UTAH DIVORCE
The court may decree a dissolution of the marriage contract between the petitioner and respondent where the petitioner or respondent has been an actual and bona fide resident for 3 months of this state and of the county where the action is brought.
If you have minor children living with your spouse in another state for over six months then you should consider filing in that state as that court has jurisdiction over the children. You spouse can waive that jurisdiction in writing.
County of Filing:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a Utah address in the county of filing. Utah civilian residents living overseas may file in Utah if they have maintained their residency in Utah.
MILITARY:
Active duty members of the military (or their spouses) may file in Utah if they have been stationed in Utah for three months or were residents of Utah when they entered active duty. Smart Divorce.com staff includes former active duty officers and enlisted personnel and are completely knowledgeable on the special military requirements and the “Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act”. Our staff prides themselves on the service they provide our military members.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: NO-FAULT or FAULT ?
No-Fault Based Grounds:
(a) irreconcilable differences of the marriage; or living separate and apart without cohabitation for at least 3 years.
Fault Based Grounds:
(a) impotence at the time of the marriage; (b) adultery; (c) willful desertion for at least one year; (d) willful neglect of the respondent to provide for the petitioner the common necessaries of life; (e) habitual drunkenness of the respondent; (f) felony conviction; (g) cruel treatment of the petitioner by the respondent to the extent of causing bodily injury or great mental distress to the petitioner; (i) incurable insanity.
WAITING PERIOD:
There is a waiting period of ninety (90) days after the filing of the divorce action before a Decree of Divorce will be granted.PROPERTY OF THE MARRIAGE:
In a divorce, the property (land, house, buildings, and items of personal property) owned (and debts owed) by the couple is divided between the parties. In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is maintained. You do not need to list items already divided or not an important issue in the divorce. You may revise the MSA after receipt of the documents from us by sending an email with your changes. There is never a charge for revisions at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT:
Spousal Support is either agreed upon by the parties or determined by the judge in a contested hearing. We cannot give legal advice regarding spousal support but will include your request in the documents.
The questionnaire you fill out will outline the custody, visitation and support for the children. We will prepare the documents accordingly, and we will also prepare a Marital Separation Agreement (at no additional cost) which outlines in specific detail all the provisions regarding the children. Both parties must attend the parenting class or get a waiver. A list of the places in Utah to attend may be obtained from the court.
CHILD SUPPORT:
The child support will either be an amount you and your spouse agree upon, or it will be determined for you by the court, according to the Utah Child Support Guidelines. If you wish the court to calculate the amount then you will need to file the standardized Child Support Guidelines form and Child Support Income Statement/Affidavit which we provide. See “Utah Child Support Calculator” on any search engine such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
CUSTODY:
You may have Joint Legal Custody or Sole Legal Custody. This determines how the decisions are made regarding the raising of the child(ren).
Physical custody may be with one residential parent or “SPLIT CUSTODY” where the child(ren) live a substantial time with each parent.
VISITATION:
This can be any program agreed upon by the parties and may change from time to time. If the parties cannot agree then the state guidelines are in effect. State guidelines are outlined in the MSA provided with your documents. You do not need to list your present visitation agreement as it will change from time to time but you may if you wish. “No Visitation” or “Restricted Visitation” may be requested by supplying the reason on the questionnaire.
COURT ADDRESSES:
You must file the divorce documents in the Circuit Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
Salt Lake County District Court - Salt Lake City: 450 S. State St., P.O. Box 1860, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1860 Phone: 801-238-7300 Fax: 801-238-7407
Davis County District Court - Bountiful: 805 So. Main Bountiful, Utah 84010 Phone: 801-397-7008 Fax: 801-397-7010
Davis County District Court - Farmington: 800 West State St., P.O. Box 769, Farmington UT 84025 Phone: 801-447-3800 Fax: 801-447-3881
Davis County District Court - Layton: 425 N. Wasatch Drive, Layton UT 84041 Phone: 801-444-4300 Fax: 801-546-8224
Utah Count District Court - Provo: 125 North 100 West, Provo UT 84601 Phone: 801-429-1000 Fax: 801-429-1033
Weber County District Court - Ogden: 2525 Grant Avenue, Ogden UT 84401 Phone: 801-395-1091, 801-395-1071 Fax: 801-395-1182
Box Elder County: First District Court - 43 North Main, P.O. Box 873, Brigham City, UT 84302-0873 Phone: 435-734-4600 Fax: 435-734-4610
Iron County District Court - Cedar City: 40 North 100 E., Cedar City, UT 84720 Phone: 435-867-3250 Fax: 435-867-3212
Washington County District Court - St. George: Washington County Hall of Justice, 220 N. 200 E., St. George, UT 84770 Civil Phone: 435-986-5701 Fax: 435-986-5723
FILING FEES:
The court filing fees for a divorce in Utah is approximately $155.
If your spouse won't sign and must be served, then the sheriff may charge a fee of around $25 to serve your spouse.
If you don't know the whereabouts of your spouse, then your spouse will need to be served by publication. The average publication fee is approximately $75.
You may call the Clerk of the Court in your county to determine the exact fees in your county.
METHODS OF SERVICE:
1. The most common way is to have your spouse sign the documents AFTER you have filed the complaint with the court. You can hand deliver the documents , mail them or have a third party deliver them to your spouse. This method is available even though your spouse is incarcerated.
2. If your spouse will not sign or you not not sure if your spouse will sign then you can get service by having the sheriff in spouse’s county serve a copy of the filed documents along with other documents requiring spouse’s signature. You can contact the sheriff in any state to serve your spouse. You can also get service by Certified Mail, (Return Receipt Requested) if your spouse lives out of state. If your spouse is incarcerated then you can get service by having the prison/jail officials serve your spouse.
3. Service by publication. If you cannot find your spouse after a diligent search then you can publish. The publication fee for the newspaper is approximately $65 but varies for different counties. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
Go to our questionnaire and get started today.
