How to Get an Emergency Custody Order in Utah

To get an emergency custody order in Utah, you file a temporary restraining order under Rule 65A of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, supported by a sworn affidavit showing your child faces immediate and irreparable harm. A district court judge reviews the paperwork privately, without the other parent present, and can sign an order the same day giving you short-term custody for up to 14 days until a full hearing takes place.¹

What Counts as an Emergency

Rule 65A requires you to show that “immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage” will occur before the other parent can be heard.¹ In a custody context, that narrows to a short list: ongoing physical abuse of the child, credible evidence the other parent plans to flee the state with the child, or severe neglect involving food, shelter, or medical care. The danger has to be happening now, not something you worry might happen weeks from now.

Judges want specific, concrete facts. An affidavit that says “I believe my child is in danger” without describing what happened, when it happened, and what evidence backs it up will be denied. Disagreements over parenting styles, dislike of the other parent’s new partner, and minor schedule disputes do not clear this bar. The only question the judge is asking is whether the child will suffer real harm in the days before a proper hearing can be held.

You also have to certify in writing why you could not give the other parent advance notice. Either notifying them would make the danger worse, such as prompting them to hide the child or escalate violence, or you tried to reach them and could not.² Without that certification, the judge will not proceed without the other parent.

Forms and the Affidavit

You will need three documents:²

The Application for Temporary Restraining Order, where you describe the emergency, identify where the child is right now, and explain why court intervention cannot wait.
A proposed Order on Application for Temporary Restraining Order, prepared in advance so the judge can sign it quickly if they grant your request.
A Writ of Assistance to Remove Children, if you need law enforcement to help you physically recover the child. This one is optional.

A TRO cannot stand alone. It has to be filed alongside or inside an existing family law case such as a divorce, custody, or paternity action.³ If you do not have an open case, you file one at the same time.

The sworn affidavit is the heart of your filing. Include dates, descriptions of specific incidents, the child’s current whereabouts, and any corroborating evidence you can attach, such as police reports, medical records, text messages, or photographs. Utah’s MyPaperwork system walks you through questions and generates the forms based on your answers, and fillable versions are available on the Utah Courts website.⁴

Where to File and What the Judge Does

File with the clerk of the district court in the county where the child lives or where your existing case is pending. If you are opening a new divorce case at the same time, the filing fee is $350 as of May 2026.⁵ A fee waiver is available if you cannot afford court costs, through a separate application on the Utah Courts website.

Once filed, the paperwork goes to a judge for ex parte review. The judge reads your affidavit and supporting materials privately. You do not testify. The strength of your written filings decides the outcome. If the judge grants the TRO, they sign the order and you receive a certified copy, which is your legal authority to take custody or stop the other parent’s visitation. If you also filed a Writ of Assistance, law enforcement can help you recover the child.

Be prepared for one requirement that catches people off guard: the judge can order you to post a bond or other security as a condition of the TRO. The bond protects the other parent from costs and attorney fees if the order turns out to have been wrongfully granted. The court can waive it when no party will suffer financial harm or when other circumstances justify waiver, and in family law cases judges often handle this flexibly.¹

How Long the Order Lasts

An ex parte TRO expires no more than 14 days after the judge signs it, unless the court extends it for another 14 days on a showing of good cause or the other parent agrees to a longer extension.¹ That short window exists because the other parent has a due process right to be heard.

Within those 14 days, the court sets a preliminary injunction hearing. Both parents appear, present testimony, submit evidence, and cross-examine witnesses. You carry the burden of proving you are entitled to a preliminary injunction. If you do not meet it, the court dissolves the temporary order.¹

You are responsible for making sure the other parent is formally served with the TRO and notice of the hearing, typically through a process server or sheriff’s deputy. Service has to happen quickly enough to give the other parent a meaningful chance to prepare. Miss that window and the hearing gets pushed, the TRO can expire, and you may be starting over.

If the judge finds at the hearing that the risk continues, the temporary order becomes a preliminary injunction that holds while the underlying custody case moves through mediation or trial.

If the Emergency Involves Abuse

A Rule 65A TRO is a general-purpose emergency tool. If the real issue is child abuse, Utah has a separate and often stronger track: a child protective order under Utah Code 78B-7-204. A child protective order can grant temporary custody, restrict the abuser’s contact with the child, and prohibit the abuser from possessing firearms, and violating certain provisions is a Class A misdemeanor.⁶ An existing domestic violence protective order can also be considered as evidence of harm to the child when custody is decided.⁷ If what you are dealing with is abuse, the protective order route often gives you broader and more enforceable relief than a TRO.

If the Child Recently Moved to Utah

Utah has adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which generally gives jurisdiction to the state where the child has lived for the last six consecutive months, known as the home state.⁸ Utah courts can still exercise temporary emergency jurisdiction when Utah is not the home state, but only when the child is physically present in Utah and either has been abandoned or needs emergency protection because the child, a sibling, or a parent is being subjected to or threatened with abuse.⁹

An emergency order issued on that basis lasts only until the home state court acts. If a custody case is already pending in another state, the Utah court has to communicate with that court. A Utah emergency order buys you time, but you will likely need to engage with the child’s home state as well.

What Happens If You File Without Real Cause

Filing an emergency motion when the facts do not support one carries real risk. Rule 11 requires anyone filing a motion to certify it has evidentiary support, is grounded in existing law, and is not being used to harass or delay.¹⁰ A court that finds you violated the rule can order you to pay the other parent’s attorney fees. Judges also remember litigants who use emergency procedures on manufactured crises, and that reputation follows you through every later hearing in the case.

1
Utah Courts. Utah Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 65A – Injunctions
2
Utah Courts. Application for Temporary Restraining Order
3
Utah Courts. Motion for Temporary Order
4
Utah Courts. MyPaperwork
5
Utah Courts. Filing/Record Fees
6
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-7-204 – Provisions of Child Protective Order
7
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-204 – Best Interests – Rebuttable Presumption
8
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-11-201 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction
9
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-13-204 – Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction
10
Utah Courts. Utah Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing of Pleadings, Motions, Affidavits, and Other Papers