R.C.S. v. A.O.L.

Summary

The Utah Supreme Court held that applying the Utah Adoption Act to deem an unmarried father's paternity notice filed only when entered into the state registry violated due process when the delay was allegedly caused by state-agency negligence. The court reversed and remanded for a determination of when Vital Records received the notice, and it also held that the due process issue was adequately preserved for appeal.

Holdings

1. As applied to Shaud, the Adoption Act's requirement that a notice of paternity proceedings is considered filed only upon entry into the Vital Records registry violated due process because it created an uncertain filing deadline and allowed state-controlled delay to deprive him of the opportunity to develop a relationship with his child. His notice must be considered filed when Vital Records actually received it.
2. Shaud adequately preserved his due process challenge because the district-court briefing and cited authorities presented the constitutional fairness issue and gave the district court an opportunity to address and correct the alleged error; preservation did not depend on using the specific words "due process."

Questions Presented

1. Whether applying the Utah Adoption Act's definition of when a notice of paternity proceedings is considered filed deprived Shaud of due process when Vital Records allegedly delayed entering his notice into the registry.
2. Whether Shaud adequately preserved his due process argument in the district court despite not expressly using the words "due process" until his motion to reconsider.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded