Utah Divorce

A judge may grant a divorce in Utah if:

1. you or your spouse has been a resident of Utah and a resident of the county where you filed your complaint for divorce for at least 90 days before filing;
2. you are a member of the U.S. armed forces and have been stationed in Utah for three months before filing for divorce; or
3. neither of the above are true, but you and your spouse both agree to the court in Utah having the power (jurisdiction) to decide your divorce case.¹ 

¹ Utah Code § 81-4-402(1)

Alimony is financial support paid by one spouse to the other. Usually, alimony can only be ordered for a time period that is equal or lesser to the length of the marriage. The “length of the marriage” is the time period from the day of the marriage to the day on which the petition for divorce is filed in court. However, if the judge believes that there are extreme facts (extenuating circumstances) to allow alimony to be continued for longer, the judge can order it.¹

When deciding whether to order alimony, the judge may or may not consider the fault of the parties in determining whether to award alimony and the terms of the alimony.² For more information, see Will a judge consider who is at fault for the marriage ending when making a decision about alimony?

The judge must consider the following factors:

• your financial needs and current financial condition; Note: You can show your financial needs using itemized expenses during the marriage rather than your expenses after you filed for divorce;
• your ability to earn your own income, including whether you have less work experience because you have been raising children;
• whether your spouse can afford to pay alimony;
• how long the marriage was;
• whether you have custody of any minor children who need support;
• whether you worked in a business owned or operated by the other spouse;
• whether you helped to increase the other spouse’s skills by paying for his/her education or helping him/her attend school during the marriage;
• whether, due to both of your efforts, a major change in income was about to happen right before you and your spouse separated; and
• the way you and your spouse lived during the marriage (“standard of living”), which includes:
  • income;
  • approximate value of real and personal property; and
  • any other factor the judge believes will help determine your standard of living. Note: As a general rule, the judge will look at your standard of living at the time of your separation when deciding the amount of alimony. However, the judge could instead decide to base alimony on the standard of living that exists at the time of trial or, if the marriage was short and there were no children of the marriage, the judge may consider the standard of living that existed at the time of the marriage.³ 

The judge may, under appropriate circumstances, grant an amount of alimony that would bring you and your spouse to an equal standard of living.⁴

¹ Utah Code §§ 81-4-101(1); 81-4-502(7); 81-4-501(4)
² Utah Code § 81-4-502(2)
³ Utah Code § 81-4-502(1), (3), (5), (6)
⁴ Utah Code § 81-4-502(4)

To change an alimony order, there must be a “substantial material change in circumstances” that was not specifically addressed in the divorce decree or in the judge’s written determinations (“findings”) at the time of the divorce decree. The retirement of one of the parties is considered a substantial change in circumstances unless the divorce decree or the findings that the judge entered at the time of the divorce decree specifically states otherwise.

The judge cannot change an alimony order or issue a new alimony order to address a new need that you may have if it did not exist during the divorce, unless the judge believes there are extreme facts (extenuating circumstances) to support that change.¹

If the judge decides to change the amount of alimony, s/he cannot consider the income of the paying spouse’s new spouse, except to consider:

• the new spouse’s ability to share living expenses; or
• if the paying spouse’s bad behavior (improper conduct) justifies considering the new spouse’s income.²

An alimony order will end (terminate) automatically when you die, or when you get married again and the marriage is not annulled. A judge can also terminate your alimony order if your spouse proves that you are living with someone else in a romantic or sexual relationship (cohabitating) and either of the following are true:

• the divorce case is still ongoing and you are receiving temporary alimony; or
• the divorce case is over and your spouse files to end alimony within one year of when s/he knew or should have known that you were cohabiting with someone else.³

¹ Utah Code § 81-4-504(1)-(3)
² Utah Code § 81-4-504(4)
³ Utah Code §§ 81-4-501(2); 81-4-505

We hope the following links to outside sources may provide helpful information.

The Utah Courts website has the following divorce resources:

• basic information concerning divorce, including information on residency requirements and the divorce process;
• information about alimony;
• access to the Online Court Assistance Program, through which you can find the court forms that you may need if you wish to get a divorce; and
• a brief explanation of annulment in Utah.

Utah Legal Services provides answers to some frequently asked questions about divorce, including questions about grounds for divorce.

WomensLaw.org is unrelated to the above organizations and cannot vouch for the accuracy of their sites. We provide these links for your information only.

You will find more information about divorce, including the risks of taking your children out of state while a divorce is pending, on our general Divorce page. To watch brief videos about divorce in Spanish with English sub-titles, go to our Videos page. Lastly, learn more about the court process on our Preparing for Court – By Yourself page.