Utah Courts Should Stop Paying an Intermediary to Tell the Factfinder What the Factfinder Can Hear Directly When a child's wishes, concerns, experiences, or perceptions matter in a Utah child…
Utah has enacted a meaningful improvement in access to court proceedings. Beginning January 1, 2027, Utah Code § 78A-1-203 will require an audio recording of each public court proceeding in…
Most parents assume child support stops the moment a child turns 18. In Utah, that assumption is wrong more often than it's right. High school graduation timing controls the termination…
It often begins with a request that sounds perfectly reasonable. “We need some space.” “The fighting isn’t good for the kids.” “Why don’t you stay somewhere else for a while…
There is a ritual that plays out with remarkable regularity in Utah family court proceedings. A divorce becomes ugly. A parent is angry. A child is anxious. Communication deteriorates. Someone…
One of the strangest objections to judges interviewing children in child custody disputes is that the interview might make the child anxious. Of course it might. The child’s parents are…
Mental-health awareness has helped people recognize genuine illness, obtain treatment, and speak about suffering without shame. That is real progress. But family law increasingly reveals the other side of the…
Utah's entire system for dividing property, setting alimony, and calculating child support runs on one assumption: both parties are telling the truth about their finances. When that assumption breaks down,…
I recently encountered a Facebook Reel that is funnier—and probably truer—than many people will be comfortable admitting. Watch the original Reel here. The Reel’s creator identifies what she calls the…
Viewing Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements Through the Humanity Lens A premarital agreement is sold to clients as a piece of financial engineering. It provides certainty. It protects separate property. It…
Judge Kasey Wright deserves more credit than ridicule for refusing to pretend that chronic triage is competent judging. On July 13, 2026, Utah Fourth Judicial District Judge Kasey Wright submitted…
Judges in child custody disputes should hear from children more often. A lot more often. It should be routine, the presumptive course, the default. Not because children should decide custody…
At a recent hearing, a commissioner explained why she was appointing a private guardian ad litem instead of interviewing the child herself: "Given the age of the child, the statutory…
Christine Miller recently made a point about family court that deserves more attention: the appearance of independent professional agreement where no genuine independence exists. When a court appoints a private guardian…
“A woman's greatest strength [in divorce court] is her ability to be a victim.” It’s a statement that immediately makes people boil over—either in furious agreement or absolute outrage. But…
Anyone who practices Utah family law has watched it happen. A child custody dispute is going badly for one parent, or hasn't started yet, and a protective order petition appears.…
A temporary protective order should do one thing well: protect against the danger actually alleged and shown by nothing less than a preponderance of the evidence. It should not become…
A low evidentiary burden is still a burden. That should be obvious. In Utah temporary protective order practice, however, it is often treated as optional. The preponderance of the evidence…
Few legal proceedings can rearrange a person’s life as quickly as an ex parte protective order. A judge can remove someone from the family home, restrict contact with children, limit access to…
For many Utah couples, the family home is the largest asset in the divorce. It is also often the most emotional one. That combination can make it dangerous. A spouse…
For centuries, physicians bled their patients and called it medicine. The patients got weaker; the doctors, confident in their training, prescribed more bleeding. Medicine now has a name for harm…
There’s a simple way to reduce confusion and wasted time: answer the question that was asked—first, directly, and without detours. In law, this matters more than most people realize. When…
When divorce or a child custody dispute begins, most people think they know what they’re fighting for. The house. The retirement account. The business. Parent-time. Child support. Alimony. Those are…
Protective orders are among the most powerful and disruptive tools Utah courts wield—all on an expedited timeline and often on a limited record. The law governing these orders is clearly…
When divorce or a child custody dispute begins, most people think they know what they’re fighting for. The house. The retirement account. The business. Parent-time. Child support. Alimony. Those are real issues. They matter. They need…
When a marriage is in serious trouble, many people assume the only decisive move is to file for divorce. Sometimes that’s true. But oftentimes it isn’t. Utah law provides another…
People who hire a lawyer tend to assume one of two extremes. Either: “I hired the lawyer, so the lawyer does what I say.” Or: “The lawyer is the professional,…
Divorce is hard enough on its own. Add in legal paperwork packed with unfamiliar terms, and it can feel like you’re suddenly expected to speak a completely new language. For…
When I began working as a legal assistant, I expected the role to involve primarily traditional administrative tasks—answering phone calls, managing emails, and scheduling—along with some legal-specific responsibilities such as…
Guest post by Joe Gordon Broker / Owner / Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert Direct: 801-577-6304 Email: Joe@Gordon-RealEstate.com www.UtahDivorceRealEstate.com This practice tip comes to you after a heartbreaking case where the…
I. The Founding TraumaIn the Meadow, everyone agreed on one thing: voices were dangerous.It hadn’t always been so. Long ago, animals spoke plainly. Some spoke well, somepoorly, some too much.…
A wide river ran through the village.A wooden bridge connected the banks. The villagers depended on the bridge. They crossed it to go to work, to the market, to visit…
There is a persistent belief in divorce and custody cases that goes something like this: “If I can make the court view my spouse as dangerous, dishonest, or morally repugnant,…
If your divorce case feels stuck, confusing, or quietly drifting toward a bad outcome, that’s often the right moment to ask a lawyer to review it, even if you already…
Utah courts deciding child custody and parent-time disputes are charged with acting in the “best interests of the child.” But with exceptions so rare as to be almost meaningless, Utah…
Many people (most) entering into a divorce or custody case often carry an unspoken assumption: surely this judge will see how important this is. Surely the court will recognize the unfairness,…
One of the least discussed problems in joint legal custody is not conflict, it’s stalemate. Joint legal custody means both parents share decision-making authority over major issues like education, non-emergency…
For many spouses who separated earlier in the year (whether at the outset or mid-year), coming to the end of that year without having initiated the divorce process or without…
Every January, divorce filings rise. The phenomenon is real enough that it is known among many divorce lawyers and courts as the January divorce spike. What’s mostly fiction is the…
Utah law requires domestic violence protective orders to be supported by a preponderance of the evidence. Increasingly, courts are not applying that standard. Instead, they substitute an unwritten “better safe than…
A Utah divorce hearing is limited by the motion before the court, the relief requested, and the evidence properly noticed and submitted. If an issue is not teed up procedurally…
In the practice of family law, we often hear a sentiment that is as ubiquitous as it is hollow: "We must protect the children from the litigation." On its face,…
Appointing a private guardian ad litem in a child custody and parent-time dispute case often creates a closed loop in which children who are the subject of the dispute cannot…
For too long, the family law system in Utah has operated under an almost universal, yet unproven, assumption: that any minor child who is the subject of a high-conflict custody…
Utah courts frequently exclude child testimony in custody and parent-time proceedings on the asserted ground that doing so protects children from emotional harm. That premise is mistaken. Categorical exclusion is…
There is a pervasive, almost religious orthodoxy in family law litigation over child custody and parent-time that goes something like this: “We must protect the children. Therefore, we must never…
Utah Code § 78A-2-705 provides that (1) The court may appoint an attorney as a private attorney guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of the minor in any…
For most who are going through a divorce, whether as the petitioner or as the respondent, they worry about the big, immediate questions: “Who gets the kids? Who gets the…
Child custody orders are not etched in stone, but neither are they revolving doors. Utah law makes that clear. Parents often assume that if circumstances “change” at all (no matter…
You’ve no doubt heard many answers to this question. People love simple explanations—“They stay for the kids,” “They’re scared,” “They’re loyal,” “They’re trapped.” Sometimes that may be the case, but…