Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) delivered 2 crucial rulings regarding gay marriage rights. The first case before the court challenged the validity of the Defense of Marriage Act which defines marriage for federal purposes as only being between a man and women. The second case addressed with question of whether or not a court’s…
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Some Basics on Property Rights and Marriage in Utah
Below are some basic laws regarding the property rights of married individuals: A wife can enter into contracts with the same consequences as though she weren’t married. Yes, this is actually a statute in the Utah Code. It is a change from the common law which prohibited married women from entering into contracts. All such property rights were effected through…
Paternity Actions and Custody
When a person comes in to meet with a divorce attorney they usually only have results in mind, they’re not sure how to get from Point A to Point B but they at least know what Point B is. A common scenario is with custody, often times after a big fight with their ex or some other similar situation a…
Utah Divorce | Property Division
Dividing Assets One of the common realizations about divorce, is that separating couples have to figure out how to divvy up their “stuff.” Most married couples live in such a way, while married, that most thing are jointly owned (whether that is the legal status or not). So when those parties decide to file for divorce, figuring out who gets…
Marital Contracts
Prenups & Postnups Although it is not usually viewed as such, marriage at its core is simply a contractual relationship with another person. Although, our society and government has attached many more meanings and interpretations to marriage the generic marriage ceremony simply sets out duties and obligations that parties are promising to keep. Along with the usual marriage contract there…
Utah’s Displaced Homemaker Program
Legislature Fails to Reauthorize Program Over two decades ago the Utah State Legislature approved a program that provided assistance to homemakers charged with the task of re-entering the workforce after losing support from their husband. This lose of support could come from death, loss of work, a disability, or even divorce. The State helped fund this program through an extra…
Considering a Pre Marital Agreement? Prenup Lawyer in Utah
Salt Lake City Prenuptial Attorney Are you considering a prenup? Need to talk to a prenuptial attorney in Salt Lake City or Provo Utah? We can help and you are certainly not alone. Many clients call us every month to draft and help them through the process of executing a premarital contract. These agreements are far less taboo than they…
Common Law Marriage and Divorce in Utah
Utah Common Law Marriage In 1987, Utah passed a common law marriage statute. The statute applies to marriages entered into after 1987. Prior to 1987, Utah did not recognize common law marriages so there could be no divorce of a common law marriage. The statute allows a court or administrative order to establish that a marriage was entered into. When…