Divorce is governed by state law, which means that you will have to follow Utah law. There are several requirements that must be fulfilled before a divorce will be granted, including residency. One of the first requirements for obtaining a divorce in the state is found under Utah code § 30-3-1, which requires official residency. According to the state law, at least one of the individuals must be considered a resident. You will need to be a legal resident of Utah and the county in which you are filing for divorce. The basic requirement for state residency is three months. You will have to living in Utah for at least three consecutive months before you will be considered a resident.
Similar to state residency, you must live in the county for three consecutive months before filing with their courts. For example, say you and your spouse formerly lived in Salt Lake County for a year, but then separated. If you moved to Davis County after the separation, you would have to wait a full three months before their district court could gain jurisdiction over your case. If your spouse stayed in Salt Lake County, they would meet the three month requirement. This means that you could file for divorce in their district court. If the spouse who files for divorce is a member of the armed forces, they cannot be a legal resident of Utah. This means that they will have to be stationed for three months, by military order, before filing.
The court will not make your divorce legal until 90 days after the complaint for divorce was filed. Unless there is a founded reason for expediting or halting the case, this is the typical time frame for a divorce to be processed. If you have children, you will take a mandatory educational course for divorcing parents. This will map out different procedures and child custody guidelines. Once this has been completed, there is no 90-day waiting period. If you are not sure if you have been an official resident for the required time or have more questions about divorce in Utah, our firm is prepared to help. Contact our office at 801-263-7078 to find out how you can retain a Salt Lake City divorce lawyer from our firm.