To learn more about the adult guardianship process, see the Utah State Courts' YouTube video on Guardianship of an Adult.

More video transcripts will be added as they become available.

• Child Custody Modification, which provides an overview of modification, how to use the forms, and how to calculate child support amounts.
• Financial Declaration, which describes the form and required attachments.
• Default Judgments, which describes when a default judgment can be requested.
• Disclosure and Discovery, which provides general information about the process.

El sitio de los Tribunales de Utah ha traducido varias páginas en Español, incluyendo:

• Modificación a la Orden de Manutención de los Hijos, que ofrece información acerca del proceso de modificación, cómo utilizar los formularios, y cómo calcular la manutención de los hijos.
• Declaración Financiera, que describe el formulario y los anexos requeridos.
• Fallos por incumplimientos, que describe cuando unfallo por incumplimiento puede ser solicitado.
• Divulgación y intercambio de pruebas, que proporciona información general sobre el proceso.

You can find all the courts' Spanish resources online here.

Usted puede encontrar todos los recursos en Español de los Tribunales de Utah aquí.

The Utah State Law Library offers free forms help every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:30 to 4:30 through the end of July.

Our volunteer helps people with the Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) and other forms, including modification and enforcement of child support, child custody and parent-time, expungement, and name change.

While our volunteer can't tell you what words you should use, or advise you about the best way to get results, she can explain what information the form is asking for. Uncomfortable using a computer? She can type in your answers for you.

Contact us at 801-238-7990 or library@utcourts.gov to schedule a 30 minute appointment.

Those seeking information about how expungements or outstanding warrants may affect employment can visit the LDS Employment Center on the first Thursday of each month for brief, one-on-one advise at the Employment Law Free Clinic.

The LDS Employment Center is located at 730 West 800 South. The clinic is from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Attendees should arrive no later than 6:30.

The Employment Law Free Clinic is hosted by the Pro Bono Initiative, which says about their clinics:

Find a complete list of clinics throughout Utah and other legal self-help resources at the Utah State Courts Self-Help page.

On May 19 support everyone's access to justice by participating in the Law Day 5k Run and Walk. The race starts at the Quinney Law Library and winds through the University of Utah campus.

The $25 entry fee raises funds for And Justice for All, which provides legal aid to low income and disabled Utahns. The 5k is open to walkers, runners, strollers, and anyone who wants to try the course or be a spectator.

Register online, or on the day of the race from 7:00am to 7:45am.

An order to show cause is filed when a party seeks to enforce a previously established court order or decree. The main objective of the show cause hearing is to get the party who is not following the court’s order to do so. If a party is able to do what the court has ordered and does not, the court can also impose penalties, including, in extreme circumstances, a fine and time in jail.

Procedures for filing an order to show cause are similar around the state, but there are some differences. Motions for orders to show cause in Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4 will be determined initially by a court commissioner and parties should follow Rule of Civil Procedure 101. Motions for orders to show cause in Districts 5, 6, 7 and 8 will be determined by a judge. Parties in the Fifth District should follow Code of Judicial Administration Rule 10-1-50-1. Orders to show cause are filed in the same district where the original order or decree was entered.

For more information, and to access the forms, visit the Motion to Enforce Domestic Orders page.

Note that a certificate of service is filed with the court, but normally the parties will not file the financial declaration and attachments with the court until the documents are needed. For example, the documents will be needed by the court before any pretrial conference or trial. They will also be needed if a party asks for a temporary order. For information about asking the court for a temporary order, go here.

Read more about the financial declaration, including required attachments, time for disclosure, and sanctions for failure to disclose required information here.

To request a custody evaluator, file a motion with the court. Motion forms are available online here.

Custody evaluations and evaluators are governed by Rule 4-903 of the Code of Judicial Administration.

Utah will be celebrating Pro Bono Week with a variety of activities, including free legal clinics for the public, a movie night, a Pro Bono social and a Pro Bono Jam concert.

On Tuesday, October 25, there will be a "Legal Clinic Blitz." In addition to the regularly-held Street Law Legal Clinic in Salt Lake City and Talk to a Lawyer Clinic in St. George, there will be a free legal clinic in Orem on the fourth floor of the UVU Library from 6:00-8:30 pm.

Library staff feel terrible when patrons tell us they paid hundreds of dollars for divorce papers when we know they could have completed the paperwork using the courts' website. We feel even worse when they are told that their papers aren't sufficient. Before you pay for online forms, check our website to see whether a free, court-approved form is available.

Some of the forms provided on our website are fill-in-the-blank. You can either print a PDF version and neatly handwrite the information, or you can use the Word (in some cases WordPerfect) version and type the information. Remember, however, that there is not a form available for every situation. You may have to draft your own pleadings.

Our website also offers the Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP), which guides you through a series of questions and generates a packet of papers that you file with the court. While there is a $20 fee to file papers generated with the program, OCAP is otherwise free to use and is designed to be user-friendly. OCAP is available for these common court case types:

• Divorce
  
• Parentage (child custody, support and visitation, and paternity issues, but not as part of a divorce case)
  
• Landlord-tenant (for both the landlord starting eviction proceedings, and the tenant responding to an eviction case)
  
• Guardianship of a minor
  
• Protective orders
  
• Civil stalking

Helpful Resources

See Form 1, Caption & Signature Block, for the format for the top and bottom portions of a court pleading.

]]> http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/09/buyer_beware_do_your_research.html http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/09/buyer_beware_do_your_research.html Forms Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:39:11 -0700 The Utah State Courts' website has a new Satisfaction of Judgments web page.

A satisfaction of judgment means that a debtor has paid the entire amount of the judgment and all accumulated fees, costs and interest, or that the creditor has decided not to pursue further collection efforts.

There are forms available for the creditor to acknowledge satisfaction of judgment and for the debtor to ask the court to declare a judgment has been satisfied. Each section of forms comes with a checklist, which may answer some of your questions about these forms.

Need help filling out a court form? Talk to an attorney or visit a free legal clinic near you.

]]> http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/06/satisfaction_of_judgment_forms.html http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/06/satisfaction_of_judgment_forms.html Forms Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:12:37 -0700 A new Judicial Recognition of a Relationship as Marriage page is now available on the Utah State Courts' website.

This process is commonly referred to as "common law marriage," and is the recognition by the courts that a relationship is a marriage even though no wedding ceremony -- religious or civil -- took place.

The page includes an explanation of the conditions that have to be met to qualify, reasons why you might want to ask the court for the determination, and the effect of this determination. The page provides forms for cases in which there is no dispute expected.

If you need help filling out forms, consider hiring an attorney or speaking to a lawyer at a free legal clinic.

]]> http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/04/new_common_law_marriage_page_a.html http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/04/new_common_law_marriage_page_a.html Forms Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:16:05 -0700 Here is the list of free classes the Utah State Law Library is offering in April:

Small Claims Basics
Thursday, April 7th, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Collecting a Judgment Basics
Thursday, April 14th, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Court Website & State Law Library Basics
Friday, April 15th, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Landlord-Tenant Basics
Thursday, April 21st, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

All classes are held in the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City.

Class size is limited, so registration is required. To reserve your spot:
call 801-238-7990 or email library@email.utcourts.gov.

Please Be Prompt!
As a courtesy to our volunteer instructors, please be on time. Classes may be canceled if students are not present at the scheduled start time.

]]> http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/03/april_classes_1.html http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/03/april_classes_1.html Classes & Tours Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:29:37 -0700
Not able to find someone to serve them, even after you've tried some of the suggestions on the courts' Finding People for Service of Process page?

The Utah State Courts' website now provides forms for asking the court to allow you to serve someone by alternative service. These forms include options for newer ways to notify someone about a court action against them, including electronic means (such as email), or social media (such as Facebook).

If you need help filling out forms, consider hiring an attorney or speaking to a lawyer at a free legal clinic.

]]> http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/03/new_web_page_and_forms_alterna.html http://www.utcourts.gov/lawlibrary/blog/2011/03/new_web_page_and_forms_alterna.html Forms Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:18:52 -0700