UCCJEA Home State: Why 5 Months in Utah Usually Isn’t Enough
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…
Does Your New Spouse’s Money Count as Your Income for Child Support in Utah?
Remarriage does not make your new spouse's paycheck yours for child support purposes. But money your spouse actually gives you presents a different question. And if those gifts stop, a…
The Marital Division of Labor Was Not a Child Custody Audition
A family's division of labor does not establish a hierarchy of parenthood. That should be obvious, but custody disputes often proceed as though it were not. One parent may have…
Why Doesn’t Utah Have a Divorce and Child Custody Rocket Docket?
Why should an ordinary divorce or child custody dispute take a year or longer to resolve? "These cases are complicated" is an explanation for some cases. It is not an…
Utah Family Courts: When Lying Works, Expect More of It
Courts do not cause people to lie in divorce and child custody disputes. Courts do, however, have enormous influence over whether lying works. That distinction matters. Most people do not…
Mending or Meddling?: The Dilemma of Mandatory Pre-Divorce Counseling
In American life marriage is both intensely personal but also a legal institution. Two people decide privately that they want to build a life together, but the state recognizes that…
School Lunch Is Not Extra Child Support
A child needs lunch whether it comes from a parent’s kitchen or the school cafeteria. Yet many divorced parents try to claim (transparently, disingenuously, and greedily) those alternatives as legally…
Utah Family Law Needs a Subtractive Audit
In 2021, researchers at the University of Virginia published a study in Nature built around a Lego structure (Adams, Converse, Hales, and Klotz). Participants had to stabilize a platform so…
The Silver Split: Why Divorce After 50 Leaves Less Room for Error
Summary: Divorce after 50 leaves fewer working years to rebuild retirement savings, recover from tax mistakes, replace lost earning capacity, or undo a poor housing decision. The most important question…
The Silver Split: Why Divorce After 50 Leaves Less Room for Error
Summary: Divorce after 50 leaves fewer working years to rebuild retirement, absorb tax mistakes, recover from a poor housing decision, or replace lost earning capacity. The most important question is…
In Utah Family Law, Delay Is Not Neutral
Family litigation takes time. Some delay is inevitable and some is justified. Judges have crowded calendars. Lawyers have conflicting trials. Discovery takes time. Serious child-safety allegations may require investigation before…
How Divorce Clients Sabotage Their Own Cases: The Mistakes That Actually Matter
Executive Summary: Most divorce cases are not damaged because clients lack legal knowledge. They are damaged by avoidable mistakes in judgment: hiding bad facts, treating suspicion as proof, creating damaging…
Can I Get Social Security Benefits on My Ex-Spouse’s Record After Divorce in Utah?
Summary: Learn when you can claim Social Security benefits on an ex-spouse’s record, why the 10-year marriage rule matters in divorce, and what Utah courts can and cannot do with…
Your Lawyer Has a License. That Does Not Mean You Should Stop Paying Attention.
Executive Summary A law license is not a guarantee of your lawyer’s competence, preparation, judgment, or diligence. You should not assume the worst about your lawyer, but you should understand…
The Cost of Divorce: How to Keep Legal Fees Down Without Cutting Corners
Executive Summary: You do not save money in divorce simply by spending less on lawyers. You save money by using legal help where it adds value and avoiding work that…
The First Draft Is the Fitting, Not the Finished Suit
Executive Summary: I draft legal documents the way a tailor fits a suit. I start with a proven structure, show the client an actual draft, and then adjust the approach,…
Why Are We Hiring a Montblanc to Do a BIC Pen’s Job?
The strange economics of divorce mediation A Montblanc pen may be beautifully made and worth every penny to someone who wants one. But if the job is signing your name,…
The Standard Is Not Perfection. It Is Our Best Work and Nothing Less.
Nobody has any business demanding perfection from judges, commissioners, lawyers, guardians ad litem, custody evaluators, therapists, or court clerks. These are human beings doing difficult work, often under time pressure,…
Bonham v. Bonham, 2026 UT App 141 | Utah Divorce Law
2026 UT App 141 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS EMILY CURTIS BONHAM, Appellee, v. BRANDON REYNOLDS BONHAM, Appellant. Opinion No. 20240597-CA Filed September 11, 2026 Third District Court, Salt Lake…
Dahl v. Dahl: Utah Court of Appeals on Marital Property, Commingling, and Dissipation
2026 UT App 131 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS CHARLES DAHL, Appellee, v. KIM DAHL, Appellant. Opinion No. 20240740-CA Filed August 27, 2026 Fourth District Court, Provo Department The Honorable…
Could a Reverse Mortgage Save a Gray Divorce Settlement?
(Guest blog by Joe Gordon) One of the biggest challenges in a gray divorce is finding a housing solution that works for both spouses without jeopardizing their retirement. For many…
The “Noble Exit” Trap: How Moving Out Can Reshape a Child Custody Case Before It Begins
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…
The Performative Care Trap: Why Family Court Is Addicted to Therapy
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…
When (and Why) Cheap Therapy Culture Makes Family Law Worse
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…
Hidden Assets in a Utah Divorce: What Discovery Actually Does—and Where It Falls Short
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,…
The Innocent Signature That Creates an Indefinite Trap
Signing Form I-864 is a life-altering federal commitment. A Utah divorce decree court cannot terminate your obligation to support an immigrant ex-spouse, and ordinary prenuptial agreements and alimony waivers generally will…
Kids Don’t Belong in the Driver’s Seat: How Utah Custody Law Rewards Defiance and Calls It Protection
A fit parent is awarded equal custody of two teenagers. Nothing in the record suggests that parent is dangerous, neglectful, or unfit—the court has already said so. A few months…
Your Therapist May Need a Second Opinion Too
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…
Paulson v. Paulson: Premarital Agreements, Expert Disclosures, and Attorney Fees
Paulson v. Paulson - 2026 UT App 108 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS TRISHNA PAULSON, Appellee, v. CHRISTOPHER PAULSON, Appellant. Opinion No. 20220914-CA Filed July 16, 2026 Fourth District Court,…
When Is a Divorce Settlement Agreement Ambiguous? Schmidt v. Schmidt
Schmidt v. Schmidt - 2026 UT App 98 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STEPHEN EDWARD SCHMIDT, Appellant, v. ANGELA SCHMIDT, Appellee. Opinion No. 20240759-CA Filed July 2, 2026 Third District…
Viewing Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements Through the Humanity Lens
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…
You Don’t Want an Overworked Judge or Domestic Relations Commissioner Deciding Your Family’s Fate
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…
When the Old Lame Excuses Fail, New Ones Will Be Invented
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…
“I’m Not Trained to Interview Children” and Other Empty Objections Behind Utah’s PGAL Default
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…
One Opinion, Seven Letterheads: The Family Court Echo Chamber
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…
The Weaponization of Victimhood: A Candid Look at the Inexcusable Bias in Family Courts
“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…
Utah Rule 108 Requires a Hearing on Enforcement Objections
Christensen v. Christensen - 2026 UT App 104 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS JEFFREY CHRISTENSEN, Appellant, v. COURTNEY JESSICA CHRISTENSEN, Appellee. Opinion No. 20240810-CA Filed July 9, 2026 Third District…
Protection Without Prejudice
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…
When “More Likely Than Not” Becomes “Maybe, So Better Safe Than Sorry”
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…
The Paper Shield: Protecting Victims Without Abandoning Due Process
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…
The Family Home in Divorce: Sell It or Let One Spouse Keep It?
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…
The Standard of Proof Is the Immune System of Family Law—and Courts Keep Suppressing It
This post is a companion to The Bloodletting of Family Law. That post diagnosed a system that mistakes itself for the cure. This one is about the cure the system…
The Bloodletting of Family Law: When the System Mistakes Itself for the Cure
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…
Make Honesty the Selfish Move
Designing divorce and custody settlements that resist gaming Most child custody disputes — and most of the financial fights that ride alongside them — run on bad incentives. The system…
Guardian ad Litem in Utah: What a GAL or PGAL Is Supposed to Do—and What Usually Happens Instead
If you are in a child custody dispute and the court appoints a "guardian ad litem," it sounds reassuring. A lawyer appointed for the child? What could there be not…
When Courts Reward What They Could Stop the Result Are Always Tragic
I don’t have all the facts about this. None of us do at this point. And what facts we have may not even be fully “factual,” but we’ve seen this…
Arb-Med in Divorce: Why the First Reaction May Be Wrong
New ideas are rarely adopted by the average person first. That is a useful point Seth Godin recently made in his blog recently. When you ask ordinary people whether they like a…
When an “Absent” Parent Was Pushed Out
When a parent isn't active in a child's life, most people think they already know why. He must not care. She must have checked out. He must have wanted something…
The Pitfalls of Co-Parenting “Help”: Are Special Masters and Parent Coordinators Worth the Cost in a Utah Custody Dispute? Not Usually.
Special masters and parent coordinators sound like practical solutions to exhausting parenting disputes. When parents keep fighting over exchanges, expenses, holidays, phone calls, school issues, and extracurricular activities, the idea…
Trust Me Is Not Evidence: The Custody Black Box in Utah Family Court
In most courtrooms, a litigant cannot restrict another person’s fundamental rights by repeating untested, out-of-court accusations. If a party tries to prove serious allegations through “someone told me” evidence, the…
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