Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | November 2026 Quick Answer Divorce ends a marriage. Separate maintenance, which is what most people mean by “legal separation” in Utah, allows a court to order support, custody, parent-time, and property and debt arrangements while the spouses remain legally married. Utah also offers a…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | November 2026 Quick Answer Utah has no separate set of divorce rules for cryptocurrency. The same marital-property rules that apply to a bank or brokerage account apply to Bitcoin, other tokens, NFTs, and digital assets. Assets acquired during the marriage are generally subject to…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | November 2026 Quick Answer To change a Utah custody order, a parent generally must show a substantial and material change in circumstances since the order was entered, and the requested change must serve the child’s best interests. Changing parent-time alone uses a different threshold:…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | November 2026 Quick Answer January is often called “divorce month,” but the Utah data verified for this article do not establish that January is the state’s busiest month for divorce filings. Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services reports 9,868 divorces in 2025 (provisional),…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | October 2026 Quick Answer Social media posts, direct messages, photos, comments, and other digital information may become relevant in a Utah divorce or custody case. Privacy settings can limit public visibility, but they do not automatically prevent lawful discovery. If a case is pending…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | October 2026 Quick Answer “Gray divorce” is a commonly used term for divorce involving adults age 50 or older. Utah does not use a separate divorce process based on age. A later-life divorce may involve retirement accounts, real property, insurance coverage, long-term debt, estate-planning…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | October 2026 Quick Answer A Utah divorce decree is the final court order that ends a marriage once a judge signs it. The decree may address property, debts, alimony, child custody, parent-time, and child support. What a specific provision means depends on its exact…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | October 2026 Quick Answer The Utah divorce process generally begins when one spouse files a petition and serves the other spouse. From there, the process may involve an answer, temporary orders, financial disclosures, required divorce education when minor children are involved, mediation when contested…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | October 2026 Quick Answer A Utah child does not get to decide on their own which parent to live with. A court may consider a child’s wishes about custody or parent-time as part of its best-interests analysis. Once a child turns 14, Utah law…
Reviewed by Luke Shaw, CoilLaw™ | October 2026 Quick Answer In a Utah divorce, mediation and litigation are not competing paths. Litigation is the entire course of your case, from filing to final decree, and mediation is a step that happens inside it. Utah generally requires contested divorces to attempt…
How to Survive and Thrive When Your Marriage Ends