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Parents often tell us something like this: “We moved to Utah this spring. My marriage is over, and I want to file for divorce and custody here. Utah is home now.” When children are involved, which state’s court can decide custody is controlled by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), and the key question is the child’s UCCJEA home state. If your children have lived in Utah for only five months, Utah usually is not their home state yet, and that can change where your custody case is heard.

What the UCCJEA Is and Why It Exists

The UCCJEA is a uniform law that nearly every state has adopted, each in its own version. Its job is to decide which state’s courts get to make custody decisions, so that two states do not issue competing orders about the same child and a parent cannot simply move to another state and start the custody case over.

In Utah, the UCCJEA is found in Title 81, Chapter 11 of the Utah Code. Older court opinions and articles cite it as Title 78B, Chapter 13. It was renumbered into Title 81 effective September 1, 2025.

The act applies broadly. Under Utah Code § 81-11-101(3), a “child custody proceeding” includes a proceeding for divorce, separation, neglect, abuse, dependency, guardianship, paternity, termination of parental rights, and protection from domestic violence, in which legal custody, physical custody, or parent-time is an issue. It does not include a juvenile delinquency case, a contractual emancipation case, or an enforcement proceeding under Part 3 of the chapter.

What Is a UCCJEA Home State?

A child’s UCCJEA home state is generally the state where the child lived with a parent, or a person acting as a parent, for at least six consecutive months immediately before the custody case was filed. For a baby younger than six months, it is the state where the child has lived since birth with a parent or a person acting as a parent. The statute gives “person acting as a parent” a specific meaning; it is not just anyone who has helped care for the child.

Utah Code § 81-11-101(6) defines “home state.” For a child six months old or older, it is “the state in which a minor child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding, including any period of temporary absence of the parent or the person acting as a parent during that time period.” For a baby younger than six months, it is the state where the child has lived since birth with a parent or a person acting as a parent. That means a baby who has lived in Utah since birth can have Utah as the home state even before six months have passed.

• Six consecutive months. For a child six months old or older, the usual measure is six consecutive months. Not five months and three weeks. The time is counted backward from the filing date.
• Immediately before the case begins. Under § 81-11-101(4), “commencement” means “the filing of the first pleading in a proceeding,” not the first hearing or the day you first spoke with a lawyer.
• Temporary absences count toward the six months. A vacation, or a period when the family is temporarily away, often does not break the six-month period, though whether an absence was “temporary” can itself be disputed.

Why Five Months Usually Isn’t Enough

Utah Code § 81-11-201(1) sets out when a Utah court can make an initial custody determination. The first basis is that Utah “is the home state of the minor child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or was the home state of the minor child within six months before the commencement of the proceeding and the minor child is absent from this state but a parent or person acting as a parent continues to live in this state.”

The second half of that rule protects the parent who stays behind in the former home state. Suppose a family has lived in Arizona for years. In early June, one parent moves to Utah with the children; the other stays in Arizona. In early November, about five months later, the Utah parent files for divorce and custody in Utah. Utah is not the home state, because the children have not lived here for six consecutive months. Arizona was their home state within the six months before filing, and a parent still lives there. Even though the children are physically in Utah, a Utah court generally cannot rely on other grounds while Arizona has home state jurisdiction and has not declined it. See § 81-11-201(1)(b).

If you are in a similar situation, you may have to handle the custody part of your case in the children’s former home state. Waiting to file can also give the other parent time to file first there. If you are the parent who stayed behind when the other parent left with the children, this same rule can protect you: the former home state can remain the home state for six months if you still live there. Ask a lawyer about your options before you file or wait.

The statute is blunt: “Physical presence of, or personal jurisdiction over, a party or a minor child is neither necessary nor sufficient to make a child custody determination.” Utah Code § 81-11-201(3). And these rules are “the exclusive jurisdictional basis for making a child custody determination by a court of this state.” § 81-11-201(2).

“But I Can File for Divorce After 90 Days, Right?”

This is where the rules are easy to mix up. Divorce residency and UCCJEA home state status are two different tests. Under Utah Code § 81-4-402(1), a person may petition for divorce if:

• the person or the person’s spouse has been an actual and bona fide resident of the county where the petition is filed for at least 90 days before filing;
• the person is a member of the armed forces of the United States stationed in this state under military orders for at least 90 days before filing; or
• both spouses consented to personal jurisdiction for divorce or annulment under § 81-4-402(1)(c). That third route applies when the couple obtained a Utah marriage license and one spouse would not be physically present in Utah at the wedding. Each spouse then provides an affidavit consenting to the personal jurisdiction of the state and of the county that issued the license. See Utah Code § 81-2-303(5)(a)(ii).

Military families face other unique issues, too; see how active duty status changes a Utah divorce.

Meeting one of those tests may let you file for divorce in Utah. That is a filing rule for the divorce itself. It is not the test for custody jurisdiction. If the children have not lived here for six months, the Utah court may still lack the power to decide custody and parent-time.

A Utah Example: Bradshaw v. Pelley-Whelan

The Utah Court of Appeals addressed home state status in Bradshaw v. Pelley-Whelan, 2019 UT App 201, 456 P.3d 765 (official opinion PDF), which we have posted in full as Bradshaw v. Pelley-Whelan – UCCJEA. The child was born in California. The mother filed a parentage petition in Utah, pointing to a Utah house she had bought, Utah state tax returns, and photos of the child and the child’s belongings in Utah.

The district court found otherwise. Among other findings, it found that the mother still owned and lived in a California home, that most of the child’s belongings remained in California, and that the mother spent only 55 days in Utah in all of 2017, a finding she did not challenge on appeal. The district court concluded that any time the child spent outside California was only a temporary absence, that California remained the home state, and that the Utah court lacked jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

Two lessons stand out. First, a Utah house or Utah paperwork does not by itself make Utah the home state; what matters is where the child actually lived. Second, footnote 7 of the opinion notes that Utah’s UCCJEA does not define “temporary absence.” The Court of Appeals then concluded that a totality-of-the-circumstances test, drawn from Garba v. Ndiaye, was appropriate and that the district court properly applied it, looking at how long the absence lasted, whether it was intended to be permanent or temporary, and other circumstances. (Bradshaw cites the statute under its former number, Utah Code § 78B-13-201.) The practical point: these disputes turn heavily on evidence about where the child actually lived.

Other Paths: No Home State, Inconvenient Forum, and Emergencies

No home state. Under § 81-11-201(1)(b), if no state qualifies as the home state, or the home state court declines jurisdiction because Utah is the more appropriate forum, a Utah court may have a basis to act when the child and at least one parent have “a significant connection with this state other than mere physical presence” and “substantial evidence is available in this state concerning the minor child’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships.” The statute also allows a Utah court to act in some other limited situations, such as when every court that would otherwise have jurisdiction has declined. See § 81-11-201(1)(c) and (d).

Inconvenient forum. Under Utah Code § 81-11-207, a court with jurisdiction may decline to exercise it if the court is an inconvenient forum and another state is more appropriate. The court must consider all relevant factors, including:

• whether domestic violence has occurred and is likely to continue, and which state could best protect the parties and the child;
• how long the child has lived outside the state;
• the distance between the courts;
• the parties’ finances;
• any agreement between the parties;
• the nature and location of the evidence, including the child’s testimony;
• each court’s ability to decide the issue expeditiously; and
• each court’s familiarity with the case.

If the court decides it is an inconvenient forum, it stays the custody case on the condition that a case be promptly started in another designated state. If custody comes up in a Utah divorce, the court may decline the custody piece and still keep the divorce.

Emergencies. Utah Code § 81-11-204 gives a Utah court temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in Utah and has been abandoned, or if it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse. Emergency jurisdiction is limited and should not be treated as a permanent custody solution. If another state already has a custody case or an existing custody order, the Utah order must set a period for obtaining an order from that state and lasts only until that order is obtained or the period expires. If no such case or order exists, an emergency order can remain in effect until a court with ordinary jurisdiction issues an order, and it can become a final determination if the order says so and Utah becomes the child’s home state. If you or your child needs protection now, do not delay seeking help just because the home-state analysis is complicated. Ask a lawyer about emergency options.

Do Not Assume a Move Automatically Creates Jurisdiction

Some parents wonder whether they can bring the children to Utah, wait six months, and then file. A genuine move followed by six consecutive months in Utah can be one way Utah becomes the child’s home state. That is different from creating jurisdiction through what the statute calls “unjustifiable conduct.” Whether a particular move counts as unjustifiable conduct depends on the facts. Under Utah Code § 81-11-208, if a Utah court has jurisdiction only because the person invoking it engaged in unjustifiable conduct, the court generally must decline it, with limited exceptions. If the court dismisses or stays the case for that reason, it must charge that party with necessary and reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, unless the award would be clearly inappropriate.

If a Case Already Exists Somewhere Else

Timing matters when the other parent files first, too. Under § 81-11-206, a Utah court generally may not exercise jurisdiction if a custody proceeding was already commenced in another state with jurisdiction substantially in conformity with the UCCJEA, unless that case has ended or the other court has stayed it because Utah is a more convenient forum. The Utah court must stay its case and communicate with the other court. (See also our article on custody fights across state lines.)

Once a state has issued a custody order, that state’s courts usually keep the case. Under § 81-11-202, a Utah court that made a custody determination consistent with the act generally retains exclusive, continuing jurisdiction, and under § 81-11-203 a Utah court generally may not modify another state’s custody order unless specific conditions are met. Moving to Utah does not automatically move an existing case here. If you are thinking about a move, see our article on Utah child custody and long-distance relocation.

Practical Steps If You Recently Moved

1. Gather your timeline. Start by collecting dates and records: when you moved, school or daycare enrollment, leases, and travel dates. You will have to state much of this under oath. Under § 81-11-209, each party must state under oath, in the first pleading or an attached affidavit, information that is reasonably ascertainable about the child’s present address, the places the child has lived during the last five years, and the names and present addresses of the people the child lived with. The same section requires you to disclose other proceedings you know about that could affect the case, including proceedings relating to domestic violence and protective orders. Each party also has a continuing duty to tell the court about any proceeding in this or another state that could affect the case. If a party alleges under oath that disclosing identifying information would put the health, safety, or liberty of a party or the child at risk, that information is sealed and is not disclosed to the other party or the public unless the court orders disclosure after a hearing.
2. Count carefully. Starting from your planned filing date, count back six consecutive months. If you fall short, ask a lawyer whether to wait, file elsewhere, or rely on another basis. Waiting is not always the safer choice. The other parent may file first, and an existing order or a safety issue can change the analysis.
3. Get advice before you move or file. Jurisdiction mistakes can mean a dismissed case, wasted fees, and sometimes an order to pay the other side’s expenses. Here is how to prepare for your first meeting with a Utah divorce or child custody attorney.

The Bottom Line

Feeling at home in Utah is not the same as Utah being your child’s UCCJEA home state. The law looks at where the child actually lived for the six consecutive months before a case is filed, with limited exceptions. However settled you feel, five months usually is not enough.

This article provides general information about Utah law and is not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts, and reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.

If you have recently moved to or from Utah and are facing a divorce or custody dispute, Utah Family Law, LC can help you sort out which state’s courts can hear your case. Call us at 801-466-9277.

Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277