Child custody in Utah

What the law tells the judge to look at

In the order the law lists them.

1. Must consider: evidence of domestic violence, physical abuse, or sexual abuse involving the child, the parent, or someone in the parent's household.Utah Code 81-9-204(3)(a)
2. Must consider: whether the parent has intentionally exposed the child to pornography or material harmful to minors.Utah Code 81-9-204(3)(b)
3. Must consider: whether custody and parent-time would endanger the child's health or physical or psychological safety.Utah Code 81-9-204(3)(c)
4. May consider: evidence of coercive control.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(a)
5. May consider: evidence of psychological maltreatment.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(b)
6. May consider: how well the parent understands and meets the child's physical, emotional, educational, medical, and special needs.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(c)
7. May consider: the parent's ability and willingness to parent, including parenting skills, co-parenting skills (communicating with the other parent, encouraging love and affection, allowing frequent contact, unless the parent is protecting the child from domestic violence, neglect, or abuse), and providing personal care rather than surrogate care.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(d)
8. May consider: the parent's past conduct and demonstrated moral character.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(e)
9. May consider: the parent's emotional stability.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(f)
10. May consider: whether drug abuse, excessive drinking, or other causes keep the parent from functioning as a parent.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(g)
11. May consider: why the parent gave up custody or parent-time in the past.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(h)
12. May consider: how long and how deeply the parent has wanted custody or parent-time.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(i)
13. May consider: the parent's religious compatibility with the child.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(j)
14. May consider: the parent's financial responsibility.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(k)
15. May consider: the child's relationship with stepparents, extended family, and others who may significantly affect the child.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(l)
16. May consider: who has been the child's primary caretaker.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(m)
17. May consider: earlier parenting arrangements in which the child was happy and well-adjusted at home, school, and in the community.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(n)
18. May consider: the benefit of keeping brothers and sisters together.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(o)
19. May consider: the child's stated wishes and concerns, considering the child's thinking ability and emotional maturity.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(p)
20. May consider: how strong the child's bond is with the parent.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(q)
21. May consider: any other factor the court finds relevant.Utah Code 81-9-204(4)(r)

Other things the judge considers

• Unless there is proof of real harm or substantiated potential harm to the child, the law says it is in the child's best interest to have frequent, meaningful, continuing access to each parent, and both parents actively involved.Utah Code 81-9-204(11)
• When deciding on joint custody, the court also looks at whether joint custody will benefit the child, the parents' ability to put the child first and decide together, co-parenting skills, whether both parents helped raise the child, how close the homes are, the child's preference if the child is old enough, the parents' maturity, and their history of cooperation.Utah Code 81-9-205(5)
• The court must treat a cohabitant abuse protective order as evidence of real harm or substantiated potential harm to the child, and must consider the safety of the child and of the parent who experiences domestic violence as primary.Utah Code 81-9-204(10)
• • In cases with alleged abuse, expert evidence on abuse must come from a professional with real experience working with victims, not only forensic work
  • the court must consider past abuse evidence such as protective orders, charges, arrests, or convictions
  • and the court may not remove a child from, or restrict contact with, a competent, non-abusive parent the child is bonded with just to improve the relationship with the other parent.
  Utah Code 81-9-104

What the judge may not consider

No preference for a parent because of gender. No discrimination because of a disability unless the court makes specific findings. Lawful medical cannabis use is treated like any prescribed medicine. The court may not discriminate against a parent for agreeing or disagreeing with a child's gender identity or sexual orientation (Utah Code 81-9-204(6), (7)(a), (9)).

Joint custody

Yes, for joint legal custody: the law presumes joint legal custody is in the child's best interest, but not where there is domestic violence, neglect, or abuse, special needs that make it unreasonable, or distance that makes shared decisions impractical. There is no preference for or against joint physical custody.

The child's wishes

The court may ask about and consider your child's wishes, but they do not control the decision. The wishes of a child 14 or older get added weight but are not the only deciding factor. A child cannot be made to testify unless there are special circumstances and no other way. If the judge interviews the child, it is done in private (in chambers).

Domestic violence

The court must consider evidence of domestic violence and treat the safety of the child and the parent who experiences domestic violence as primary. Domestic violence is an exception to the presumption of joint legal custody. A protective order counts as evidence of real harm to the child. If a parent moves because of domestic violence, the court may not make that parent disclose their address. A parent convicted of a sexual offense that resulted in the child's conception cannot get custody or parent-time except in narrow cases.

Who has custody before a court order

Utah's court self-help pages say that when unmarried parents have a baby, the father does not automatically have legal rights until paternity is established, and usually the mother has sole legal and physical custody until a court orders something different.

Establishing paternity

How

Unmarried parents can both sign a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity (VDP). The hospital or birth attendant should offer it at birth, or you can sign it later at a local health department. It is filed with the Office of Vital Records and Statistics and adds the father to the birth certificate. Either signer can cancel (rescind) it within 60 days after it takes effect, or before notice of the first court or agency case about the child they are part of, whichever is first. After that it can be challenged only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. The Office of Recovery Services can also establish paternity, or you can file a custody (parentage) case in district court. A VDP does not set child support or custody.

Form

Voluntary Declaration of Paternity (VDP)

Cancellation form

Voluntary rescission document (form prescribed by Office of Vital Records and Statistics)

Agency

Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics
https://vitalrecords.utah.gov/

Changing an order

To change custody, you must show a substantial and material change in circumstances since the order, and that the change is in the child's best interest. To change parent-time, you must show a change in circumstances. For orders entered on or after May 6, 2026, a child turning 5 counts as a change, unless the order already covers it. For joint custody orders, parents must first use the dispute resolution process in their plan, and the court gives substantial weight to the existing order when the child is thriving. A parent living with, or giving a child access to, a registered or convicted child abuser or sex offender is a substantial change.

Law: Utah Code 81-9-208(1)-(8)

If the other parent does not follow the order

If a parent does not follow a parent-time order, you can file a motion or petition. The court may award attorney fees and costs (such as child care, travel, lost wages, or counseling) and must award reasonable make-up parent-time unless that is not in the child's best interest. In the Third Judicial District, an Expedited Parent-time Enforcement Program sends these cases to a mediator who must meet with the parents within 15 days. A parent denied time because of a child-welfare investigation that found no abuse can get make-up time.

Law: Utah Code 81-9-102, 81-9-208(12)-(13)

Grandparent visitation

Yes. A grandparent can file for visitation in district court, or in a pending divorce or custody case. The court presumes the parent's decision about grandparent visits is in the child's best interest. The grandparent must prove by clear and convincing evidence that they cared for the child like a parent and losing the relationship would substantially harm the child, or that both parents are unfit. Then the court looks at the whole situation, including why the parent said no, the child's age, any parent's death, and the wishes of a grandchild 14 or older.

Custody by someone who is not a parent

Someone who is not a parent can ask for custody or visitation only by proving by clear and convincing evidence that they took on the role of a parent, formed a parent-child bond, contributed to the child's well-being, that the relationship is in the child's best interest and losing it would substantially harm the child, and that the parent is absent, cannot have primary physical custody, or has abused or neglected the child. People with certain child-abuse or sex-offense convictions generally cannot get custody.

Custody and visitation in the order

Yes. An ex parte or regular protective order can give you (or someone other than the respondent) temporary custody of the parties' minor children. A protective order can also set the respondent's parent-time, require supervision, or deny parent-time if needed for safety.

Military parents

Utah has adopted the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody, Parent-Time, and Visitation Act. Custody issues tied to a future deployment are decided under that act's standards.

Law: Utah Code Title 81, Chapter 10; 81-9-204(8), 81-9-208(9)

Preventing abduction

Law: Utah Code Title 81, Chapter 12 (Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act)