78B-6-120 - Necessary consent to adoption or relinquishment for adoption.
78B-6-120. Necessary consent to adoption or relinquishment for adoption.
(1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), consent to adoption of a child, orrelinquishment of a child for adoption, is required from:
(a) the adoptee, if the adoptee is more than 12 years of age, unless the adoptee does nothave the mental capacity to consent;
(b) a man who:
(i) by operation of law under Section 78B-15-204, is recognized as the father of theproposed adoptee, unless:
(A) the presumption is rebutted under Section 78B-15-607; or
(B) the man was not married to the mother of the proposed adoptee until after the motherconsented to adoption, or relinquishment for adoption, of the proposed adoptee; or
(ii) is the father of the adoptee by a previous legal adoption;
(c) the mother of the adoptee;
(d) a biological parent who has been adjudicated to be the child's biological father by acourt of competent jurisdiction prior to the mother's execution of consent to adoption or herrelinquishment of the child for adoption;
(e) consistent with Subsection (3), a biological parent who has executed and filed avoluntary declaration of paternity with the state registrar of vital statistics within the Departmentof Health in accordance with Title 78B, Chapter 15, Utah Uniform Parentage Act, prior to themother's execution of consent to adoption or her relinquishment of the child for adoption;
(f) an unmarried biological father of an adoptee, only if he fully and strictly complieswith the requirements of Sections 78B-6-121 and 78B-6-122; and
(g) the person or agency to whom an adoptee has been relinquished and that is placingthe child for adoption.
(2) (a) The consent of a person described in Subsections (1)(b) through (g) is notrequired if the adoptee is 18 years of age or older.
(b) The consent of a person described in Subsections (1)(b) through (f) is not required ifthe person's parental rights relating to the adoptee have been terminated.
(3) For purposes of Subsection (1)(e), a voluntary declaration of paternity is consideredfiled when it is entered into a database that:
(a) can be accessed by the Department of Health; and
(b) is designated by the state registrar of vital statistics as the official database forvoluntary declarations of paternity.
Amended by Chapter 159, 2009 General Session