You cannot. We want to be direct about that before anything else, because a lot of what you will find online for this search is either wrong or will get you into serious trouble. Child support in Utah belongs to the child, not the other parent. It cannot be waived by agreement, it does not go away if you give up your rights, and it follows you across state lines, through bankruptcy, and into your tax refund and your driver’s license. What you can do is make sure the amount is correct, which is a very different thing, and which is often where the real money is.
What does not work
Quitting your job or taking a lower-paying one. Utah imputes income to parents who are voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. The court looks at your work history, education, and what jobs are available to you and calculates support as if you were earning what you could earn. At a minimum, it imputes full-time minimum wage. Quitting does not lower your support; it just means you owe the same amount with less income to pay it.
Getting paid under the table. Support is based on gross income from any source, and courts and the Office of Recovery Services are experienced at finding it: bank deposits, lifestyle evidence, business records, and testimony. Hiding income in a support case is also a good way to lose credibility on every other issue.
Agreeing with the other parent to skip it. Parents can agree on a support amount, but the court must approve it, and a judge will not approve an agreement that leaves the child without support the guidelines say they should have. An informal deal to “not do child support” is unenforceable and can leave you with years of back support when the other parent changes their mind or applies for state benefits.
Giving up your parental rights. Judges deny relinquishment petitions whose purpose is to avoid support, and even a granted termination does not erase past-due support. See our article on giving up parental rights in Utah.
Moving out of state. Every state enforces every other state’s child support orders. ORS has interstate enforcement tools and uses them.
Just not paying. Unpaid support accrues interest, becomes a judgment, and is collected through wage garnishment, tax refund intercepts, license suspension, liens, and in persistent cases contempt proceedings that can include jail. Unpaid support remains enforceable for years after the child becomes an adult.
What does work: paying the right amount
Child support in Utah is calculated under guidelines in Utah Code 81-6 using both parents’ gross incomes, the number of children, and the custody arrangement. The number is far less discretionary than alimony. That means the way to lower support is to make sure the inputs are right.
Your income. Support is based on one full-time job. If you have been working overtime or a second job, the court can exclude that beyond a 40-hour week unless it has been a consistent pattern. Self-employed parents deduct legitimate business expenses. Make sure the income figure the court uses is accurate, not inflated.
The other parent’s income. The calculation uses both incomes. If the other parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the same imputation rules apply to them. A parent who is capable of working and chooses not to should have income imputed, which lowers your share.
Overnights. Utah’s guidelines have separate worksheets for sole custody, joint physical custody, and split custody. The threshold for joint physical custody is 111 overnights a year. Parents who have their children a substantial share of the time pay less, sometimes much less, under the joint custody worksheet. If you actually have the children more than your order reflects, that is a reason to modify.
Other children. Support you pay for other children, and children living in your home, adjust the calculation.
Health insurance and childcare. The cost of the children’s insurance premiums and work-related childcare is shared in proportion to income and is separate from base support. If you are carrying the insurance, make sure you are getting credit for it.
Modifying support when things change
Support orders are not permanent. Under Utah Code 81-6-212, if your order is more than three years old, you can ask for a modification when the guidelines would produce an amount at least 10 percent different from the current order and the change is not temporary. If the order is less than three years old, you need a 15 percent difference plus a material change in circumstances, such as a change in custody, a 30 percent change in income, a child’s medical needs, or new insurance or childcare costs.
Modification is not retroactive to the change. It runs from when the modification request is filed and served, so a parent who loses a job and waits six months to file has six months of arrears at the old rate. File promptly. If ORS is already involved, you can ask ORS for a review as well.
When support ends
Support generally ends when a child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later, and ends automatically for that child without a court filing. It can be extended for an adult child with a disability. It does not end because the other parent denies you parent-time; support and parent-time are separate obligations, and the remedy for denied parent-time is an enforcement motion, not withholding support.
Talk to us about the number, not about avoiding it
Most parents who come to us wanting to “avoid” child support actually have a legitimate problem: an order based on income they no longer earn, a custody schedule that has changed, or an imputation that was wrong. Those are fixable, and fixing them is what we do. Bring your order, your income information, and the actual parent-time schedule, and we will tell you whether the number is right and what it would take to change it.
This article is general information about Utah law, not legal advice for your situation.
