Bills would allow Utah judges to consider fault when awarding alimony

SALT LAKE CITY — Moms or dads wishing to remain stay-at-home parents after a divorce could be awarded extra alimony, under a bill sponsored by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem.

A judge would be required to consider whether the custodial spouse was a stay-at-home parent during the marriage, HB231 says. If the judge determined the stay-at-home spouse wasn't "at fault" in the divorce, that spouse could potentially be awarded enough alimony to keep him or her from having to support themselves.

The proposal takes a the opposite approach of another bill in the Senate that seeks to wean a divorced spouse off of alimony.

But the tricky part, Sandstrom said of drafting his bill is in defining fault. He's going to attempt to list elements that could contribute to one spouse being the guilty party, such as a "proven addiction," he said, which could include pornography, gambling or a myriad of other vices.

Utah currently has a no-fault divorce policy, meaning a divorce can be granted without proving fault or guilt of either party.

Sandstrom's bill, which he drafted after talking to a constituent who went through a difficult divorce, would also allow divorced parents to be more flexible with visitation time to accommodate religious observances.

If both parents agreed, the non-custodial parent could give some of their court-ordered visitation time to the custodial parent so the custodial parent could take the kids to church or another religious activity, Sandstrom said. The reciprocal time would be given back to the non-custodial parent.

As for how Sandstrom sees his dual-purpose bill being received by the Legislature, "I think there will be a fight."

Sandstrom will be up against another alimony bill that would require recipients of more than $1,000 of monthly for a period of five years or more to establish a plan of self-sufficiency.

Sponsoring Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Layton, said he's seen situations in his more than 40 years in family law where one spouse has become wholly dependent on alimony. "The wife should not be so dependent on her husband," he said.

Once their alimony ends, Hillyard said he would hear women tell their judge, "I don't have any money. I don't have any skills. I want the alimony to continue."