Sources of Utah Laws

there are three main sources for utah divorce laws statutes are laws passed by the utah legislature they are codified into the “utah code ” case law consists of legal decisions made by the utah supreme court and the utah court of appeals these courts interpret the statutes enacted by the legislature and determine how these laws apply in certain situations court rules are sets of procedural rules that govern how cases are processed through the utah courts statutes the utah code the primary source of utah laws are the statutes created by the utah legislature members of the legislature propose new laws to address specific legal issues these proposals are called “bills ” the new proposed laws may be grouped together into an “act ” for example, the utah child support act is a specific group of laws that set the rules governing child support the legislature then then votes on whether to adopt the proposed bills to become new laws if approved, these new laws are then added to the utah statutes, which includes all of the current laws enacted by the legislature the new laws are codified into the “utah code,” which is an organized list of all the current statutes each new law is assigned to one or more “sections” of the utah code similar sections are grouped together into “chapters,” and similar chapters are grouped together into specific “titles ” thus, any law can be found by citation to its location in the utah code citations are listed as “utah code section xx\[title] yy\[chapter] zzzz\[section] ” in subsequent years, the legislature may modify or even repeal (cancel) statutes that were previously adopted into law for example, the laws governing custody of minor children are set forth in utah code title 30 (husband and wife), chapter 3 (divorce) section 35 sets forth the standard minimum schedule for a noncustodial parent to have parent time (visitation) with the children in early 2022, the utah legislature amended section 35 and this minimum parent time schedule (effective may 4, 2022) the entire utah code can be accessed online through the legislature’s website at https //le utah gov/xcode/code html utah case law the second source of utah laws are the utah appellate courts the utah court of appeals and the utah supreme court interpret the laws enacted by the legislature and determine how these laws apply in certain situations if a divorce case goes to trial, the trial court judge makes rulings or orders deciding the specific legal issues in the case such as custody of minor children, the amount of child or spousal support, how to divide marital property, etc the judge makes these decisions by applying the specific laws created by the legislature and/or higher courts if a party in a divorce case thinks that the district court judge made a mistake in applying the law, he or she can appeal the decision to the utah court of appeals or the utah supreme court these appellate courts are charged with interpreting the statutes enacted by the legislature these courts also determine if the district court correctly applied the applicable laws to the legal issues in the case at trial the rulings created by these appellate courts become laws which the district courts are also bound to follow and apply in future cases for example, utah code section 81 4 406 states that in a divorce, “the court may include in the divorce decree equitable order relating to any property, debts, or obligations” of the parties however, that language does not specifically address questions such as how to divide retirement accounts in a divorce the utah appellate courts have made decisions clarifying how trial courts should determine how to divide retirement accounts and other assets in a divorce decisions made by the utah supreme court and the utah court of appeals from 1997 to the present can be accessed online through the court’s website at https //www utcourts gov/opinions/ utah court rules the third source of utah laws are the utah court rules these are sets of procedural rules created by the utah legislature and the utah supreme court that govern how cases are processed through the utah courts these rules cover topics such as the type of documents that can be filed in the court, timelines for different court case procedures, rules for the types of information that must be disclosed to other parties in a court case, and when and where certain evidence may be presented in court all divorce and family law cases are governed by the utah rules of civil procedure these rules can be found on the court’s website at https //legacy utcourts gov/rules/urcp php