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Legal Information: Utah

Divorce

Laws current as of
July 19, 2023

What are the grounds for divorce in Utah?

Grounds are legally acceptable reasons for divorce. The judge may grant you a “no-fault” divorce:

  • based on irreconcilable differences;1 or
  • when you and your spouse have lived separately with a court order of separate maintenance (alimony) for three years in a row.2

A judge may also grant you a fault-based divorce if you can prove that your spouse:

  • is a man who is unable to have sex (is naturally impotent);
  • had sex with someone else (committed adultery) after you got married;
  • stopped living with you as your spouse (committed “willful desertion”) for more than one year;
  • stopped providing for your common needs (committed “willful neglect”);
  • is habitually drunk;
  • was convicted of a felony after you got married;
  • is so cruel to you that s/he causes you physical injury or great mental distress; or
  • is incurably insane.3

1 Utah Code § 30-3-1(3)(h)
2 Utah Code § 30-3-1(3)(j)
3 Utah Code § 30-3-1(3)(a)-(g), (3)(i)