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Read. Follow. Verify.Utah updates family law rules on attorney fees, marriage definitions, and child custody modifications
Last action · March 6, 2026: House/ filedSponsors: Tracy Miller and 1 other
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What This Bill Proposed
Utah House Bill 555 modifies family law procedures by clarifying when courts may award attorney and expert witness fees, updating definitions related to marriage and alimony, and setting new criteria for modifying child custody and orders effective May 6, 2026.
Parties involved in divorce, child support, or custody disputes face revised legal standards for recovering litigation costs and altering existing custody arrangements when a household member has a criminal history.
- Utah family law statutes were previously renumbered and amended under major legislative revisions enacted in recent legislative sessions. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Divorcing spouses and parents
Litigants in domestic cases are subject to updated rules regarding fee shifting, definitions of fault affecting alimony, and stricter standards for modifying custody or parent-time.
Family law attorneys
Legal practitioners must navigate new statutory criteria for requesting and defending against attorney fee awards and custody modifications.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can a court order one party to pay the other party's attorney fees?
What constitutes 'fault' that contributes to the breakup of a marriage under the bill?
What happens if a parent seeks to modify custody while living with a registered sex offender?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the House · on the Senate floor.
Procedural history
34 actions- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ filed
- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ received from Senate
- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ to House
- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ strike enacting clause
- Mar 4, 2026SenateSenate/ 2nd Reading Calendar to Rules
- Mar 3, 2026SenateSenate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar
Show 28 earlier actions
- Mar 3, 2026SenateSenate/ comm rpt/ amended
- Mar 3, 2026SenateSenate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
- Mar 3, 2026SenateSenate Comm - Amendment Recommendation
- Feb 27, 2026SenateCommitteeSenate/ to standing committee
- Feb 27, 2026SenateIntroducedSenate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- Feb 27, 2026SenateSenate/ received from House
- Feb 27, 2026HouseHouse/ to Senate
- Feb 27, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0555S01
- Feb 27, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0555S01
- Feb 26, 2026HouseFloorHouse/ passed 3rd reading
- Feb 26, 2026HouseHouse/ substituted
- Feb 26, 2026HouseHouse/ 3rd reading
- Feb 26, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0555S01
- Feb 26, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0555S01
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ 2nd reading
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ comm rpt/ amended
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Favorable Recommendation
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Amendment Recommendation
- Feb 17, 2026HouseCommitteeHouse/ to standing committee
- Feb 17, 2026HouseHouse/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
- Feb 16, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0555
- Feb 16, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0555
- Feb 12, 2026HouseIntroducedHouse/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- Feb 12, 2026HouseHouse/ received bill from Legislative Research
- Feb 12, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0555
- Feb 12, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0555
- Feb 12, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselNumbered Bill Publicly Distributed
- Feb 12, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselBill Numbered but not Distributed
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expanded Fee-Shifting and Custody Safeguards
The legislation standardizes mandatory attorney fee awards for prevailing parties in order-enforcement actions and tightens custody modification criteria regarding household sex offenders.
Connected Entities
Sources
le.utah.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy35Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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