# Utah S.B. 257: Domestic Relations Amendments Utah S.B. 257, Domestic Relations Amendments, is a 2026 General Session Senate bill sponsored by Todd Weiler (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-18 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-14). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB257-2026GS - As of: 2026-10-14 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah S.B. 257 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: Domestic Relations Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-02-05 - Last action: 2026-03-18, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Todd Weiler (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Child Support, Child Custody/Parent Time, Family, Marriage/Divorce, Judicial Administration, Courts, Judicial Operations, Disabilities, Judges, Parentage - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 9 (159 yes, 1 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 31 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Resident tuition access for qualifying students: benefit, high. A dependent student qualifies for Utah resident tuition when a legally recognized parent has made Utah their permanent home for at least 12 months before applying. Resident tuition also covers Defense Department civilians assigned to a Utah military organization and their immediate family members.… - More contact and makeup time for parents: benefit, medium. Noncustodial parents get at least two brief phone contacts each week, plus virtual visits when equipment is reasonably available. These contacts add to in-person parenting time and must occur at reasonable hours and last a reasonable length. Courts decide equipment disputes based on the child's bes… - Parents can recover wrongly lost visits: benefit, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, this make-up visit rule applies only if S.B. 304 also becomes law. On a parent's motion or petition, courts must award time lost during a child welfare investigation finding no abuse, neglect, or dependency. Courts can deny that request for lack of prior diligence in exercisi… - Safer address and travel privacy for parents: benefit, medium. Courts cannot require a parent fleeing domestic or family violence by the other parent to reveal their address to that parent. Courts must also make specific findings and orders about how the relocation law applies. A parent traveling with a child is exempt from the specified travel-information not… - Stronger child safety checks in custody: benefit, medium. Parents must immediately tell the other parent about known qualifying convictions of someone living with them or accessing their child. These include specified child abuse, kidnapping, sexual, and exploitation crimes, including substantially similar offenses; the listed kidnapping and sexual crimes… - Family caregiver pay needs federal approval: benefit, medium. The law directed Utah's health department to seek federal approval before July 1, 2023, for parent or guardian caregiver payments. The care recipient must be enrolled in a qualifying home- and community-based Medicaid waiver for brain injury, intellectual or physical disability, or people age 65 or… - More health employees qualify for infant-at-work: benefit, low. Utah's Infant at Work Pilot includes employees with a legally recognized parent-child relationship and employees caring for a foster infant. Eligible Department of Health and Human Services employees can bring an infant to work with program approval. Employees need 12 consecutive months of employme… - At-home parents get a limited tax credit: benefit, low. The law updates parent eligibility for Utah's $100 tax credit per qualifying child. Parents must provide full-time care at home, claim the child as a dependent, and have specified wages and Schedule C gross income totaling no more than $3,000. Adjusted gross income on the return, including joint fi… - Abuse mitigation covers more family relationships: benefit, low. Battered-person mitigation includes a minor's relationship with a parent, stepparent, or someone living with the parent as a stepparent. It applies to an otherwise unjustified offense against a cohabitant who showed a pattern of abuse against the person or another cohabitant. The person must reason… - Family courts coordinate related child cases: benefit, low. Utah district courts must assign cases involving the same child or family to one judge when possible. Juvenile courts can transfer a child protective-order petition when both sides are the child's parent or stepparent. Transfer requires an ex parte protective order and a qualifying custody or paren… - Parental killing triggers child abuse protections: benefit, low. Utah's Juvenile Code treats a parent intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing the other parent's death as abuse. It also covers a parent identified by law enforcement as the primary suspect, prosecuted, or convicted for causing that death. The code defines a parent through the legal parent-c… - Registry relief reaches more eligible parents: benefit, low. Utah's corrections department must automatically remove registrants whose only registry offenses appear on the law's eligible list. Qualifying child kidnapping is included when the offender was the victim's parent, not only a natural parent. The parent exception to the offense of asking a child und… - Tighter adoption rights for unmarried fathers: cost, medium. An unmarried biological father has no right to adoption notice when conception resulted from conduct constituting a sexual offense, even without charges or conviction. Beginning May 6, 2026, the cohabitation route to requiring his adoption consent also requires openly presenting himself as the fath… - Family ties limit cohabitant protection orders: cost, low. The protective-order chapter's cohabitant definition excludes a parent or stepparent's relationship with a minor child. The wording uses 'parent' instead of 'natural or adoptive parent.' It also excludes relationships among siblings, stepsiblings, and foster siblings under 18. These exclusions gove… - Remote marriages require clear license warnings: cost, low. A Utah marriage license is not considered used in Utah when the couple and officiant are not physically together. An exception requires the issuing county to post a warning and the officiant to repeat it word for word immediately before marriage. The warning must appear prominently near the applica… - Broader parent rules limit registry removal: cost, low. Utah's offender registry laws define a parent through the legal parent-child relationship and include noncustodial parents. For specified child-victim kidnapping, trafficking, smuggling, and related offenses, registration and duration rules use 'parent' rather than 'natural parent.' A registrant wh… - Monthly child care payments for parents: mixed, high. Beginning January 1, 2027, qualifying new or modified support orders include monthly child care payments from the paying parent to the receiving parent. Orders using the low-income table are excluded. For ages 0–23 months, 2–3 years, 4–5 years, and 6–12 years, the listed monthly amounts by combined… - Child support adjusts when children emancipate: mixed, medium. When a child becomes emancipated, base support automatically adjusts for the remaining children without a new court order. This applies unless the order says otherwise, and only when the latest order or worksheets give consistent incomes and follow guidelines. Emancipation includes age 18 or expect… - Disability income counts toward child support: mixed, medium. Courts and agencies count a parent's Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) as gross income when calculating child support. Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid are excluded. Counting SSDI can change how much support a parent pays and the child receives. - Fatherhood rules protect ties and limit presumptions: mixed, medium. A tribunal can deny genetic testing or disregard exclusionary results for a presumed, declared, or possible father. This requires conduct that legally prevents denial of parentage, an unfair disruption of the parent-child relationship, and consideration of the child's best interests. A possible fat… - New family rules for receiving inheritances: mixed, medium. When someone dies without a will, parent-child status can be established under Utah's parentage law. An adopted person generally inherits as the adopting parents' child, not the pre-existing parent's child. Adoption by a pre-existing parent's spouse does not sever the relationship with that pre-exi… - New visit times for young children: mixed, medium. When parents do not agree, minimum visits for children under five depend on the child's age. For ages 12 months to under five, alternating weekends run Friday at 5:30 p.m. through Sunday at 7:30 p.m. For ages 18 months to under five, weekday visits end at 7:30 p.m., and extended periods run from 8… - Parents keep visit rights after distant moves: mixed, medium. After a move of at least 150 miles from the other parent, children ages 5–18 have a minimum schedule unless the court orders otherwise. It assigns fall, winter, spring, and Thanksgiving breaks by odd or even year. The noncustodial parent gets the first half of summer or off-track time in odd years… - Parents share and verify childcare costs: mixed, medium. Support orders generally split reasonable work-related child care costs equally, including costs during extended parenting time. The usual presumption is rebutted when support and medical payments, with or without child care, exceed 50% of the paying parent's adjusted gross income. Courts can assig… - Parents share travel costs after moves: mixed, medium. Unless the court orders otherwise, the relocating parent pays all child travel costs for the specified holiday visits. That parent pays half of extended summer or off-track travel costs when the noncustodial parent is current on support. A noncustodial parent found in contempt for unpaid support pa… - Revised visits and summer time for parents: mixed, medium. For children ages 5–18, the law revises weekday and alternating-weekend schedules; standard minimum weekends end Sunday at 8:30 p.m. The standard minimum applies when parents do not agree on a schedule. Noncustodial parents may receive up to four summer weeks: two uninterrupted and two allowing a c… - Parents get clearer visit change rules: mixed, low. Existing court-ordered visits do not change automatically when the law changes; changes require both parents' signed written consent or a new court order. For orders entered on or after May 6, 2026, turning five provides grounds to request custody or visit changes, unless the order already addresse… - Parents get new Juneteenth visit times: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2027, revised Juneteenth visits apply only if H.B. 309 also becomes law. When Juneteenth falls the day before Father's Day, visits run Friday at 5:30 p.m. to Saturday at 5:30 p.m. When it falls on Father's Day or the following day, visits run Sunday to Tuesday. Otherwise, visit… - Parents get revised holiday visit schedules: mixed, low. The statutory holiday schedules change some assignments between odd and even years, including under the optional schedule for ages 5–18. Mother's Day and Father's Day visits begin at 5:30 p.m. the day before and end at 8:30 p.m. on the holiday. Columbus Day and Veterans Day are removed from the lis… - Parent status governs children's organ donation: mixed, low. Utah's anatomical-gift law recognizes a minor's parent through the state's legal parent-child relationship definition. A person whose parental rights have been terminated does not qualify as a parent under these rules. This determines who has parent status for organ and other anatomical-gift decisi… - Broader parent definitions shape child offenses: mixed, low. Utah's parental-kidnapping law defines a parent through the legal parent-child relationship rather than the former biological-or-adoptive wording. The offense covers taking or keeping a child under 18 to interfere with custody when a specified custody or visit restriction applies. Child sexual-abus… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Todd Weiler (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Stephanie Gricius (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ substituted | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Senate/ concurs with House amendment | pass | 22 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 61 | 1 | | | 2026-03-03 | House | House Comm - Substitute Recommendation | pass | 8 | 0 | | | 2026-03-03 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 8 | 0 | | | 2026-02-25 | Senate | Senate/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 23 | 0 | | | 2026-02-24 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd reading | pass | 26 | 0 | | | 2026-02-12 | Senate | Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation | pass | 5 | 0 | | | 2026-02-12 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 6 | 0 | | ## Actions (43) - 2026-03-18: Governor Signed - 2026-03-13: Senate/ to Governor (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-03-10: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-03-10: Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling - 2026-03-10: Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ concurs with House amendment (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ placed on Concurrence Calendar (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ substituted (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ Rules to 3rd Reading Calendar (House) - 2026-03-03: House/ 3rd Reading Calendar to Rules (House) - 2026-03-03: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-03-03: House/ comm rpt/ substituted (House) - 2026-03-03: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-03-03: House Comm - Substitute Recommendation - 2026-02-27: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-02-26: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-02-25: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ passed 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-24: Senate/ passed 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-24: Senate/ 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ comm rpt/ substituted (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-12: Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation - 2026-02-10: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2026-02-09: Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (Senate) - 2026-02-05: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-02-05: Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research (Senate) - 2026-02-05: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-12: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0257.pdf) - Substitute #4, 2026-03-05: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S04.pdf) - Substitute #3, 2026-03-02: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S03.pdf) - Substitute #2, 2026-02-12: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S02.pdf) - Substitute #1, 2026-02-11: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S01.pdf) - Introduced, 2026-02-05: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257.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/SB0257.pdf) - [Substitute #4 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S04.pdf) - [Substitute #3 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S03.pdf) - [Substitute #2 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S02.pdf) - [Substitute #1 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257S01.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0257.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-SB257-2026GS (as of 2026-10-14).