Establishing Paternity and Parent-Time for Unmarried Father
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 1, 2025
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
A girl I was with said she wasn’t going to keep the baby and ended up having the baby after we split and has since kept it a secret from me for 11 months before found out and she confirmed it was my baby. Short story she is restricting me from spending time with my baby and threaten every time I’m not doing something she’s happy with that I won’t see my kid. Her mother also threaten that she has people higher up in the courts and whatnots that they’ll contact. I just want to make up for the 11 months she hid our baby from me. Baby is 11 months old and she is with someone else and keeps canceling plans for me and my baby to spend time together before of the other person in her life.
Would I be able to build a case off of this?
Attorney Answer
Yes — as the child's biological father you can ask a Utah court to establish your paternity and order enforceable parent-time, and the mother hiding the birth from you for 11 months does not take that right away.
When parents aren't married, legal fatherhood isn't automatic even if everyone agrees who the father is. It has to be established either through a signed voluntary declaration of paternity or, if the mother won't cooperate, through a paternity action filed in district court. Once paternity is legally established, you stand on equal footing to ask for parent-time and to have a voice in decisions about your child.
Threats about "people higher up in the courts" carry no legal weight. Judges decide parent-time based on the child's best interests and the statutory factors they're required to apply — not on who someone claims to know. Once an order exists, repeatedly canceling scheduled time can itself become a problem for whichever parent does the canceling.
The 11 months you missed matter to you emotionally, but they generally don't bar you from establishing paternity or getting a normal parent-time schedule going forward. Courts focus more on building a workable relationship from here than on assigning blame for the past — though a documented pattern of one parent blocking contact can influence how the schedule gets structured.
What you can do
1. Sign a voluntary declaration of paternity if the mother will cooperate, or file a paternity petition in district court if she won't. 2. Once paternity is established, file for a formal parent-time order so your time with your child is legally enforceable, not dependent on her agreement. 3. Keep a written record of canceled plans, threats, and any interference with contact — dates and exact wording matter. 4. Avoid responding to threats in kind; stick to calm, factual communication, since courts do look at how each parent behaves. 5. Consult a Utah family law attorney to start the paternity and parent-time process.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does a mother have to tell the father when a baby is born in Utah?
Outside of specific contexts like adoption proceedings, Utah law generally does not impose a duty on a mother to notify the biological father of a birth. Concealment does not extinguish his right to seek paternity and parent-time once he learns about the child.
How is paternity established in Utah when the parents were never married?
Unmarried parents can establish paternity by both signing a voluntary declaration of paternity, or, if there's disagreement, either parent can file a paternity action in district court, which can include genetic testing.
Can a father get parent-time even if he missed the child's early months?
Yes. Utah courts generally focus on the child's current best interests and building a workable ongoing relationship rather than penalizing a father for time he did not know about or could not access.
