In Utah, all other things being equal (meaning that the Decree of Divorce generally follows the statutory provisions regarding child custody and parent-time as found in Sections 30-3-10 through 30-3-10.9 and 30-3-32 through 30-3-40, U.C.A.), pursuant to Section 30-3-37, U.C.A. you can request a hearing, even an expedited hearing (see subsection (12)) before the court to review the parent-time order.

A more aggressive option is to file a petition to modify your decree of divorce. The court will look at the factors found in the statutes cited above, as well as the factors found in Rule 4-903, Uniform custody evaluations, Rules of Judicial Administration, especially subsection (5).

A noncustodial parent must marshal significant facts to overcome the status quo of the existing ordered custody arrangement. Oft times the noncustodial parent will have to engage an expert witness in the form of a custody evaluator, which is considered quite costly to most parents. If the facts and circumstances are right and the noncustodial parent can gather enough evidence/facts (witnesses, documents, other experts), a custody evaluation is not always necessary. However, if a parent decides to proceed without a custody evaluation because of expense, that saved expense is often then expended on the lawyer having to prepare all the evidence for presentation to the court at trial that the custody evaluator would otherwise have considered and included in the custody evaluation report. Another benefit to a custody evaluation is that it often leads to the parties to settlement without having to go to trial. This is not to say that a custody evaluation is always the best way to go for a parent, but is an option to be carefully considered by a parent with their lawyer before deciding whether or not to take that course of action.

To summarize, a parent in Utah has two options to protect their visitation rights, request a hearing before the court by motion or petition the court to modify the existing court orders regarding custody and parent-time.