- Legal Custody - Who will make decisions about the children
- Physical Custody - who the childrene will live with
Before filing for divorce
Utah Residency Requirement
Generally, to file for divorce in Utah, you or your spouse must have lived in a single Utah county for 3 months or more right before filing. There are other ways to qualify, read the Utah Code for more details.
If you need a custody order for a child under 18, usually the child needs to live in Utah with one parent for at least 6 months before filing. There are exceptions. Our Finding Legal Help page has resources if you need help.
Grounds for Divorce
When you ask for divorce you need to give the court a reason for your divorce. Once reason is that you and your spouse have serious marital problems that cannot be fixed. This is called irreconcilable differences.
You can see all of the other grounds for divorce in Utah Code 81-4-405.
Cost of Divorce
Costs and fees for a divorce can vary. They can include:
- Fee to file the petition
- Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) fees
- Fee for the Office of Vital Records and Statistics
- Fees to serve the petition and summons
- Attorney fees
- Copying costs
- Fees for the Divorce Education class and the Divorce Orientation class if there are minor children.
If you cannot afford the fees, you can ask the judge to waive them. For more information, see our page on Fee Waiver.
Are My Divorce Records Public?
Most court records can be viewed by anyone. However, starting April 1, 2012, divorce records are private.
Only certain people can see divorce records, like:
- the people getting divorced
- their lawyers
But the orders and decrees are public. For example if a motion to waive the 30-day waiting period is approved, that order is public and can be vieweed by anyone.
When filing a private document, you say the document iss private. For more information, see our page on Public and Non-public Records.
Some information is always private, like:
- Social Security numbers
- Birth dates
- Information that identifies minors
Be careful not to include private information in public documents like court orders.
Steps in a divorce case
See the Roadmap for divorce cases for an overview of the process and timelines.
The spouse starting the divorce case is the petitioner. The other spouse is the respondent.
Click below to see an explanation of the different steps in a divorce case
Step 1 - Petitioner completes and files documents
You can use the Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) to prepare the petition and your other divorce papers. Follow the OCAP instructions.
File with the district court in the county you or your spouse has lived for the past 3 months. See our page on Filing Procedures for more information.
When you file the court will give you a case number and the name of your assigned judge.
If you have children under 18 with your spouse, you must take some required classes within 60 days of filing the petition. There is a discount if you take the in-person classes within 30 days of filing. Learn about the classes on our Required Classes for Parents page.
Step 2 - Domestic Relations Injunction
When you file your petition, the court automatically issues an order called a Domestic Relations Injunction. This is to prevent issues while the case is pending.
The injunction says you and your spouse cannot:
- harass each other
- change insurance or beneficiaries,
- transfer property
- take long trips with your minor children
There are other rules. Read the injunction carefully.
The injunction starts when you file your petition. It controls your spouse when it is delivered to them. See the Domestic Relations Injunction page for more information.
Temporary orders - optional step
You might need temporary orders while your case is pending.
Temporary orders cover issues like:
- Child support
- Custody
- Parent-time
- Using the home
- Paying debts
Temporary orders last until the divorce is final. Get forms and information on our How to get a Temporary Order page.
Step 3 - Petitioner has papers served
Within 120 days after filing, the petitioner must:
- Have the divorce petition, summons, and documents served on the respondent
- File a Proof of Service form with the court
This is called "service." Our Serving Papers page has details.
Step 4 - Wait for respondent to respond
The respondent must officially respond to the divorce petition by the deadline. This is called "filing an answer."
If served in Utah - must answer within 21 days
If served outside Utah - must answer within 30 days
See our page on Answering a Complaint or Petition to learn more.
Read below to see your next step - it will depend on whether or not the respondent answers.
Your next step depends on what happens
If you have children you must attend classes
If you have children under 18, both parents must take these classes:
- Divorce orientation class
- Parenting class
Learn about the classes on our Required Classes for Parents page.
If your children are 6-17 years old, they can also have them take a free online class. It teaches coping strategies for the divorce transition. Mental health professionals teach the children's course.
If the respondent answers
1. Attend the Case Management Conference
This is a hearing with the court to set dates for your case.
The court might schedule dates for:
- Sharing your financial declarations and initial disclosures
- Mediation - when you talk with a third person to try to agree on issues (scroll down if you need to ask to skip mediation
- Trial
The court could schedule other issues. It depends on how complicated your case is.
Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 100A
2. Share your information
You and the respondent must share information about the case. For more information and forms, see the Initial Disclosures web page and the Financial Declarations web page.
Did you and the respondent come to agreement?
The respondent can agree with the divorce petition terms. This is called a stipulation.
If you both agree on everything, use OCAP to make the papers. OCAP allows stipulations when first filing or anytime you reach agreement.
Your final papers must match what your stipulation says. If your final papers say something different, the cour could reject your papers.
Follow OCAP instructions to complete your divorce in your OCAP Divorce Interview.
Have 30 days passed since you filed your petition?
Utah law requires 30 days between filing and finalizing the divorce. This is called the waiting period.
You can ask the court to waive the waiting period if there are extraordinary circumstances.
Get info on filing a motion to waive the waiting period on our Motion to Waive Divorce Waiting Period page.
If the respondent does NOT answer
If the respondent misses the deadline to file an answer, you can ask for a default judgment. This means you get what you asked for in the divorce petition.
You can also get a default judgment if the respondent signed an Acceptance of Service, Appearance, Consent and Waiver form.
Your final papers must match what you asked for in your petition. If your final papers say something different, the cour could reject your papers.
Get default judgment forms in your OCAP Divorce Interview. Some - but not all - of the forms are also available our page on Default Judgments.
Have 30 days passed since you filed your petition?
Utah law requires 30 days between filing and finalizing the divorce. This is called the waiting period.
You can ask the court to waive the waiting period if there are extraordinary circumstances.
Get info on filing a motion to waive the waiting period on our Motion to Waive Divorce Waiting Period page.
Mandatory mediation (if the respondent filed an answer)
If the respondent files an answer, you usually must mdiation before your case can move forward. Mediation is a meeting where both parties try to resolve their differences by talking with neutral third person, the mediator. See our page on Divorce Mediation for more information.
You or the respondent can ask the court to skip mediation if needed. Get forms from and information on our Motion to Excuse Mediation page.
If you come to an agreement in mediation, use your OCAP Divorce Interview prepare the your final papers.
Final documents
OCAP might not produce all the papers you need to finish your case. What else you need to file will mostly depend on whether or not you have children. You can look at these checklists to see what is required:
- Divorce Checklist - Children
- Divorce Checklist - No Children
Going to trial
The following procedures apply only if the parties are not able to reach an agreement about what the divorce decree should say.
Child custody evaluation
You or the respondent can ask for a custody evaluation. This is done by a professional evaluator. The judge can order a custody evaluation even without a motion from a party. A custody evaluation may be expensive. The cost is usually split between you and the respondent. Our page on Custody Evaluation has more information.
Trial
See the Getting Ready for Trial web page for information about going to trial.
Divorce decree
The parties are not divorced until the judge signs the decree.
