Utah Divorce and Family Law, Explained
Plain-English guides to divorce, custody, child support, alimony, and property division under Utah law, written by a Utah attorney and cited to the statute.
Divorce in Utah
How a Utah divorce works: filing, the 30-day waiting period, and what to expect.
🏛️Alimony
How Utah courts decide whether alimony is paid, how much, and for how long.
🏠Property Division
Utah is an equitable-distribution state. What that means for your house, accounts, and debts.
📈Retirement Accounts
Dividing 401(k)s, pensions, and IRAs with a QDRO — without the tax hit.
👨👧Child Custody
Legal and physical custody, parent-time schedules, and the best-interest factors Utah courts apply.
🧮Child Support
How the Utah guidelines calculate support, and when a court departs from them.
🤝Mediation
Utah requires at least one mediation session in contested divorces. How to use it well.
📝Separation Agreements
Settling everything by agreement — and making it enforceable.
💼Business Owners
Valuing and dividing a business, or protecting it, in divorce.
🔁Modifications
Changing custody, support, or alimony after the decree.
🛡️Protective Orders
Domestic violence and cohabitant-abuse protective orders in Utah.
🎖️Military Divorce
Residency, pension division, and the SCRA for service members and spouses.
Written by a Utah attorney
Every page is written and maintained by John Murray, an attorney licensed in Utah (Utah State Bar No. 10966), not by a content farm.
Cited to the statute
Each rule links to the section of the Utah Code it comes from, so you can read the law yourself. Citations were verified against the recodified Title 81 in August 2026.
Information, not advice
Nothing here is advice about your situation, and reading it does not make you anyone's client. When your own facts matter, talk to a lawyer you have hired.
Tools
Child support estimator
Utah guideline support from both parents' incomes and overnights.
Calculate →Alimony factors
Review the factors a Utah court must weigh under § 81-4-502, and how an estimate gets built from them.
Review the factors →Divorce timeline
What happens, in what order, and how long each step takes.
See the timeline →Something missing or out of date?
Corrections, questions about the site, and requests for topics are welcome.
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