81-13-210. Custody pending final decree.

337 words·~2 min read·/ut/title-81/chapter-13/81-13-210

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Effective 9/1/2025

(1)Except as otherwise provided by the court, once a petitioner has received the adoptee into the petitioner's home and a petition for adoption has been filed, the petitioner is entitled to the custody and control of the child adoptee and is responsible for the care, maintenance, and support of the adoptee, including any necessary medical or surgical treatment, pending further order of the court.

(a)Once a child adoptee has been placed with, relinquished to, or ordered into the custody of a child-placing agency for purposes of adoption, the agency shall have custody and control of the child adoptee and is responsible for the child adoptee's care, maintenance, and support.

(b)Subject to Subsection (3)(c) , the child-placing agency may delegate the responsibility for care, maintenance, and support, including any necessary medical or surgical treatment, to the petitioner once the petitioner has received the child adoptee into the petitioner's home, including a temporary place of abode for the petitioner.

(c)Until the final decree of adoption is entered by the court, the child-placing agency has the right to the custody and control of the child adoptee.

(a)A licensed child-placing agency, or a petitioner if the petition of adoption is filed before a child adoptee's birth, may seek an order establishing that the child-placing agency or petitioner shall have temporary custody of the child adoptee from the time of the child adoptee's birth.

(b)The court shall grant an order for temporary custody under Subsection (3)(a) upon determining that:

(i)the birth mother or both birth parents consent to the order;

(ii)the child-placing agency or petitioner is willing and able to take custody of the child adoptee; and

(iii)an order will be in the best interest of the child adoptee.

(c)The court shall vacate an order if, before the child adoptee's birth, the birth mother or both birth parents withdraw consent to the order.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 426 , 2025 General Session