Utah divorce laws
Child
Support
 Utah
divorce laws allow that courts will often,
among other things, include child support
orders in a dissolution of marriage. In order
to adequately cover issues around, the court
will include the following in every decree
of divorce: 1.) an
order assigning responsibility for the payment
of reasonable and necessary medical and dental
expenses of the dependent children; 2.) if
coverage is or becomes available at a reasonable
cost, an order requiring the purchase and
maintenance of appropriate health, hospital,
and dental care insurance for the dependent
children; 3.) an
order specifying which party is responsible
for the payment of joint debts, obligations,
or liabilities of the parties contracted
or incurred during marriage; 4.) an
order requiring the parties to notify respective
creditors or obligees, regarding the court's
division of debts, obligations, or liabilities
and regarding the parties' separate, current
addresses; 5.) provisions
for the enforcement of these orders; and
6.) provisions for income withholding.
Should you require detailed information with
respect to child support or other divorce
issues, you can review Utah's official site here.
Access to Utah divorce laws is also available.
| Divorce Myth: Those in the military need to get military divorces. Reality: All divorces must proceed through a state or protectorates family court system. There are no such things as military divorces. |
Residency 
The party filing the
divorce action must have been a resident of the State of Utah and
a resident of the county where the divorce is filed for at least
three months prior to the filing of divorce. If there are children,
generally the children must have resided in the state for a minimum
of six months. To simplify divorce and custody proceedings, parents
should wait until the children have lived within the state for six
months before filing for divorce.
Child
Custody
 Custody consideration. If a husband and wife having minor children are separated, or their marriage is declared void or dissolved, the court will make an order for the future care and custody of the minor children as it considers appropriate.
In determining any form of custody, the court will consider the best interests of the child and, among other factors the court finds relevant, the following:
- the past conduct and demonstrated moral standards of each of the parties; which parent is most likely to act in the best interest of the child, including allowing the child frequent and continuing contact with the non custodial parent; and
- The court will, in every case, consider joint custody but may award any form of custody which is determined to be in the best interest of the child.
- The children may not be required by either party to testify unless the trier of fact determines that extenuating circumstances exist that would necessitate the testimony of the children be heard and there is no other reasonable method to present their testimony.
- The court may inquire of the children and take into consideration the children's desires regarding future custody or parent-time schedules, but the expressed desires are not controlling and the court may determine the children's custody or parent-time otherwise.
- The desires of a child 16 years of age or older shall be given added weight, but is not the single controlling factor.
- In awarding custody, the court shall consider which parent is most likely to act in the best interests of the child, including allowing the child frequent and continuing contact with the non custodial parent as the court finds appropriate
Grounds
for Divorce
- impotency of the respondent at the time of marriage;
- adultery committed by the respondent
- willful desertion of the petitioner by the respondent for more than one year;
- willful neglect of the respondent to provide for the petitioner the common necessaries of life;
- habitual drunkenness of the respondent;
- conviction of the respondent for a felony; cruel treatment of the petitioner by the respondent
- irreconcilable differences of the marriage;
- incurable insanity; or
- when the husband and wife have lived separately under a decree of separate maintenance of any state for three consecutive years without cohabitation
| Divorce Myth: Women get awarded primary custody in all cases. Reality: Currently
mothers get awarded custody in about three-quarters of custody
disputes and courts are now becoming more willing to award
fathers primary custody. |
Mediation
Mandatory educational course for divorcing parents
There is established a mandatory course for divorcing parents. The mandatory course is designed to educate and sensitize divorcing parties to their children's needs both during and after the divorce process.
Alimony
In any action to establish an order of custody, parent-time, child support, alimony, or division of property in a domestic case, the court may order a party to pay the costs, attorney fees, and witness fees, including expert witness fees, of the other party to enable the other party to prosecute or defend the action. The order may include provision for costs of the action.
In any action to enforce an order of custody, parent-time, child support, alimony, or division of property in a domestic case, the court may award costs and attorney fees upon determining that the party substantially prevailed upon the claim or defense.
The court may order a party to provide money, during the pendency of the action, for the separate support and maintenance of the other party and of any children in the custody of the other party. 4
The court will consider at least the following factors in determining alimony:
- the financial condition and needs of the recipient spouse;
- the recipient's earning capacity or ability to produce income;
- the ability of the payer spouse to provide support;
- the length of the marriage;
- whether the recipient spouse has custody of minor children requiring support;
- whether the recipient spouse worked in a business owned or operated by the payer spouse; and
- whether the recipient spouse directly contributed to any increase in the payer spouse's skill by paying for education received by the payer spouse or allowing the payer spouse to attend school during the marriage.
The court may consider the fault of the parties in determining alimony.
As a general rule, the court should look to the standard of living, existing at the time of separation, in determining alimony. However, the court will consider all relevant facts and equitable principles and may, in its discretion, base alimony on the standard of living that existed at the time of trial. In marriages of short duration, when no children have been conceived or born during the marriage, the court may consider the standard of living that existed at the time of the marriage.
| Divorce Myth: Following divorce, the children involved are better off in step families than in single-parent families. Reality: The evidence suggests that step families are no improvement over single-parent families, even though typically income levels are higher and there is a father figure in the home. Step families tend to have their own set of problems, including interpersonal conflicts with new parent figures and a very high risk of family breakup. |
Waiting
Period
 Waiting period for hearing after filing for divorce. A decree of divorce can be granted immediately if the parties have reached an agreement and, if they have minor children, have both attended the Divorce Education and Divorce Orientation classes. If parties do not have minor children, Utah law requires a 90-day waiting period, which may be waived for good cause. Also, before proceeding to pretrial or trial, parties to a divorce must attend at least one mediation session to attempt to resolve disputed issues.
Grandparents
Rights
In determining parent-time rights of parents and visitation rights of grandparents and other members of the immediate family, the court will consider the best interest of the child.
As in other states, grandparents may also file a petition for visitation rights in a pending divorce proceeding or other proceeding involving custody and visitation issues where the following factors will be considered:
-
the petitioner is a fit and proper person to have visitation with the grandchild;
-
visitation with the grandchild has been denied or unreasonably limited;
-
the parent is unfit or incompetent;
-
the petitioner has acted as the grandchild's custodian or caregiver, or otherwise has had a substantial relationship with the grandchild, and the loss or cessation of that relationship is likely to cause harm to the grandchild;
-
the petitioner's child, who is a parent of the grandchild, has died, or has become a non custodial parent through divorce or legal separation;
-
the petitioner's child, who is a parent of the grandchild, has been missing for an extended period of time; or
-
visitation is in the best interest of the grandchild.
Dividing
Assets
Utah is an equitable distribution state, meaning that the court will endeavor to divide the marital property equitably. Additionally, Utah is one of few states that allows the court leeway on how marital misconduct has damaged the union. Factors that get consideration are: 1.) The financial condition and needs of the recipient spouse; 2.) The recipient's earning capacity or ability to produce income; 3.) The ability of the payer spouse to provide support; 4.) The length of the marriage; 5.) Whether the recipient spouse has custody of minor children requiring support; 6.) Whether the recipient spouse worked in a business owned or operated by the payer spouse; 7.) Whether the recipient spouse directly contributed to any increase in the payer spouse's skill by paying for education received by the payer spouse or allowing the payer spouse to attend school during the marriage, and 8.) The court may consider the fault of the parties in determining alimony.
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