Nordgren v. Mitchell

LOGAN, Circuit Judge.

The appellants are defendants in paternity actions filed in the Utah state courts. Utah’s method of resolving paternity disputes is similar to the Connecticut system described in Little v. Streater, 452 U.S. 1, 101 S.Ct. 2202, 68 L.Ed.2d 627 (1981). When Utah’s department of social services pays child support benefits, it becomes the *1336“trustee” of the mother’s or child’s cause of action for support. Utah Code Ann. § 78-45b-3(l). Paternity and support obligations can be determined in the same action, in which the department is a real party in interest. Id. §§ 78-45a-2,…