a combination order for the mother to pay. Since the request came from the custodial parent requesting a review of the child support amount and the amount for the father to pay will change due to an increase in income for the father, the case is considered to be a modification rather than order establishment.

AGO Referral Required for Same Sex Participants

If no order exists on a case where the child’s legal parents are the same sex, do not use the administrative process to establish a child support order. This restriction to the administrative process includes cases when the obligee and the obligor are the same sex as well as when the two obligors on specified relative cases are the same sex. Instead of using the administrative process, you are required to refer the case to the AGO to establish a judicial order for child support even when there is no judicial action pending.

When referring the case to the AGO, complete the “AGO Referral for Order Establishment” form requesting the establishment of a child support order to include both parents if possible (e.g., both parents live in Utah, ORS has long-arm jurisdiction, etc.). On the referral packet, add information about the case having two parents of the same sex. Refer to subsection Procedures for AGO Referral below for instructions on completing an AGO referral.

NOTE: If a parent provides legal documentation of their gender identity either as nonbinary or different from that assigned to them at birth, refer the case to the AGO to establish an order judicially. The worker should include any information they have about the parent’s preferred pronouns and identity markers. If a parent contacts the worker with concerns about gender-specific language in ORS forms, the worker may contact the Policy Analyst Unit, who can manually create a form or letter to remove the gender-specific language.

Procedures for AGO Referral

Once you have determined that a referral needs to be made to the AGO for order establishment, take the steps listed below.

1. When a Notice of Agency Action (NAA) is appropriate on a case (refer to the note below for examples of when a NAA is not appropriate), and the NAA has not already been sent for service prior to the AGO referral or if no hearing has been scheduled on a judicial action that is pending, send the NAA to both parties in correlation with the AGO referral in order to meet federal timeframes for process service.

Once the NAA response timeframes have expired, the Presiding Officer (PO) will consult with the assigned AAG handling the case to determine whether to proceed with an administrative order at that time or to wait for the pending judicial action to result in a support order.

If an administrative order is established and a judicial order is established afterward changing the monthly child support provision, the judicial order will supersede the administrative order child support provision from the date the judicial order is effective forward. If paternity was established in the administrative order, the judicial order does not disestablish or void the paternity unless specifically stated.

NOTE: This step may not be appropriate under certain case circumstances. For example, Juvenile Court had jurisdiction prior to an NAA but has not granted ORS authority to proceed administratively, or when parents on a case are the same sex (refer to subsection CS 354.5 above). Discuss possible exceptions with your manager and AGO on a case-by-case basis and document any exceptions in your case narratives.

2. Ensure each participant’s information is up to date in ORSIS.

3. Check courts online for any judicial action that may be pending or has been completed and has not been imaged into Content Manager. Narrate the results of the search. If an order does exist that has not been imaged into the electronic case file, obtain a copy of the order (e.g., court images, ORSCOURTDOCS, CP/NCP, etc.) and prepare the document to be imaged as Forward File.

4. Update ORSIS.

5. Generate the “AGO Referral Notice to Participants” letter and send it to the obligor and obligee on the case. For CIC cases, this letter will only be sent to the obligor.

NOTE: If the case is being referred for criminal nonsupport (CNS), consult with the CNS AGO to determine if the letter should be sent. This will give the AAG an opportunity to evaluate the case for any potential risks due to the notification.

4.

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6. Complete the proper referral form(s).

7. If there is pending judicial action, verify that the name listed on the judicial action is listed in ORSIS as either a Primary or Alias name.

EXAMPLE: A case is being referred to the AGO for order establishment since the CP is receiving financial benefits. The participants have begun divorce actions; the petition has the mother’s name listed as Jackie Johnson. The CP has since changed her legal name back to her maiden name, and her primary name listed in ORSIS is Jackie Call. Verify that the name listed on the divorce petition (Jackie Johnson) is listed as an alias in ORSIS.

8. Write a narrative detailing the action being taken.

9. Ensure all documents needed for the referral have been imaged and added to the appropriate agent’s folder.

10. Prepare the referral packet.

a. A completed Attorney General Referral form.

b. A copy of the Notice of Agency Action that was previously prepared and sent for service to the obligor and obligee.

NOTE: The assigned AAG will include a “commence” date in the pleadings so that arrears may be recovered from that date forward. The date is based on the date you add to the arrears “From” field on the referral form. Use the date that the NAA was prepared prior to the AGO referral as the arrears “From” date. If an NAA was not prepared earlier, enter “Date Filed” instead. The AGO will attempt to file the judicial order with the court within 45 days of your referral.

c. Genetic testing results (if previously obtained on this case, or if done on any other cases involving the same mother and children).

d. Any out-of-state birth certificates, hospital records, or any other legal and personal documents of relevance.

e. The UIFSA petition (if the case is an incoming interstate case).

NOTE: When an incoming interstate referral is received, the original referral and all copies of the order(s) are kept by the Central Imaging Unit for 60 days. If you need a copy of the original UIFSA petition or a certified copy of the order(s) for court, you may request the copies by sending an email as needed.

f. The Voluntary Declaration of Paternity printed from the Office of Vital Records and Statistics (OVRS).

g. The appropriate Utah guidelines worksheet.

h. The “Worksheet Income Verification Declaration” form signed by the agent.

i. The income information (e.g., “Employer Request” form, WBS, etc.) used to calculate the Utah guidelines worksheet.

j. Any documentation in support of present family credit (e.g., current spouse income, marriage certificate, birth certificate, evidence of parentage establishment, etc.).

k. Any documentation in support of previously-ordered support credit (i.e., a copy of the order).

l. The “Income Worksheet” form completed by the agent.

m. Any Financial Declarations (e.g., financial statement, such as the “Financial Statement for Order Establishment” form, “Financial Statement for Review/Adjustment Only” form or the “Post Order Financial Statement” form and supporting documentation).

n. A current ORSIS payment record, if applicable.

o. The Assignment of Collection of Support.

p. If the case is Non-IV-A, a record of the birth expenses or uninsured medical expenses paid by the mother, if any.

q. Other items which may be unique to your office (e.g., prepared legal documents, service fee check for long-arm, etc.).

r. A photo (e.g., driver license photo obtained from UCJIS) for process service.

11. Send the referral packet to the assigned AAG. Include the ORS case number and note as to what the referral is. Also send an email to the assigned AAG and the AAG’s paralegal or legal assistant to let them know that the referral is being sent to the AAG’s mail.

NOTE1 : Referral packets and AG litigation files are the property of the AGO and will not be used by CSS nor returned to the agent once the judicial action is completed. CSS agents may not access the referral packets once they are referred to the AGO and may not obtain copies of any of the documents that may be contained in the AG litigation files.

NOTE 2: If the AAG determines that the referral packet is incomplete (e.g., the referral form is missing or questions on the form are left blank), the AAG will delete the referral packet and notify the agent that the referral packet is incomplete and has been deleted. The agent will need to resubmit the referral.

Monitor all judicial referrals made to the assigned AAG in order to ensure that federal timeframe standards are being met on the case.

NOTE: The AGO will complete ORSIS appropriately and complete the “Process Service Worksheet” form when personal service is required. CSS agents should not complete this screen or the process service forms at the time of referral.

NCP Out-of-State

If the NCP lives in another state, take the additional steps listed below if the AGO plans to have the Sheriff’s office in the other state attempt to serve the NCP.

1. Obtain the name and address of the Sheriff in the county where the NCP resides.

2. Contact the Sheriff and find out how much the Sheriff charges for personal service.

3. Request a service fee check using the Request for Refund or Fee Payment. Sign the form and fax it to the ORS Financial Services unit. Keep the transmittal notice as a record that the request was transmitted. Financial Services will prepare the check and forward it to you to include with the AGO referral.

NOTE 1: Upon attorney advice, you may update ORSIS prior to receiving the service fee check. If this is the situation, indicate on the referral form and document this in the case narratives. Forward the check to the AGO as soon as it is received.

NOTE 2: This process may differ based on regional discretion. Consult with your manager or ARD.