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When the parent required to pay child support does not meet that obligation, debts can pile up that may still be enforceable even after the children reach adulthood. Utah law sets specific deadlines for claiming overdue payments and provides legal mechanisms that can extend the collection period.
Section 78B-5-202 of the Utah Code sets how long a court judgment can be enforced, when it can be renewed, and what measures can be taken against the debtor parent’s real estate.
What are the legal deadlines for claiming overdue child support payments?
In Utah, child support debt can be claimed within two legal deadlines, as provided in Section 78B-5-202, which is part of Chapter 5: Judgments, Orders, and Appeals of Title 78B (Utah Judicial Code).
On the one hand, the law allows payment to be enforced up to four years after the child reaches adulthood. On the other, it also sets an eight-year period from the date a court enters a judgment establishing the exact amount of the accumulated debt.
The law says the longer period applies. In addition, judgments setting a specific debt amount can be renewed to extend their term.
Once the legal deadlines to claim overdue child support have passed, the ability to enforce the judgment is lost and, therefore, so is the ability to collect payment.
How long is a court judgment valid in Utah?
Utah law says court judgments are generally valid for eight years from the date they are entered by a court.
During that period, the person in whose favor the judgment was entered may seek to enforce it. However, the deadline can change if:
- The debt is paid.
- A court renews the judgment.
- Enforcement is suspended under the law.
What happens when a judgment is renewed?
Renewal extends the period during which a judgment can be enforced. For child support debt, Section 78B-5-202 expressly allows this when there is a judgment establishing a fixed amount of overdue payments.
Renewal has three main effects:
- It preserves the original date: the judgment keeps the date it was first entered as the reference point.
- It preserves collection priority: it does not lose its standing against other claims because it was renewed.
- It starts a new legal period: unless there is a different legal or contractual provision, the period to begin court action based on that judgment starts over.
Renewal does not create a new obligation; it keeps alive the ability to enforce the judgment.
Collection measures: what happens if the person who owes child support has property in their name?
Utah law allows a court judgment to create a lien on the real property of the person who has a debt recognized by a court.
That means the creditor can obtain a legal claim on the debtor’s property to secure collection of the debt.
For the lien to take effect, the judgment or an abstract of it must be recorded with the county recorder’s office in the relevant county.