Child Visitation in Utah: Schedules, Supervision, and Moves

Child visitation in Utah is called “parent-time,” and state law sets a minimum schedule that the noncustodial parent is entitled to unless a judge finds a reason to order something different. For school-age children, that minimum includes alternating weekends, one midweek evening, a rotating set of holidays, and up to four weeks of summer time.¹ Younger children follow a separate age-tiered schedule. Parents can always agree to more time than the statute requires; the minimums apply when they cannot agree.

The Default Schedule for Children 5 to 18

When no custom plan is in place, Utah’s default schedule for children between five and eighteen controls automatically.¹

One midweek evening, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. If the parents don’t specify a day, it falls on Wednesday. The noncustodial parent can instead pick the child up from school and keep them until 8:30 p.m.
Alternating weekends from 6 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Sunday, starting the first weekend after the decree. The noncustodial parent can pick the child up from school on Friday instead of waiting until 6 p.m.
Up to four weeks of summer parent-time while school is out, which can be taken consecutively. Two of those weeks are uninterrupted; the other two may include a midweek visit by the custodial parent.
Holidays on a statutory rotation that alternates between parents in odd and even years.

One detail worth knowing: “weekend” under Utah law stretches to include adjacent non-school days. Snow days, teacher work days, and other school closures that fall right next to a scheduled weekend become part of that weekend. If the noncustodial parent has the weekend and school is canceled on the Friday before, the parent-time starts Thursday evening and runs through Sunday.

The Schedule for Children Under 5

Infants and toddlers get a different structure, built on the idea that very young children need shorter separations and more consistency.² The schedule steps up as the child ages:

Under 5 months: three two-hour visits per week, plus two hours on each holiday.
5 to 8 months: three three-hour visits per week, plus two hours on each holiday.
9 to 11 months: one eight-hour visit and one three-hour visit per week, plus eight hours on holidays.
12 to 17 months: one three-hour midweek visit and alternating weekends — one weekend an eight-hour daytime visit, the next weekend an overnight from Friday 6 p.m. to Saturday noon — plus eight hours on holidays.
18 months to 2 years: one weekday evening from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., alternating full weekends from Friday 6 p.m. to Sunday 7 p.m., holidays, and two separate one-week periods of extended time.
3 to 4 years: the same weekday evening and alternating weekend structure, with extended summer time growing to two separate two-week periods.

No overnights are built into the default minimum before 18 months. Once the child turns 18 months, the schedule starts to resemble the standard arrangement for older children.

Holidays and Summer

Utah’s holiday schedule covers more than a dozen holidays, with specific start and end times, and alternates each one between parents by odd and even years.¹ A few of the main ones:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Labor Day: noncustodial parent in odd years, custodial parent in even years. Each runs from Friday evening (or school dismissal) through 7 p.m. Monday.
Presidents’ Day and Memorial Day: the opposite rotation.
Spring break: noncustodial parent in odd years, from 6 p.m. on the last day of school until 7 p.m. the day before school resumes.
Independence Day: July 3 at 6 p.m. through July 5 at 6 p.m., alternating.
Pioneer Day: July 23 at 6 p.m. through July 25 at 6 p.m., alternating.
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day: always with the corresponding parent, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Thanksgiving: alternates, typically Wednesday evening through Sunday evening.

The holiday schedule overrides the regular weekend rotation. If a holiday lands on what would otherwise be the other parent’s weekend, the holiday parent gets priority. Parents can swap or restructure holidays by agreement, but if they can’t agree, the statute controls.

How a Judge Decides When the Default Doesn’t Fit

A judge cannot order any parent-time schedule without finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that it serves the child’s best interests.³ The statute lists specific factors the court weighs when deciding whether to adjust the default:

Evidence of domestic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or psychological harm to the child or a household member.
How far apart the parents live.
Whether the noncustodial parent has demonstrated the parenting ability to keep the child safe and cared for.
Whether the noncustodial parent can provide food and shelter during visits.
The child’s own wishes, if the court finds the child mature enough.
Whether the noncustodial parent is incarcerated.
The parent’s participation in the child’s school, community, and religious activities.
A chronic pattern of missing or canceling scheduled visits.
Keeping siblings on compatible schedules.
Whether a very young child is still nursing.

On the child’s preference, Utah gives “added weight” to the wishes of a child 14 or older, though the teenager’s preference alone is never decisive.⁴ Younger children can be heard if the judge finds them sufficiently mature; there is no hard age cutoff.³

Courts also watch how parents treat each other. A parent who undermines the child’s relationship with the other parent — through alienating behavior, blocking communication, or badmouthing — can face reduced time or added restrictions.

Parents who cooperate well can design their own schedules, including equal 50/50 splits or week-on/week-off rotations. Courts approve custom plans when the parents show strong communication and a track record of making joint decisions.⁵

When Visitation Is Supervised

Utah’s default is unrestricted, unsupervised parent-time. Supervised visitation is a last resort. The court can only order it after finding evidence that the child would face physical harm, emotional harm, or abuse if left alone with the noncustodial parent, and that no less restrictive option exists.⁶

When supervision is ordered, the court first looks to people the parents suggest, usually relatives or trusted family friends. If a suitable personal supervisor is available and willing, the court authorizes that person. Only when no such option exists does the court turn to professional monitoring services. The court must also consider whether paying for professional supervision would effectively block the noncustodial parent from seeing the child.

Supervised visitation is not meant to be permanent. At the time it’s imposed, the court sets specific goals for the noncustodial parent — completing a substance abuse program, attending anger management, maintaining clean drug tests — and schedules follow-up hearings. The noncustodial parent can petition to end supervision once those benchmarks are met.⁶

Changing the Schedule Later

Parent-time orders can be modified when circumstances change, but the standard depends on what you’re asking the court to change. For joint custody orders, the petitioning parent must show a “material and substantial” change in circumstances since the original order, plus that the change improves the child’s best interests.⁷ For parent-time schedules specifically, a “change in circumstances” is enough; the word “substantial” doesn’t appear, which makes the threshold somewhat lower.

Common reasons courts grant modifications include a parent’s relocation, major work schedule changes, and the child’s evolving developmental or educational needs. The court gives substantial weight to leaving a working arrangement in place. If the child is thriving under the current schedule, a preference for something different is unlikely to win.

To file, petition the same court that issued the original decree, using the same case number.⁸ If the existing joint custody order includes a dispute resolution clause, both parents must try that process in good faith before the court will hear the petition.⁷ Filing a frivolous or harassing modification petition can result in the court ordering you to pay the other parent’s attorney fees.

Moving Away: The 150-Mile Rule

If a custodial parent plans to move 150 miles or more from the other parent’s residence, Utah law requires at least 60 days of advance written notice.⁹ The notice must state that the parent will follow the statutory parent-time provisions or a schedule both parents approve, and that neither parent will interfere with the other’s court-ordered time.

Skipping this notice is contempt of court.⁹ Moving first and sorting out the paperwork later can seriously damage your standing with the court. If the other parent objects, the relocating parent may need to petition for a modification, and the court will evaluate whether the new distance makes the current schedule unworkable.

When the Other Parent Blocks Visits

Utah provides an expedited enforcement process for parents whose court-ordered time is being blocked.¹⁰ You file a motion asking the court to enforce the schedule. Courts often focus on make-up visitation to restore the missed time rather than only punishing the interfering parent.

A parent who willfully denies court-ordered parent-time can face contempt of court, which may bring fines, an order to pay the other parent’s attorney fees, or in extreme cases, jail. Courts can also impose supervised exchanges to prevent repeat interference.

When a parent goes further — refusing to return a child, hiding the child, or keeping the child past the scheduled return time with intent to interfere with the other parent’s custody — Utah’s custodial interference statute applies, with penalties that escalate by severity:¹¹

Class B misdemeanor as the baseline offense.
Class A misdemeanor if the parent has been convicted of custodial interference at least twice in the previous two years.
Third-degree felony if the parent removes the child from the state during the interference.

An affirmative defense exists if the interference was based on a reasonable belief that the child needed protection from abuse, and the parent reported the concern to the Division of Child and Family Services or law enforcement before acting.¹¹ A general belief that the child is better off with you is not a defense; the belief has to concern abuse, and it has to be reported first.

A Few Boundaries Worth Knowing

Grandparents can petition for visitation in Utah, but they face a rebuttable presumption that a fit parent’s decision about grandparent contact is in the child’s best interests. A grandparent must overcome that presumption with specific factors, such as having previously served as a caregiver, the death of the grandchild’s parent, parental unfitness, or an unreasonable denial of contact.¹² Simply wanting to see a grandchild is not enough when a fit parent objects.

Active-duty military parents facing deployment have federal protections. If a parent-time modification or enforcement action is filed while a service member is deployed or within 90 days after release from service, the military parent can request a stay of at least 90 days, supported by a letter about the duty conflict and a commanding officer’s statement.¹³ If the court denies an additional stay, it must appoint counsel for the service member.

Finally, parent-time arrangements don’t automatically control who claims the child on taxes. Under IRS rules, the child must live with the claiming parent for more than half the year, which usually means only the custodial parent qualifies.¹⁴ The custodial parent can sign IRS Form 8332 to release the claim to the noncustodial parent for the child tax credit and related credits.¹⁵ Even if a divorce decree requires that signature, the IRS is not bound by state court orders; the form itself has to be signed and attached to the noncustodial parent’s return. The Earned Income Tax Credit can’t be transferred this way and always goes to the parent the child lived with for more than half the year.

1
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35 – Minimum Schedule for Parent-time for Child Five to 18 Years Old
2
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35.5 – Minimum Schedule for Parent-time for Child Under Five Years Old
3
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-34 – Parent-time — Best Interests — Rebuttable Presumption
4
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-204
5
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-10.2 – Joint Custody Order — Factors for Court Determination — Public Assistance
6
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-34.5 – Supervised Parent-time
7
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-10.4 – Modification or Termination of Order
8
Utah Courts. Modifying Parent-Time
9
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-37 – Relocation
10
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-38 – Expedited Parent-time Enforcement Program
11
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 76-5-303 – Custodial Interference
12
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-5-2 – Visitation Rights of Grandparents
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice
14
Internal Revenue Service. Qualifying Child Rules
15
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8332 – Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent