Utah Child Support 2026: New § 81-6 Guidelines Explained

§ 78B-12 Is Now § 81-6: What Changed and What Didn't

In 2024 Utah renumbered its child support statutes from Title 78B Chapter 12 into the § 81-6 series as part of a broader family-law reorganization. The citation people still paste into Google — "Utah Code § 78B-12" — is the old address. The current address is Utah Code § 81-6-101 et seq. Guideline worksheets and ORS materials updated into 2026 (including February 2026 CS 403P revisions) live under the new numbering.

What changed. The label on the door. Cross-references in older decrees, blog posts, and some commercial calculators still say § 78B-12. Courts and ORS expect the current code.

What did not change. Utah remains an Income Shares state. Parents still combine gross income, read a table, allocate by income share, and apply parenting-time and other adjustments. Renaming is not a secret formula rewrite — but citing the wrong chapter signals stale research to a judge, mediator, or opposing counsel.

Why correct citation matters online. Sites that still treat § 78B-12 as "current law" are a year behind on the basic bibliographic fact. Divorce.law and similar updated sources already point to § 81-6 provisions (including table/worksheet sections such as § 81-6-204 in practitioner materials). Calculators that still brand § 78B-12 as the governing statute are wrong on the label even when their arithmetic accidentally matches. TheLegalCalc cites § 81-6 because that is the live code.

Utah's Income Shares Model: How Both Parents' Incomes Are Combined

Utah asks what these parents would spend on the children if they lived in one household with their combined gross monthly income, then splits that basic support obligation (BSO) by each parent's share of combined income.

Gross income is the starting point — not take-home pay. The combined monthly income table used in Utah materials covers a wide band from about $726 per month at the low end up through $100,000 per month combined. There is also a statutory-style minimum on the order of $30 per child per month so low-income cases do not collapse to zero without findings.

Proportionality example (structure only). Parent A earns 65% of combined gross; Parent B earns 35%. If the table BSO for their combined income and child count is $1,820, Parent A's preliminary share is about 65% of $1,820 before parenting-time credits and add-ons. Exact table cells change with guideline updates — treat every dollar figure in this article as a planning illustration, then confirm on the official ORS worksheet.

The 25% Threshold: When Parenting Time Starts to Reduce Your Payment

Utah's parenting-time credit does not begin at a token overnight count. The noncustodial parent generally needs at least 25% of overnights — about 91 nights per year — before the credit pathway opens. Below 25%, extra midweek dinners and "plenty of time" still produce no parenting-time credit on the worksheet.

Graduated credit above 25%. Once you clear roughly 91 nights, additional overnights move you along a graduated credit scale toward equal parenting time. True 50/50 schedules are a different economic conversation than 80 nights of every-other-weekend time.

How Utah compares. Indiana's famous credit can start near 52 overnights (~14%) — the lowest widely cited U.S. threshold. Michigan practice often discusses credits nearer 30% (~110 nights). Utah's 25% / ~91-night gate sits between those poles. Parents who relocate from Indiana expecting a credit at 60 nights will be disappointed in Utah. Parents who move from a 110-night state may find Utah slightly easier to enter the credit band.

Count nights honestly. Courts care about where the child sleeps, not Instagram captions. Inflated calendars collapse under school records and the other parent's testimony.

Step-by-Step: Calculating Utah Child Support

Step 1 — Convert each parent's gross income to a monthly figure. Include the categories § 81-6-203 counts (see income section below).

Step 2 — Combine. Parent A $7,500 + Parent B $4,000 = $11,500 combined monthly gross.

Step 3 — Look up the BSO on the Utah table for two children at that combined income. A planning-neighborhood figure near $1,820/month is useful for illustration at this band — confirm the live table cell on ORS tools.

Step 4 — Allocate by share. Parent A = $7,500 ÷ $11,500 ≈ 65.2%. Preliminary transfer ≈ $1,820 × 0.652 ≈ $1,187/month.

Step 5 — Apply parenting-time credit only if overnights ≥ ~91 (25%). At 80 overnights, credit = none. At 110 overnights, a graduated credit often trims the obligation on the order of roughly 10–15% in many mid-range planning illustrations — your worksheet percentage controls, not this article's rounding.

Step 6 — Add childcare, medical insurance, and other guideline lines allocated by share.

Worked summary without credit. $7,500 / $4,000, two children, 80 nights → ~$1,187/month from Parent A before add-ons.

Worked summary with credit. Same incomes, 110 nights → apply the Utah credit table; expect a meaningful reduction versus the no-credit baseline, commonly discussed in a roughly 10–15% band for mid-range examples. Run both scenarios in TheLegalCalc's Utah calculator and the official ORS calculator with identical inputs.

Present Family Credit: If You Have Other Children

Utah recognizes that a parent may already support children in a present family — a new marriage or household. Present-family credit mechanisms can reduce the income available for the case children when the guidelines allow that adjustment. This is not a blank check to invent dependents; bring birth certificates, support orders, and household proof.

Imputed income. If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, Utah practice can impute earning capacity — often discussed with a floor near minimum wage when evidence of actual earnings is thin. Quitting a job to dodge support is a strategy that frequently backfires at imputation hearings.

Interaction with parenting time. Present-family credit and overnight credits are separate lines. Winning one does not automatically unlock the other.

What Counts as Income in Utah

Under Utah Code § 81-6-203 and related guideline definitions, gross income typically includes wages and salaries; commissions and bonuses; self-employment income after ordinary and necessary business expenses; rental income; Social Security; pensions; and alimony received. The list is broader than "base salary on the offer letter."

Usually excluded. Public assistance, SNAP, and child support received for other children are commonly excluded from the gross-income definition used for the table. Do not hide side income and expect the court to ignore bank deposits.

Self-employment. Ordinary and necessary expenses reduce income; personal expenses run through the business do not. Expect scrutiny of vehicle write-offs, home-office claims, and cash businesses.

Imputed income again. When a parent claims zero income without a disability or job-search record, imputation fills the gap so the children are not left with a fictional poverty worksheet.

Modifying Child Support in Utah

Utah modifications turn on a substantial change in circumstances. Separately, parents often discuss a three-year lookback similar to other western states — if three years have passed since the last order, an administrative or court review pathway may be available even when the "substantial change" story is thinner. In practice, a roughly 10% difference between the current order and a new guideline calculation is frequently treated as a meaningful screen, though it is a practice benchmark rather than a magic statute that auto-grants modification.

Do not self-modify. Paying less because your spreadsheet says the guidelines dropped creates arrears. Model the number, then file.

Evidence that moves cases. Sustained income changes, overnight schedules crossing the 25% gate, new children in a present family, and major childcare shifts. Bring tax returns, pay stubs, and a calendar — not vibes.

Utah ORS Enforcement: Among the Most Active in the Country

Utah's Office of Recovery Services (ORS) has a reputation for active enforcement — more visible than many states' IV-D agencies. Tools include income withholding, tax intercepts, driver and professional license suspension, and passport denial.

Passport denial threshold. Federal rules allow passport denial when child support arrears exceed $2,500. Some states are slow to push cases at the floor; Utah ORS is known for acting at that federal $2,500 level rather than waiting for informal higher balances. If you travel internationally for work, arrears are not a paperwork inconvenience — they are a border problem.

License suspension. Driver and professional licenses can be targeted when arrears persist. That pressure is intentional.

Why this section exists in a calculator guide. Parents who treat Utah support as a soft invoice discover ORS is not a soft collector. If you cannot pay the order, seek modification with proof before arrears cross enforcement triggers.

Next Steps: Utah ORS and TheLegalCalc

Use the official Utah child support resources and worksheet pathway at [orscsc.dhs.utah.gov](https://orscsc.dhs.utah.gov). Run parallel scenarios on TheLegalCalc's [Utah Child Support Calculator](/child-support-calculator/utah) — especially overnight counts just below and just above 91 nights — so you see how the 25% threshold changes the transfer.

Bring three facts to any consult: each parent's monthly gross under § 81-6-203, the overnight count you can prove, and whether present-family children affect available income. Cite § 81-6, not § 78B-12, in your notes.