Travel, custody and relocation in Utah

The passport rules are federal and read the same everywhere. This page is the other layer — what Utah law and Utah’s own court forms say about taking your child on a trip, moving, and who holds the passport between journeys.

See a different stateUtah
AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming
Read this alongside the federal rules

Getting a child’s passport, consent letters, the Hague Convention and what actually stops a departure are the same in all fifty states — they are on the main travel page. Start there, then come back here for the part that varies.

Custody jurisdictionUtah Code Title 81, ch. 11, “Uniform Child… Which state’s court may decide custody — and why a holiday elsewhere does not move it.
Abduction Prevention ActYesUtah Code Title 81, ch. 12, “Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act” (renumbered and amended by ch. 426, 2025 General Session)
Relocation notice60 days Utah Code § 81-9-209, “Notice of relocation — Effect of relocation on parent-time schedule”
Triggered by150 miles or more from the residence of the other… 150 miles or more from the residence of the other parent

Which court decides — and why a trip does not change it

Utah custody jurisdiction sits under Utah Code Title 81, ch. 11, “Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act” (renumbered from Utah Code ch. 78B-13 effective 9/1/2025). The home-state definition is at Utah Code § 81-11-102 (definitions; former § 78B-13-102(7)). The practical point for travel is this: a child’s home state is where they lived for six consecutive months before a case started, and a temporary absence counts toward that period. A summer with grandparents in another state does not start a clock there, and it does not let the other parent file somewhere new.

Abduction-prevention powers

Utah has enacted the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act at Utah Code Title 81, ch. 12, “Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act” (renumbered and amended by ch. 426, 2025 General Session). Utah Code § 81-12-107 (“Provisions and measures to prevent abduction”) lets the court impose “an imposition of travel restrictions that require that a party traveling with the minor child outside a designated geographical area provide the other party with the following: (i) the travel itinerary of the minor child; … (iii) copies of all travel documents”; and, “with regard to the minor child’s passport: (i) a direction that the petitioner place the minor child’s name in the United States Department of State’s Child Passport Issuance Alert Program; (ii) a requirement that the respondent surrender to the court or the petitioner’s attorney any United States or foreign passport issued in the minor child’s name, including a passport issued in the name of both the parent and the minor child; and (iii) a prohibition upon the respondent from applying on behalf of the minor child for a new or replacement passport or visa.” § 81-12-106 lists the abduction risk factors and § 81-12-108 provides an ex parte warrant to take physical custody of the child.

Moving, and how much warning you owe

§ 81-9-209(1): “As used in this section, ‘relocation’ means moving 150 miles or more from the residence of the other parent.” (2): “The relocating parent shall provide written notice to the other parent at least 60 days before the day on which the relocating parent intends to relocate.” (3): the notice must affirm that the § 81-9-209(9) parent-time provisions or a schedule agreed by both parties will be followed and that the parent will not interfere with the other’s court-ordered parent-time. (4)-(7): on motion of any party or the court’s own motion the court holds a hearing to review the notice, decide the parent-time schedule and allocate transportation costs; if the court finds relocation is not in the child’s best interest and the custodial parent relocates anyway, “the court may order a change of custody.” (9) sets a distinct post-relocation minimum schedule for a child five to 18: alternating fall break/Labor Day and the entire winter break in odd years; spring break/Presidents’ Day and Thanksgiving in even years; “extended parent-time equal to 1/2 of the summer or off-track time for consecutive weeks,” first half in odd-numbered years and second half in even-numbered years; and “one weekend per month, at the option and expense of the noncustodial parent.”

Relocation and vacation are different questions, and orders often treat them in the same paragraph. A trip is temporary; a move changes the child’s residence. Read your own order for which one your plan actually is before you assume the relocation rule does not apply.

What the standard order says about travel

Utah publishes a statewide parenting form or guideline — Statutory minimum parent-time schedules – Utah Code §§ 81-9-302 (child 5 to 18), 81-9-304 (child under 5), 81-9-305 (equal parent-time schedule), set out directly in statute. That matters, because its default wording is what lands in a lot of orders unchanged, and it is where your travel terms probably came from.

Utah puts the schedule in the statute. On extended (summer) parent-time and the notice that governs it, § 81-9-302(3)-(4): “(3)(b) For the four weeks of extended parent-time for a noncustodial parent under Subsection (3)(a): (i) two weeks shall be uninterrupted parent-time for the noncustodial parent; and (ii) two weeks may be interrupted by the custodial parent for a weekday visit on the same day on which the noncustodial parent is granted weekday day parent-time. (c) A custodial parent is entitled to uninterrupted parent-time with the minor child for two weeks when school is not in session for summer break, beginning at 8 a.m. on the first day and ending at 8:30 p.m. on the last day. (d) Extended parent-time described in this Subsection (3) shall be consecutive, except that the four weeks of extended parent-time for the noncustodial parent may be divided into two separate 14-day periods that are not consecutive. (4)(a) Each parent shall provide notification to the other parent of the parent’s plans for the exercise of extended parent-time for summer break under Subsection (3). (b) For the notification requirement described in Subsection (4)(a): (i) in odd-numbered years: (A) the noncustodial parent shall provide notice to the custodial parent by May 1; and (B) the custodial parent shall provide notice to the noncustodial parent by May 15; and (ii) in even-numbered years: (A) the custodial parent shall provide notice to the noncustodial parent by May 1; and (B) the noncustodial parent shall provide notice to the custodial parent by May 15. (c)(i) If a parent fails to provide a notification within the time periods described in Subsection (4)(b), the complying parent may determine the schedule for summer break for the noncomplying parent. (ii) If both parents fail to provide notice within the time periods described in Subsection (4)(b), the first parent to provide notice may determine the schedule for summer break for that parent and the other parent. (d) If a custodial parent intends to interrupt a noncustodial parent’s parent-time under Subsection (3)(b)(ii), the custodial parent shall provide notification to the noncustodial parent of the intent to interrupt parent-time within 10 days after the day on which the custodial parent receives notification of the noncustodial parent’s plans for the exercise of interrupted extended parent-time.” The statutory schedules contain no itinerary requirement, no out-of-state or out-of-country travel clause and no passport provision; those appear only in ch. 81-12 (UCAPA) once a credible risk of abduction is found.

Who holds the passport

Passports are addressed in Utah Code § 81-12-107(d) (UCAPA) and nowhere in the minimum parent-time schedules: Child Passport Issuance Alert Program enrollment, surrender to the court or the petitioner’s attorney of any U.S. or foreign passport issued in the child’s name (including a joint parent-and-child passport), a bar on applying for a new or replacement passport or visa, and a requirement to give the U.S. Department of State Office of Children’s Issues and the relevant foreign consulate or embassy an authenticated copy of the order detailing the passport and travel restrictions, plus an acknowledgment from that consulate or embassy that no passport application has been made on the child’s behalf. Absent such an order there is no Utah default on who holds the child’s passport.

What catches people out in Utah

Utah renumbered its entire domestic relations law into Title 81. The UCCJEA moved from ch. 78B-13 to Title 81 ch. 11 and UCAPA moved to Title 81 ch. 12, both renumbered effective 9/1/2025. The old 78B-13 chapter page is now essentially empty. Custody, parent-time and visitation are Title 81 ch. 9; the old Title 30 sections (30-3-35 and the like) are gone.
The relocation trigger is 150 miles – not 100, and not ‘out of state’. A move of 149 miles, or an out-of-state move of under 150 miles, does not trigger § 81-9-209 notice.
The May 1 / May 15 summer notice deadlines alternate by odd and even year between the custodial and noncustodial parent. Getting the year parity backwards forfeits the choice of summer dates to the other parent under § 81-9-302(4)(c).
§ 81-9-209(9) is a separate minimum schedule that applies after a relocation – it is not the same as the § 81-9-302 schedule that applied before the move.
le.utah.gov section pages render their text by JavaScript. The static, machine-readable text is at le.utah.gov/xcode/TitleNN/ChapterN/C<cite>_<version>.html, and le.utah.gov/searchCode.jsp?q=<cite> resolves a citation to its current version string.

Sources for this page

Sources we could not reach when this page was built, recorded so you know what is missing rather than assuming it was checked: https://www.uniformlaws.org – renders enactment data only via JavaScript; no JS renderer available in this environment

Every fact above is taken from the source linked beside it. Where a figure could not be confirmed from an official source, this page says so rather than printing a plausible number. Found an error? Tell us — it goes on the corrections page with the date.

Every state

ALAlabamaAKAlaskaAZArizonaARArkansasCACaliforniaCOColoradoCTConnecticutDEDelawareFLFloridaGAGeorgiaHIHawaiiIDIdahoILIllinoisINIndianaIAIowaKSKansasKYKentuckyLALouisianaMEMaineMDMarylandMAMassachusettsMIMichiganMNMinnesotaMSMississippiMOMissouriMTMontanaNENebraskaNVNevadaNHNew HampshireNJNew JerseyNMNew MexicoNYNew YorkNCNorth CarolinaNDNorth DakotaOHOhioOKOklahomaOROregonPAPennsylvaniaRIRhode IslandSCSouth CarolinaSDSouth DakotaTNTennesseeTXTexasUTUtahVTVermontVAVirginiaWAWashingtonWVWest VirginiaWIWisconsinWYWyoming
Sources last checked30 August 2026
Page published30 August 2026
What this means. This is when the sources on this page were last read against their originals — statutes, court rules, official schedules — taken from the date this page was built from its sources. It is not the date the page was last edited. Adding a link or fixing a typo does not move it; re-reading the statute does. Law changes without notice, so treat anything time-sensitive as needing a fresh check. Where we get something wrong we publish it at thecusp.app/corrections with the date, what changed, and how long the error was live.