Clear Guidance For Utah Parents In Custody Cases
A custody order sets out where your child lives, how you and the other parent share parent-time and who makes major decisions. Those terms shape your family’s routine for years. Our Salt Lake City child custody attorneys at Scalley Reading Bates Hansen & Rasmussen can help you organize and present evidence that supports your position during negotiations and in court.
Two Forms Of Custody Under Utah Law
Legal custody covers choices about education, health care and religion, while physical custody determines where your child lives. Utah law generally presumes that joint legal custody helps your child, even when one parent has most of the overnights.
The living arrangement also affects child support, since the calculation looks at both parents’ incomes and how you share time. When each parent has at least 111 nights a year, the court uses the joint physical custody formula.
Your Child’s Best Interests In Custody Decisions
Utah courts apply the best interests of the child standard to evaluate how a proposed arrangement would serve your child. That review includes factors such as:
- Each parent’s role in daily caregiving
- Willingness to encourage a safe relationship with the other parent
- Evidence of domestic violence or abuse
- Ability to meet emotional and developmental needs
Judges may also consider your child’s wishes, and preferences expressed at age 14 or older carry greater influence without controlling the final decision.
Options For Sharing Parent-Time
For children 5 and older, Utah’s minimum schedule gives the noncustodial parent every other weekend, a weekday evening, set holidays and summer time. An expanded option adds more days.
A judge may order 50/50 custody in Utah when both parents have stayed involved and can handle an equal split that helps your child. If neither statutory schedule fits, our parent-time attorneys in Salt Lake City draft custom plans around work shifts, school events and travel.
Changes To An Existing Order
A new job or a shift in your child’s needs can make an existing arrangement impractical. For a contested custody modification in Utah, the court requires a substantial and material change in circumstances, along with a proposed plan that better serves your child’s best interests.
Relocation can also create custody disputes. A parent moving 150 miles or more from the other parent must give at least 60 days’ written notice. Either of you may request a hearing on how the move affects parent-time and travel expenses.
A Custody Consultation With Our Team
For more than 50 years, our firm has guided Utah families facing questions as personal as these. Call 866-471-0614 or contact our Salt Lake City office online to speak with a Utah child custody lawyer about your situation.