UTAH FAMILY LEGAL

The residency requirement to file for a divorce in Utah is 3 months. You must be a resident of the county in which you reside for a period of 3 months prior to filing for divorce. If you have minor children, there may be different (additional) residency requirements and jurisdictional rules related to the Uniform Cihild Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA).

Utah is what is known as a "no fault" state for divorce. That means that within Utah, the most common ground for divorce is "irreconcilable differences." This essentially means that you and your spouse have differences between you that are so great that they are incompatible-- they cannot be reconciled. However, Utah law also provides several statutory grounds for a divorce: impotency of the respondent at the time of marriage; adultery committed by the respondent subsequent to marriage; 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 to the extent of causing bodily injury or great mental distress to the petitioner; 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.

A divorce is a termination of a marriage. An annulment is a court finding that a marriage was never valid. Divorces and annulments have the same effect-- they dissolve the marriage. However, they differ in how they treat the marriage. When people get a divorce, they are still recognized as having been married previously. On the other hand, an annulment treats the marriage as though it never existed. Unlike a divorce action, there are specific grounds and findings that must be made to have your marriage annulled.

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Generally, no. Your spouse can contest the individual terms of the divorce, but ultimately cannot demand or require that you stay married.

Technically, yes. Given the waiting period and process for obtaining a divorce, your divorce may be pending for at least one month before it is final. While your divorce is pending, you are still legally married to your spouse and are prohibited by law from re-marrying. You are not considered "single" until after your divorce has been granted. (See Utah Code 30-3-8.) While it is not illegal for a spouse to date another person while the divorce is pending, this could cause unnecessary friction between the parties that could delay or complicate the proceedings. It could also constitute grounds for divorce or grounds for a counter-petition in the divorce action, seeking alternative relief, though this is not common. (The most typical grounds for a divorce in Utah is still "irreconcilable differences.")

Yes. A prior name (birth/maiden name, prior married name, etc.) can be restored to either party (or both parties) as part of the divorce, with or without mention in the Decree. It is easier to mention the name change in your divorce paperwork, if you are considering returning to a former name. You will need to provide a certified copy of your divorce decree and your birth certificate to the DMV to update your driver's license. You will also need to provide this information to Social Security Administration for an updated Social Security card.

The filing fee for a divorce in Utah is $318. In addition to the filing fee, there may be additional costs, depending on your circumstances, including constable/service costs, divorce education class and orientation costs, and document preparation costs. Some attorneys provide lower-cost services for representation for simple uncontested divorces (ranging from approximately $500-$1,500). However, if your divorce is contested, most attorneys charge an hourly rate for their services (ranging from approximately $150/hour to $350/hour). It is not uncommon for a contested divorce to cost the parties several thousand dollars to litigate. Contested divorces may also include costs for mediation, expert witnesses, custody evaluators, guardian ad litem fees, witness fees, etc. If your divorce is contested, typically both you and your spouse will incur similar attorney fees.

In some cases, you may be able to ask the Court to order you spouse to pay your attorney fees and costs. You will have to show the Court that you do not have the resources to pay your own attorney fees and that your spouse has enough resources to pay both his or her own fees, as well as yours. There are other factors that can be considered, too. If your spouse is ordered to pay your legal fees, it is typically done as a reimbursement. You will likely still be required to pay a "retainer fee" up front for your divorce in a contested matter. As a general rule, you should not plan on having your attorney's fees paid by your spouse. (See Utah Code 30-3-3.) It is strongly recommended that you consult with legal counsel and hire an attorney to represent you in your contested divorce action, especially if your spouse has hired an attorney. There are certain agencies in Utah that provide legal services on a sliding fee scale in contested divorces to people who cannot afford to pay for them. Availability is generally based upon poverty guidelines and varies from agency to agency. Visit our Resources page for low-income referrals for contested divorces.

A Temporary Order is an interim order put in place by the court to determine issues such as child custody and support, alimony, and asset division while your divorce is being litigated. Except under limited special circumstances, a Temporary Order remains in effect until your Decree of Divorce is entered. A Temporary Order is not always necessary in divorce actions. However, it is a common practice in contested divorces. If a request is made by either party, the other party will need to file a response and possibly a countermotion if they would like the court to rule something different from the request.

Contrary to popular belief, there is a presumption for joint custody in Utah. When custody is being determined, the Court considers the best interests of the child, without preference for either party solely because of the biological sex of the parent. Other factors considered relevant by the court are: 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 noncustodial parent; the extent of bonding between the parent and child, meaning the depth, quality, and nature of the relationship between a parent and child; whether the parent has intentionally exposed the child to pornography or material harmful to a minor, (as defined in Section 76-10-1201); whether the physical, psychological, and emotional needs and development of the child will benefit from joint legal or physical custody; the ability of the parents to give first priority to the welfare of the child and reach shared decisions in the child's best interest; whether each parent is capable of encouraging and accepting a positive relationship between the child and the other parent, including the sharing of love, affection, and contact between the child and the other parent; whether both parents participated in raising the child before the divorce; the geographical proximity of the homes of the parents; the preference of the child if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to reason so as to form an intelligent preference as to joint legal or physical custody; the maturity of the parents and their willingness and ability to protect the child from conflict that may arise between the parents; the past and present ability of the parents to cooperate with each other and make decisions jointly; any history of, or potential for, child abuse, spouse abuse, or kidnaping; and any other factors the court finds relevant.

No. The Court specifically states in Utah Code 30-3-10 that the Court does not give any preference either parent based solely on the biological sex of the parent.

"Joint legal custody" means the sharing of the rights, privileges, duties, and powers of a parent by both parents. It may include an award of exclusive authority by the court to one parent to make specific decisions. It is a separate custody determination than joint physical custody and generally does not affect the physical custody of the child. (You can have "joint legal custody" without having "joint physical custody.") "Joint physical custody" means the parents share the physical care of the child. For "joint physical custody" it is assumed that the child will stay with each parent overnight for more than 30% of the year. (It does not have to be a 50/50 joint physical custody arrangement.) For joint physical custody, it expected that both parents will be contributing to the expenses of the child, in addition to paying child support. (Utah Code 30-3-10.1)

Generally, no, though there may be some exceptions. In an uncontested (default or stipulated) divorce, there is usually no need for ether party to appear before the Judge before your Decree can be finalized.

Yes and no. Child support is determined by statute and meant to be a benefit to be used for care of the children. The legislature has set up a formula to determine minimum guidelines for child support, based upon the income of the parties, the number of children, percentage of overnights for each party, and other considerations. The Court generally will not order a child support award lower than the minimum guidelines set by Utah Statute, absent special circumstances. However, you and your spouse are always welcome to agree to an amount higher than the minimum guidelines set by Utah Statute. A link to a free Child Support Calculator is available in our Resources tab.

Utah has a mandatory 30-day waiting period from the time of the filing of your Divorce Petition. This means that the Judge will not rule on your divorce until all required paperwork has been submitted and 30 days has elapsed. If your divorce is contested, your divorce will take substantially longer-- several months to even several years in hotly contested divorces.

Typically, the Court will award each party in a divorce action his or her own personal property or property brought into the marriage by that party. Marital assets are divided equitably. This means that the division may not necessarily be equal, but fair.

In an uncontested divorce action, such as our do-it-yourself divorce service, you will need to discuss this need with your spouse and come to an agreement. In contested divorces, the Court will look at both parties' Financial Declaration to determine both need and ability to pay. Alimony is decided on a case by case basis by the Courts. Some considerations include the length of the marriage, the earning abilities of each spouse, medical conditions or special circumstances of the parties, etc. Alimony can also be awarded for short periods of time to allow for the receiving party to "get on his/her feet," such as finishing school, gaining work experience, better employment, etc.

Utah law provides that each party is required to pay one-half of all work-related child care required for the parties to work full-time (up to 40 hours per week). Child care costs can be ordered as an additional amount on top of child support, or an offset to the child support award, depending on circumstances.

Either party or both parties may be required to provide health insurance for the minor children, especially if the insurance is available to the children through one or both parties' employer(s). Utah law provides that each party pays one-half of all premiums actually paid by a party for the children's health insurance. The amount to be paid for health insurance premiums can be ordered as an additional amount on top of child support, or an offset to the child support award, depending on circumstances. You and your spouse may also negotiate who will be responsible for payment of premiums. Additionally, each party will typically be ordered to pay one-half of all out-of-pocket medical expenses.

In uncontested divorces, mediation is not required. If you and your spouse are hoping to keep your divorce uncontested but have some minor disagreements as to the terms, mediation may be a good option to resolve those issues. If you would like recommendations for mediators, please contact our office and will be happy to provide you with some resources. For contested divorces, the Court requires the parties to participate in alternate dispute resolution (such as mediation) in most cases. A great number of divorces are able to be either partially or fully resolved at mediation, saving the parties a substantial amount of resources.