Custody & Kidnapping

Generally, if parties have agreed on a custody and visitation order, it may differ between states as to how to formalize the order. Also, generally police or courts only enforce a court order, not an out-of-court agreement (but I can’t specifically speak to your state). In some states, one party may file a petition for custody and once both parties show up in court, they may indicate to the judge that an agreement has been reached and ask to formalize it into an order. In other states, there may be a way to indicate in the court petition that it’s a joint filing between the parties and even attach the agreement – it may be possible then to get it formalized perhaps without going to court. I am not sure how to do this in UT so you may want to either ask a custody attorney or perhaps calling the court clerk may be informative to find out if there’s a way to attach it to a petition and get it formalized without appearing in court. Here is a link for lawyers: LINK and here is a link with courthouse contact info: LINK Also, here is some basic information on custody as well in case that is useful: LINK

ONLY INCLUDE THIS IF MENTIONED [In terms of child support, you may want to also ask an attorney or the court how to formalize a child support agreement or, possibly your state child support enforcement department may be able to tell you if there is a specific way to formalize an agreed-upon amount and get it enforced through them. Here is a link to this in your state:NOTE TO STUDENT: GOOGLE ‘CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT + THE STATE NAME]