Motion to Waive Divorce Waiting Period

Mandatory waiting period in divorce cases

Utah Code Section 30-3-18 requires that there must be at least 30 days between the date the divorce petition is filed and the date a hearing for decree of divorce may be held. Either party can ask that the waiting period be waived, but they must show the court that extraordinary circumstances exist.

Motion to waive the divorce waiting period

The way to ask that the waiting period be waived is to file a Motion to Waive Divorce Waiting Period. The motion will not be granted automatically; the moving party must show extraordinary circumstances.

A copy of the Motion must be served on the other party following Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 5. See the Serving Papers page for more information about service requirements.

Opposing the Motion

If the other party does not agree with the motion, they have 14 days from the date of service to file a Memorandum Opposing Motion.

The moving party may file a Reply Memorandum Supporting Motion, but only if the opposing party mentions something new that the moving party did not mention in their motion. The reply must be filed within 7 days of service of the Memorandum Opposing Motion.

Request to Submit

The motion will not be given to the judge to decide until one of the parties completes and files a Request to Submit for Decision. Either party may file a Request to Submit for Decision, but someone must do so. If one party files a Request to Submit for Decision, the other party does not.

Do not file the Request to Submit for Decision until the Reply Memorandum Supporting Motion has been filed or until after the time for filing a Reply has expired. If there is no Memorandum Opposing the Motion, then file the Request to Submit for Decision after the time for filing the opposing memorandum has expired. You may request a hearing as part of the Request to Submit for Decision.

For more information about motion procedures, see our webpage on Motions, but use the forms on this page.

Forms

Information about filing documents in existing cases by email

Forms for the moving party

Required forms for the moving party

Use OCAP, the Online Court Assistance Program to prepare the forms

- OR -

1211FA
1110FA
1212FA

Optional forms for the moving party

1106FA
(if the other party has disagreed with the motion and presented a new matter in their response, and the moving party wishes to respond)
1111FA
(if a hearing is requested)