Existing law sets forth provisions governing parentage and the establishment of parent and child relationships. (Chapter 126 of NRS) Sections 28-91 of this bill generally replace such provisions with provisions modeled after those of the Uniform Parentage Act (hereinafter “UPA”), adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in 2017. Sections 4-26 of this bill define terms for the purposes of chapter 126 of NRS that are modeled after the definitions of the terms used in the UPA. Existing law provides the manners in which the legal relationship of a mother and child can be established, including: (1) except in the case of a gestational agreement, proof that a woman gave birth to a child; (2) an adjudication that a woman is the mother of a child; (3) proof that a woman has adopted a child; (4) an unrebutted presumption of a woman's maternity; (5) the consent of a woman to assisted reproduction that resulted in the birth of a child; or (6) an adjudication confirming a woman as a parent of a child born to a gestational carrier. (NRS 126.041) Existing law also provides the manners in which the legal relationship of a father and child can be established, including: (1) an adjudication that a man is the father of a child; (2) proof that a man has adopted a child; (3) the consent of a man to assisted reproduction that resulted in the birth of a child; (4) an adjudication confirming a man as a parent of a child born to a gestational carrier; (5) a presumption of paternity that arises if a man was married to or cohabiting with the natural mother of a child or resides with and holds out a child as his natural child; (6) genetic testing establishing a man as the father of a child; or (7) a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity by a man. (NRS 126.041, 126.051, 126.053) Section 34 of this bill uses the gender-neutral language of the UPA to set forth the circumstances in which a parent and child relationship is established between a person and a child. Similarly, section 37 of this bill uses the gender-neutral language of the UPA to establish the circumstances in which a person is presumed to be a parent of a child. Sections 38-51 of this bill establish provisions modeled after those of the UPA relating to the voluntary acknowledgment or voluntary denial of parentage by certain persons, including provisions relating to the requirements for, rescission of and challenge to an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage. Section 42 of this bill provides that, unless an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage is rescinded or challenged, such an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage that meets all requirements of law and is filed with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics is equivalent to an adjudication of the parentage of a child or the nonparentage of a person, respectively. Section 43 of this bill prohibits the State Registrar of Vital Statistics from charging a fee for filing an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage, and section 51 of this bill authorizes the State Board of Health to adopt any necessary regulations relating to an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage. Existing law provides that in an action to determine paternity, a court is authorized or required, depending on the circumstances, to order genetic testing of a mother, child, alleged father or any other person. (NRS 126.121) Sections 52-68 of this bill establish various provisions modeled after those of the UPA concerning genetic testing, including: (1) the limitation on the use of genetic testing; (2) the authority to order, facilitate or deny genetic testing; (3) the requirements of genetic testing; (4) reports and costs of genetic testing; (5) additional genetic testing when a result is contested; (6) genetic testing when a specimen is not available from an alleged genetic parent; and (7) genetic testing of a deceased person or identical sibling. Section 68 of this bill provides that a person commits a misdemeanor if, without proper authority, he or she intentionally releases an identifiable specimen of another person collected for genetic testing for a purpose not relevant to a proceeding regarding parentage. Existing law establishes various provisions relating to an action to determine paternity or maternity. (NRS 126.071-126.231) Sections 69-89 of this bill replace several of those provisions with provisions modeled after those of the UPA governing proceedings to adjudicate parentage. Existing law provides that if an action to determine paternity is brought before the birth of a child, all proceedings are generally required to be stayed until after the birth of the child. (NRS 126.071) Section 84 of this bill instead authorizes a proceeding to adjudicate parentage to be commenced and an order or judgment to be entered before the birth of a child, but requires enforcement of the order or judgment to be stayed until after the birth of the child. Existing law does not bar an action to determine paternity until 3 years after a child reaches the age of majority. (NRS 126.081) Sections 75 and 76 of this bill instead provide that a proceeding to determine whether an alleged genetic parent or presumed parent, respectively, is a parent of a child may be commenced after the child becomes an adult if the child initiates the proceeding. Existing law requires that an informal hearing be held after an action to determine paternity has been brought and further requires a court to attempt to resolve the issues raised in the action during the pretrial hearing. (NRS 126.111) Section 136 of this bill repeals the provisions relating to such a pretrial hearing, as the UPA does not require any such pretrial hearing to be conducted. Section 77 of this bill authorizes a person who claims to be a de facto parent of a child to commence a proceeding to establish parentage of the child if the child is alive and less than 18 years of age. Section 77 provides that a person who claims to be a de facto parent of a child must be adjudicated as a parent of the child if there is only one other person who is a parent or has a claim to parentage of the child and the person who claims to be a de facto parent can demonstrate certain facts by clear and convincing evidence. Section 81 of this bill authorizes a court to adjudicate a child to have more than two parents if the court finds that failure to recognize more than two parents would be detrimental to the child. Existing law establishes provisions concerning assisted reproduction and gestational surrogacy. (NRS 126.500-126.810) This bill establishes only certain provisions modeled after those of the UPA relating to such matters. Section 92 of this bill establishes provisions relating to the parental status of certain persons who die before a child is conceived by assisted reproduction. Section 93 of this bill authorizes a party to a gestational agreement to terminate the agreement at any time before an embryo transfer or, if an embryo transfer does not result in pregnancy, at any time before a subsequent embryo transfer. Existing law requires that a gestational agreement provide for the express written agreement of the gestational carrier to undergo embryo or gamete transfer and attempt to carry and give birth to any resulting child. (NRS 126.750) Section 107 of this bill requires that a gestational agreement also provide for the express written agreement of the gestational carrier and any legal spouse or domestic partner of the gestational carrier to acknowledge that each intended parent is the legal and physical custodian of any resulting child. Section 107 also specifies that a gestational carrier has the right to make all health and welfare decisions regarding the gestational carrier and the pregnancy of the gestational carrier, including whether to: (1) consent to a cesarean section or the transfer of multiple embryos; (2) use the services of a health care practitioner chosen by the gestational carrier; (3) terminate or continue the pregnancy; and (4) reduce or retain the number of fetuses or embryos carried by the gestational carrier. Section 107 further provides that any provision in a gestational agreement that contradicts such a right is void and unenforceable. Existing law provides that the subsequent marriage or domestic partnership of a gestational carrier after the execution of a gestational agreement does not affect the validity of the agreement. (NRS 126.770) Section 108 of this bill provides that the subsequent marriage, domestic partnership or divorce of any party to a gestational agreement does not affect the validity of the agreement unless the agreement expressly provides otherwise. Existing law provides that if a gestational carrier breaches a gestational agreement, a specific performance remedy that would require the gestational carrier to be impregnated is prohibited. (NRS 126.780) Section 109 of this bill instead provides that specific performance is not an available remedy with regard to a gestational agreement except to enforce any provision in the agreement that is necessary to enable the intended parents to exercise the full rights of parentage immediately upon the birth of the child, if the intended parents are being prevented from exercising such rights. Sections 98-106 of this bill make various other changes to the provisions of existing law concerning assisted reproduction and gestational surrogacy. Section 136 repeals provisions of existing law that are not necessary because of the establishment of the provisions modeled after those of the UPA in sections 28-91. Sections 1, 94-97, 110-133 and 136 of this bill make conforming changes to reflect the revisions made to existing law because of the establishment of the provisions modeled after those of the UPA in sections 28-91 and the repeal of unnecessary provisions in section 136.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 125C.003, 126.151, 126.161, 126.201, 126.291, 126.500, 126.660, 126.670, 126.680, 126.690, 126.700, 126.710, 126.720, 126.740, 126.750, 126.770, 126.780, 128.150, 130.316, 130.401, 3.405, 200.359, 239.010, 422A.585, 432B.560, 440.280, 440.285, 440.287, 440.319, 440.325, 449.246, 629.151, 629.171, 652.210, 689A.0424, 689B.03766, 689C.1945, 695A.1857, 695B.1948, 695C.1712, 695G.1716
Reprint 1: 125C.003, 126.151, 126.161, 126.201, 126.291, 126.500, 126.660, 126.670, 126.680, 126.690, 126.700, 126.710, 126.720, 126.740, 126.750, 126.770, 126.780, 128.150, 130.316, 130.401, 3.405, 200.359, 239.010, 422A.585, 432B.560, 440.280, 440.285, 440.287, 440.319, 440.325, 449.246, 629.151, 629.171, 652.210, 689A.0424, 689B.03766, 689C.1945, 695A.1857, 695B.1948, 695C.1712, 695G.1716
Reprint 2: 125C.003, 126.151, 126.161, 126.201, 126.291, 126.500, 126.660, 126.670, 126.680, 126.690, 126.700, 126.710, 126.720, 126.740, 126.750, 126.770, 126.780, 128.150, 130.316, 130.401, 3.405, 200.359, 239.010, 422A.585, 432B.560, 440.280, 440.285, 440.287, 440.319, 440.325, 449.246, 629.151, 629.171, 652.210, 689A.0424, 689B.03766, 689C.1945, 695A.1857, 695B.1948, 695C.1712, 695G.1716
As Enrolled: 125C.003, 126.151, 126.161, 126.201, 126.291, 126.500, 126.660, 126.670, 126.680, 126.690, 126.700, 126.710, 126.720, 126.740, 126.750, 126.770, 126.780, 128.150, 130.316, 130.401, 3.405, 200.359, 239.010, 422A.585, 432B.560, 440.280, 440.285, 440.287, 440.319, 440.325, 449.246, 629.151, 629.171, 652.210, 689A.0424, 689B.03766, 689C.1945, 695A.1857, 695B.1948, 695C.1712, 695G.1716
BDR: 125C.003, 126.151, 126.161, 126.201, 126.291, 126.500, 126.660, 126.670, 126.680, 126.690, 126.700, 126.710, 126.720, 126.740, 126.750, 126.770, 126.780, 128.150, 130.316, 130.401, 3.405, 200.359, 239.010, 422A.585, 432B.560, 440.280, 440.285, 440.287, 440.319, 440.325, 449.246, 629.151, 629.171, 652.210, 689A.0424, 689B.03766, 689C.1945, 695A.1857, 695B.1948, 695C.1712, 695G.1716