# Utah H.B. 303: Family Court Amendments Utah H.B. 303, Family Court Amendments, is a 2026 General Session House bill sponsored by Paul A. Cutler (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-23 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-14). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB303-2026GS - As of: 2026-10-14 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah H.B. 303 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: Family Court Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-01-21 - Last action: 2026-03-23, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Paul A. Cutler (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Child Custody/Parent Time, Family, Mental Health, Attorneys, Judicial Administration, Judicial Operations - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 8 (192 yes, 2 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 5 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Custody decisions consider control and relationships: benefit, low. Utah courts may consider coercive control when deciding custody and parent-time schedules. This means a pattern that intentionally or effectively interferes unreasonably with another person’s independent choices. Reasonable, appropriate care for a child is excluded. Courts may also consider the chi… - Families get safeguards for custody evaluations: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah custody evaluators must hold a qualifying mental-health license and complete at least 18 training hours. Training covers child development, family dynamics, and effects of separation, violence, abuse, neglect, substance abuse, and parental conflict. It must occur within… - New safeguards for children’s court-ordered therapy: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, parents must try to agree on a licensed professional for court-ordered treatment involving their child. If they disagree, each submits three choices with qualification and conflict statements, and the court selects from those lists. The court considers parents’ ability to pay… - Family court fee help has limits: mixed, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah courts can require one party to pay another’s family court costs, including attorney and witness fees. The requesting party must lack resources, the other party must have resources, and expenses must be necessary and reasonable. Courts generally cannot find someone unabl… - Parents’ ability to pay limits evaluations: mixed, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah courts can order custody evaluations in divorce, separation, or custody cases only when parties can pay. A party must request the evaluation, or the court must make specific findings that extraordinary circumstances justify it. Parties can agree on an evaluator; otherwis… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Paul A. Cutler (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Michael K. McKell (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ concurs with Senate amendment | pass | 67 | 1 | | | 2026-03-05 | Senate | Senate/ substituted | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-05 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension | pass | 25 | 0 | | | 2026-02-26 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 6 | 0 | | | 2026-02-26 | Senate | Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation | pass | 6 | 0 | | | 2026-02-19 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 68 | 1 | | | 2026-02-11 | House | House Comm - Substitute Recommendation | pass | 10 | 0 | | | 2026-02-11 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 10 | 0 | | ## Actions (41) - 2026-03-23: Governor Signed - 2026-03-12: House/ to Governor (House) - 2026-03-12: House/ received enrolled bill from Printing (House) - 2026-03-11: House/ enrolled bill to Printing (House) - 2026-03-11: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-03-06: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-03-06: Bill Received from House for Enrolling - 2026-03-06: House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ concurs with Senate amendment (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ placed on Concurrence Calendar (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ to House with amendments (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ substituted (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ Rules to 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Senate/ 2nd Reading Calendar to Rules (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate/ comm rpt/ substituted (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-26: Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation - 2026-02-23: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2026-02-20: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-02-19: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-02-19: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-02-19: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-19: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-12: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-02-12: House/ comm rpt/ substituted (House) - 2026-02-11: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-11: House Comm - Substitute Recommendation - 2026-02-09: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-01-27: House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (House) - 2026-01-21: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-01-21: House/ received bill from Legislative Research (House) - 2026-01-21: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-11: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0303.pdf) - Substitute #3, 2026-03-04: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303S03.pdf) - Substitute #2, 2026-02-25: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303S02.pdf) - Substitute #1, 2026-02-11: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303S01.pdf) - Introduced, 2026-01-21: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303.pdf) ## Related bills - H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments (signed) - H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments (signed) - H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments (signed) - H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments (signed) - H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments (signed) - H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0303.pdf) - [Substitute #3 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303S03.pdf) - [Substitute #2 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303S02.pdf) - [Substitute #1 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303S01.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0303.pdf) ## Related - [H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB94-2026GS) - [H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB101-2026GS) - [H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB178-2026GS) - [H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB134-2026GS) - [H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB136-2026GS) - [H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB220-2026GS) - [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills) - [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB303-2026GS (as of 2026-10-14).