Utah Code 30-3-35: Minimum Parent-Time Schedule, Holidays, and Summer

Utah’s minimum parent-time schedule, set out in Utah Code 30-3-35, gives a noncustodial parent with a child aged 5 through 18 one weekday evening each week, alternating weekends, a rotating list of holidays, and up to four weeks of summer parent-time. It is the floor a court will apply when parents cannot agree on their own arrangement, and neither parent can be ordered below it without cause.¹ One housekeeping point before the details: effective September 1, 2024, Utah renumbered much of its family law code, and the substance of 30-3-35 now lives at Title 81, Chapter 9, Section 303. The content is functionally the same.²

The Weekly Rhythm: One Evening and Every Other Weekend

During the school year, the baseline has two recurring blocks.

The weekday evening runs from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on whichever day the noncustodial parent chooses. If nobody picks a day, it defaults to Wednesday.¹ The noncustodial parent can also elect an earlier start: pickup at school dismissal instead of 5:30 p.m., or 9 a.m. on days school is not in session, as long as the parent is actually available and the custodial parent’s work schedule is accommodated.²

Alternating weekends run from Friday at 6 p.m. through Sunday at 7 p.m. The first weekend after the court enters the decree kicks off the rotation.¹ The noncustodial parent can again elect an earlier Friday start: pickup at school dismissal, or 9 a.m. on non-school Fridays.

One detail catches many parents off guard. The statute treats snow days, teacher development days, and other non-school days that fall next to the weekend as part of the weekend.¹ So if Friday is a teacher workday, the noncustodial parent’s weekend can start Thursday evening or Friday morning depending on the elected pickup option.

Holidays and Birthdays

Holidays override the regular weekly rotation. The statute assigns each holiday to one parent in odd-numbered years and the other in even-numbered years, so no one gets the same holiday every time.³

Long-Weekend Holidays

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day all follow the same format: parent-time starts Friday at 6 p.m. (earlier if the noncustodial parent elects school-dismissal or 9 a.m. pickup) and ends at 7 p.m. on the holiday itself.³ The noncustodial parent gets MLK Day and Labor Day in odd years, and Presidents’ Day and Memorial Day in even years.

Spring and Winter Breaks

Spring break runs from 6 p.m. on the last day of school before the break through 7 p.m. the evening before school resumes. The noncustodial parent gets spring break in odd years.³

Winter break splits in two. The first half begins at 6 p.m. on the day school lets out (or at dismissal, at the parent’s election) and ends December 27 at 7 p.m. The second half picks up December 27 at 7 p.m. and runs until 7 p.m. the evening before school resumes.⁴ The noncustodial parent gets the first half in odd years and the second half in even years, so each parent alternates between the Christmas side and the New Year’s side annually.

Summer Holidays and Utah-Specific Dates

Independence Day runs from July 3 at 6 p.m. through July 5 at 6 p.m., assigned to the noncustodial parent in odd years. Pioneer Day, unique to Utah, follows the same structure from July 23 at 6 p.m. through July 25 at 6 p.m., assigned to the noncustodial parent in even years. Juneteenth National Freedom Day is also on the alternating schedule.³

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

These two do not alternate. Mother’s Day always goes to the mother and Father’s Day always goes to the father, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., regardless of whose weekend it would otherwise be.⁵

The Child’s Birthday

One parent has the child on the actual birthday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The noncustodial parent gets the birthday in even years and the custodial parent in odd years. The other parent gets the day before or after the birthday, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the opposite year.⁶ A parent exercising birthday time can bring siblings along. One exception: if a parent is on uninterrupted summer parent-time and has taken the child away from home, the birthday provision does not apply during that trip.

Extended Summer Parent-Time

When school lets out for summer, the noncustodial parent can elect up to four weeks of parent-time, which may run consecutively.⁷ Those four weeks come in two flavors:

Two uninterrupted weeks, during which the custodial parent has no weekday visit. These are meant for travel or extended trips.

Two interruptible weeks, during which the custodial parent may exercise a weekday visit on the day the noncustodial parent would normally have their weekday evening.8

The custodial parent also gets two uninterrupted weeks of their own during summer break.

Notice Deadlines Have Real Teeth

Summer scheduling turns on timely written notice, and the deadlines alternate by year. In odd-numbered years, the noncustodial parent notifies the custodial parent of summer plans by May 1, and the custodial parent responds by May 15. In even-numbered years, the roles flip: the custodial parent goes first by May 1, and the noncustodial parent responds by May 15.⁹

Miss the deadline and the parent who filed on time gets to set the summer schedule for the parent who did not. If both parents miss, whoever files first controls the other’s schedule.⁹ A parent who forgets can lose the ability to pick their preferred weeks.

Contact and Information When the Child Isn’t With You

The parent who does not currently have the child is entitled to telephone contact at reasonable hours and for a reasonable duration.¹⁰ The companion advisory statute (formerly 30-3-33, now 81-9-202) requires each parent to permit and encourage reasonable, uncensored communication, including mail and virtual contact when the equipment is reasonably available.¹¹

Both parents must keep each other updated with current addresses, phone numbers, and email within 24 hours of any change. When the child has a school event, sports game, or community function, the custodial parent has to notify the noncustodial parent within 24 hours of learning about it, and the noncustodial parent has the right to attend and fully participate.¹² The noncustodial parent also has direct access to school reports, daycare records, and medical records without going through the custodial parent.

Who Handles Transportation

A common assumption is that the noncustodial parent always picks up and returns the child. The statute does not say that. It says the court determines who handles pickup, delivery, and return when the parent-time order is entered, and can change that arrangement any time the order is modified.¹³ Many orders do assign pickup to the parent whose time is beginning, but this is a court decision, not an automatic rule.

Whoever is responsible for transportation, the other parent has obligations too. If the noncustodial parent is picking up, the custodial parent must have the child ready on time and be present (or make reasonable alternate arrangements) for the return. If the custodial parent is transporting, the noncustodial parent must be at the agreed location on time and have the child ready when their time ends.¹³

Rules That Apply on Top of the Schedule

Several provisions from the general advisory guidelines sit on top of the specific schedule and come up in enforcement disputes constantly.

A parent cannot withhold parent-time because the other is behind on child support, and the payor cannot stop paying support because parent-time is being denied. They are separate legal obligations.¹⁴
Neither parent may pull the child out of school during regular hours to exercise parent-time.¹⁵
Each parent should make a good-faith effort to make the child available for important family functions like weddings, funerals, and reunions, even on the other parent’s time.
Each parent must give babysitters, daycare providers, and other caregivers the other parent’s name, address, and phone number.

Getting More Time (or Changing the Schedule Later)

The minimum schedule is a floor, not a ceiling. Parents who want roughly equal time can look at Utah Code 30-3-35.2 (also renumbered under Title 81), the equal parent-time schedule. Under that provision, one parent has the child from Monday morning through Wednesday morning, the other has Wednesday morning through Friday morning, and the parents alternate weekends from Friday morning through Monday morning, with exchanges at the start of school or 9 a.m. on non-school days.¹⁶ Both parents must agree to it, or the court must find it serves the child’s best interests.

Once an order is in place, a court can modify parent-time when there has been a change in circumstances since the order was entered.¹⁷ The bar is lower than for changing custody itself, which requires a “substantial and material” change. Common triggers include a parent’s relocation, major changes to a work schedule, or a child’s evolving needs. When a custodial parent relocates, the court holds a hearing to decide whether the move serves the child’s best interests and, if so, how to restructure parent-time and allocate the increased transportation costs.¹⁸

Enforcement When the Other Parent Won’t Comply

A parent-time order carries the force of a court order. Under Utah law, disobeying any lawful court order qualifies as contempt.¹⁹ A parent denied their court-ordered time can file a motion asking the court to hold the other parent in contempt. If the judge finds the violation was willful, consequences can include fines, jail time, or make-up parent-time.

A parent who fails to provide required relocation notice is also in contempt, and a noncustodial parent found in contempt for unpaid support can be ordered to pay all of the child’s travel expenses.²⁰ Enforcement actions can be set for expedited hearing, so these disputes need not sit on a court calendar for months.

1
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35 – Minimum Schedule for Parent-Time for a Child Five to 18 Years Old
2
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-303 – Minimum Schedule for Parent-Time for Child Five to 18 Years Old
3
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35 – Holiday Schedule Table
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35 – Winter Break Schedule
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35 – Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Schedule
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-302 – Birthday Parent-Time
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35 – Minimum Schedule for Parent-Time for a Child Five to 18 Years Old>
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-303 – Summer Parent-Time Provisions
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-302 – Summer Notice Requirements
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35 – Telephone Contact
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-33 – Advisory Guidelines for Parent-Time
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-33 – Noncustodial Parent Notification and Access
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-202 – Transportation Responsibilities
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-33 – Parent-Time and Child Support
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-33 – School Hours
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 30-3-35.2 – Equal Parent-Time Schedule
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-208 – Modification of Custody or Parent-Time
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-209 – Relocation and Parent-Time
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-6-301 – Acts and Omissions Constituting Contempt
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Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-9-209 – Contempt and Relocation