Family & Divorce Lawyer FAQ

Utah Statute gives very strict guidelines for child support. It takes each parent’s gross monthly income, the custody awarded and the number of children and gives you the child support number. If you have these 4 items you can get a clear view of what the child support will be. However, what these numbers should be are often exactly what is fought over in a divorce case.

Utah law states that, baring extraordinary circumstances, the length of the marriage is the longest amount of time alimony will be ordered.

There is a 30 day waiting period to get a divorce in Utah. This timeframe starts when you file a Petition for divorce. The judge will not look at your paperwork until this time frame is past unless you ask the court to waive the waiting period, which the court will grant only in some circumstances. Accordingly, the quickest you can get a divorce is normally 30 days; however, it can also take a lot longer. For example, if you go to trial you can expect it to occur at least one year after you file the Petition for Divorce. And it can be significantly longer depending on the case. That said, most cases do not go to trial and settle before then. On average, a divorce case in Utah lasts 4-6 months.