Understanding Utah divorce laws is no simple task. The state offers a great assistance program through the court system to help residents dealing with divorce, but there’s an awful lot of information there.
We’ve boiled down the information into a straightforward—as straightforward as divorce laws can get, anyway—and concise summary that helps. In this article, we explain the different types of divorce in Utah, the steps in filing and what you can expect in the divorce process.
What Are the Different Kinds of Divorce in Utah?
The trend in the last 50 years to allow no-fault divorce includes Utah, where, as of 1987, “irreconcilable differences” became a legal reason for divorce. This means Utah now has both fault-based and no-fault divorce.
There are also three categories of divorce in Utah depending on the ability of the parties to work together through the divorce process: contested, uncontested and default.
The difference between contested and uncontested divorce is simply whether the two spouses are able to agree on everything themselves or require the court to make some decisions. A default divorce is granted when one partner can’t be reached or refuses to participate. After following all the required steps to try to notify the other person, the court grants a default divorce if there is no response.
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How to File for Divorce in Utah
The steps to follow for filing for divorce in Utah are relatively straightforward.
First you must prepare and file the proper documents. Utah’s Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) is available to the general public and provides users with the most up-to-date forms and documents. If you do not have an attorney, OCAP is definitely a resource to consult to make sure you’re meeting all the requirements.
Once you have the required forms, you’ll need to file the forms in the right court.
Utah Residency Requirement
The proper court to file your documents in is the Utah District Court in your county of residence. For the purposes of filing for divorce, you must be a resident of your Utah county for three months prior to filing the divorce petition.
Grounds for Divorce in Utah
As we mentioned above, Utah has both no-fault and fault-based grounds for divorce. The fault-based grounds are:
- Impotency of the respondent at the time of marriage: one spouse is seeking a divorce because the other was impotent when they were married
- Adultery committed by the respondent subsequent to marriage: the spouse wants a divorce because the other spouse committed adultery during the marriage
- Willful desertion of the petitioner by the respondent for more than one year: the spouser filing has been abandoned by the other spouse for at least a year
- Willful neglect of the respondent to provide for the petitioner the common necessaries of life: when the non-filing spouse has refused to provide basic necessities for the other spouse
- Habitual drunkenness of the respondent: the non-filing spouse is regularly drunk or otherwise intoxicated
- Conviction of the respondent for a felony: the non-filing spouse has been convicted of a felony
- Cruel treatment of the petitioner by the respondent to the extent of causing bodily injury or great mental distress to the petitioner: the non-filing spouse has caused serious physical injury or mental harm to the other spouse
- Irreconcilable differences of the marriage: no-fault ground for divorce in Utah—the filing spouse wants a divorce without assigning blame to the other spouse
- Incurable insanity: the non-filing spouse has been institutionalized without much chance of being cured or released
- When the spouses have lived separately under a decree of separate maintenance of any state for three consecutive years without cohabitation: meaning the couple is living separately and there is a legal decree of separation that has been in effect for at least three years
What Is the Utah Divorce Process?
Once you’ve filed for the divorce, the next step in the process is to make sure the other party is served. The papers must be served within 120 days of the court filing. Utah allows 21 days for the respondent to answer if they live in Utah and 30 days if they live outside of the state.
If there’s no response, you can request a default divorce. There can be a response in the form of a stipulation, too. The non-filing party can agree in writing—stipulate—to the petition and the divorce, allowing the filing party to proceed without them.
Usually, though, there will be a response and then the court will set a Case Management Conference where the parties will appear before the court to schedule important dates for the case. These conferences often decide on the timing for the parties to complete disclosures and financial declarations as well as scheduling mediation and the trial itself, if necessary.
If there are any contested issues at the conference, mediation is mandatory for the parties. Either party can ask to waive this requirement, but without this waiver, every couple must go to at least one session.
The parties follow the schedule set in the Case Management Conference except that there is a 30-day waiting period between the date of the petition and the decree being signed. This does not usually come up unless there’s a stipulation, and the court can waive the waiting period for certain extraordinary circumstances.
Child Custody and Support in Utah
Utah puts a great emphasis on making sure that divorce doesn’t adversely affect children and requires parents to attend classes on divorce and its impact on children before a divorce can proceed. The state also makes free classes available to children to help them deal with and understand divorce. These classes are created and taught by mental health professionals and available for free online to any children of divorcing parents age 6 to 17.
Utah Child Custody
Utah recognizes two parts to the custody of children: physical and legal custody. Physical custody refers to the physical location and possession of the child and where the child lives. Legal custody refers to the right to make decisions affecting the child’s life like where they go to school or their religious practice or medical decisions.
The two parts of custody can be shared between parents in a variety of ways. On the one extreme, a single parent can have sole legal and physical custody—though this doesn’t mean the noncustodial parent won’t be allowed visitation (called “parent time” in Utah). Parents can also have joint legal and joint physical custody—meaning parents work together to make all major parenting decisions.
Child Support in Utah
Utah requires all parents to support their children until they are 18 years old and have finished high school (whichever comes later) or become emancipated. In the case of children who will remain dependent beyond age 18, the court can order support to continue.
The amount of child support is calculated based on the income of both parents and the number of nights the child spends in each household.
- If the child spends 111 nights a year in the home of one parent, this is called joint physical custody
- If the child spends over 225 nights a year in the home of one parent, this is called sole physical custody
- If there are multiple children and some live with one parent and some with the other, this is called split custody
The actual amount of support is determined based on a set of tables that the state has created. These tables account for medical care and childcare expenses in addition to the base support requirement. You can get an idea of what different child support situations may look like using the state’s online child support calculator.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How is property divided during a Utah divorce?
Utah uses the equitable distribution model for property division. This means that the court decides what is fair—and that doesn’t necessarily mean the division will be equal. The court considers factors such as the length of the marriage, the age and health of the partners, the roles each held in the marriage and each partner’s job.
How is alimony calculated in Utah?
There is no formula that judges must use in order to determine alimony. Instead, judges consider the financial conditions of both spouses—during the marriage and after the divorce—and decide based on the circumstances of each case.
The purpose of alimony in Utah is to maintain both spouses in the lifestyle they were accustomed to during the marriage. While this is often impossible, the judge tries to reach a determination that puts both partners as close to their accustomed lifestyle as possible.
Utah law prohibits alimony that lasts longer than the marriage itself without special reasons, though the court can review the order before it expires and extend support if circumstances require it.
How is a divorce decree enforced in Utah?
If one party isn’t obeying a decree, the other party can ask the court to enforce the order. The process of requesting enforcement involves filing forms and having papers served on the other party. There will be a hearing, and the other party must be served at least 28 days before the hearing occurs.
The court will attempt to find out if the party in violation knew of the order, could have followed it and failed to follow the order nonetheless.
The hearing can result in changes to the existing divorce decree and, in some circumstances, fines or jail time.
