Alimony and Spousal Support in Utah

The court must consider at least: the standard of living during the marriage; the receiving spouse's financial condition, needs and earning capacity (including lost work experience from caring for the paying spouse's child); the paying spouse's ability to pay; tax consequences; the length of the marriage; whether the receiving spouse has custody of a minor child; whether the receiving spouse worked in the paying spouse's business; and whether the receiving spouse paid for or enabled the paying spouse's education. The court may consider fault. Alimony generally may not last longer than the length of the marriage, unless the court finds extenuating circumstances or good cause, and temporary alimony counts toward that period. In marriages of 10 years or more where one spouse agreed to reduce work to care for the other's child, there is a rebuttable presumption that the court equalize the parties' standards of living.

Utah uses equitable distribution, not community property. The court generally divides all property acquired during the marriage (marital property), regardless of whose name is on the title. Equitable means fair, which is not necessarily equal; in long marriages it may be a 50-50 split. Property owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance during the marriage is usually not marital property and each spouse generally keeps it, unless it has been combined with marital property or used in a way that makes it marital. Retirement contributions made during the marriage are generally divided equitably.