Domestic partnerships Utah couples hear about in other states do not exist here. Utah has no statewide domestic partnership or civil union registry, and state law refuses to give any non-marriage status the same legal effect as marriage. Unmarried partners are protected only by the documents they sign, a few narrow statutes, and, in Salt Lake City, a city-level mutual commitment registry.
Last updated: October 2026, reflecting Utah’s Title 81 Domestic Relations Code, the 2026 Uniform Health Care Decisions Act, and the May 5, 2027 cutoff for unsolemnized marriage petitions.
Key Takeaways
- Utah Code 81-2-102 says the state will not recognize or give legal effect to any status “substantially equivalent” to marriage, so there is no Utah domestic partnership registration.
- Salt Lake City runs a Mutual Commitment Registry for city residents. It costs $36, but it mainly helps employers and city facilities. It does not create state law rights.
- An unmarried partner inherits nothing under Utah intestacy law. A will, trust, beneficiary designations, or a joint deed must do that work.
- Under the new Utah health care decisions law, a partner you have lived with for at least one year ranks behind your adult children and parents as a default decision maker, unless you name your partner.
- Utah’s “unsolemnized marriage” route closes for good: no new petition may be filed on or after May 5, 2027.
- Contracts between partners are still enforceable. A cohabitation agreement is the closest thing Utah offers to a domestic partnership.
Does Utah Recognize Domestic Partnerships?
No. Utah does not register, recognize, or enforce domestic partnerships or civil unions at the state level. The controlling statute is Utah Code 81-2-102, the “Marriage recognition policy” in the Utah Domestic Relations Code. Subsection (1)(b) says that, apart from marriage, the state “will not recognize, enforce, or give legal effect to any law creating any legal status, rights, benefits, or duties that are substantially equivalent to those provided under Utah law” to married couples.
That sentence does two things. It means Utah has no domestic partnership registry of its own. And it means a domestic partnership or civil union formed in another state does not carry its marriage-like rights into Utah as a matter of state law. If you moved here from a state that offers domestic partnerships, do not assume that status still protects you.
The same section also contains the most useful sentence for unmarried couples. Subsection (2) says nothing in the policy “impairs any contract or other rights, benefits, or duties that are enforceable independently of this section.” In plain terms: Utah will not hand you a package of partnership rights, but it will enforce the rights you build yourself with contracts, deeds, and estate planning documents.
What About Same-Sex Couples in Utah?
Same-sex couples can marry in Utah, and that marriage carries every right any other marriage does. Utah voters adopted Amendment 3 in 2004, limiting marriage to a man and a woman. The federal courts struck that limit down in Kitchen v. Herbert (10th Cir. 2014), and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges made same-sex marriage the law nationwide. The federal Respect for Marriage Act of 2022 added a statutory requirement that states recognize valid marriages performed in other states.
So the domestic partnership question in Utah today is not really about same-sex couples. It is about any couple, of any sex, who lives together without marrying. That group gets no automatic status, which is why the planning sections below matter. If you are a same-sex couple ending a marriage, our article on LGBTQ divorce considerations covers issues specific to that situation.
What Is the Salt Lake City Mutual Commitment Registry?
The closest thing to domestic partnerships Utah residents can register is Salt Lake City’s Mutual Commitment Registry, run by the City Recorder’s Office. According to the city, the registry “creates a way for Salt Lake City to recognize relationships of mutual commitment, support, and caring.”
Who qualifies
Per the city’s published requirements, registrants must be each other’s sole partner, be over 18, be competent to contract, and share a primary residence inside Salt Lake City’s municipal boundaries. The city states it can offer the registry only to city residents “due to state law,” and refers couples elsewhere to their own municipality or Salt Lake County.
What you must prove
Applicants provide documents showing at least three of these five:
- A joint loan obligation, mortgage, lease, or jointly owned vehicle.
- A life insurance policy, retirement account, or will naming one partner as the other’s beneficiary, or a will naming the other as executor.
- A mutually granted power of attorney for health care or financial management.
- Proof that one partner is authorized to sign on the other’s bank or credit account.
- Proof of a joint bank or credit account.
You sign the declaration at the Recorder’s Office, 451 South State Street, Room 415, by appointment, and pay a $36 fee. A notary is available on site. Each partner receives a Certificate of Mutual Commitment.
What it actually does
The city lists three effects: employers may use it, voluntarily, to decide who qualifies for partner benefits; it gives registrants health care visitation at Salt Lake City health care facilities; and it gives access to city-owned facilities, such as recreation centers, on the same terms as a spouse. The city also answers “No” to whether the ordinance requires businesses to offer partner benefits.
Notice what is missing. The certificate does not make your partner an heir, does not create property rights, does not give your partner authority over your finances, and does not change your taxes. Ironically, the documents the registry asks you to bring are the documents that do the real protective work.
What Rights Does an Unmarried Partner Have in Utah?
Very few by default. The table below compares a married spouse with an unmarried partner under Utah law, and shows what fixes each gap.
| Issue | Married spouse | Unmarried partner | How partners close the gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inheritance with no will | Inherits under Utah Code 75-2-102 | Inherits nothing | Will, living trust, beneficiary designations |
| Health care decisions if you cannot decide | Second priority default surrogate | Fourth priority, only after one year living together | Name your partner in an advance directive |
| Financial authority if you are incapacitated | None automatic, but often a guardianship candidate | None | Durable financial power of attorney |
| The home you share | Divided by a court in divorce | Follows the deed | Joint tenancy deed or a trust |
| Support after a breakup | Alimony possible under Title 81 | None by statute | Cohabitation agreement |
| Protective orders | Available as a cohabitant | Available as a cohabitant | No gap |
Inheritance
Utah’s intestate succession rules give a surviving spouse a share of the estate under Section 75-2-102. The order after a spouse runs to descendants, then parents, then other relatives. A partner is not on that list at any point. Without a will or trust, a partner of 20 years can watch the estate pass to a parent or a sibling the deceased barely spoke to. Our guide on who inherits your estate when you do not have children walks through that order in detail.
Health care decisions
Utah’s new health care decisions law, effective January 1, 2026, is the one place a partner appears in the statute. Utah Code 75A-9-111 lists who may act as a “default surrogate” for someone who cannot make health care decisions and has no agent or guardian. The order is:
- An adult the person identified to make the decision.
- The spouse.
- An adult child or parent.
- The cohabitant.
- An adult sibling, then grandchildren or grandparents, and others after that.
Section 75A-9-101 defines a “cohabitant” as each of two people “who have been living together as a couple for at least one year” as adults and who are not married to each other. So a partner of eleven months is not a cohabitant at all. A partner of ten years ranks behind your parents and your adult children, and if several people in the top class disagree, Section 75A-9-112 tells the provider to follow the majority of that class. The fix is simple: name your partner in an advance health care directive. Our guide to the Utah advance health care directive form explains the new form.
Protective orders
This is the one area where marriage makes no difference. Utah’s cohabitant abuse protective order statutes, in Title 78B Chapter 7, define “cohabitant” broadly enough to include current and former partners who lived together or were in a consensual sexual relationship. An unmarried partner can seek protection on the same footing as a spouse.
What Is an Unsolemnized Marriage in Utah, and Why Does May 5, 2027 Matter?
Utah does not use the phrase “common law marriage,” but it has had a close cousin. Utah Code 81-2-408 lets a court validate a marriage that was never solemnized if the relationship arises out of a contract between two people who:
- are of legal age and capable of consent;
- are legally capable of entering a solemnized marriage;
- have cohabited;
- mutually assume marital rights, duties, and obligations; and
- hold themselves out as, and have acquired a uniform and general reputation as, spouses.
The petition must be filed during the relationship or within one year after it ends. A court order under this section turns the relationship into a legal marriage, with every right that follows, including property division and alimony on a breakup and spousal inheritance on a death.
“On and after May 5, 2027, an individual may not file a petition” to validate an unsolemnized marriage.
Utah Code 81-2-408(4), as amended by Chapter 347, 2026 General Session
That 2026 amendment sunsets the whole route. If you have lived as spouses without a ceremony and might ever need the law to treat you as married, the decision point is now, not after a death or a breakup. After May 4, 2027, the only way to get marital rights in Utah is a marriage license and a ceremony.
How Do Unmarried Partners Protect Each Other in Utah?
Because the state offers no domestic partnership package, partners assemble their own. These are the documents that do the work, roughly in order of how much damage their absence causes.
1. A will or a living trust
This is the only way a partner inherits. A revocable living trust has the added benefit of keeping assets out of probate, which matters when relatives might contest a partner’s share. See our guide on how to keep your home out of probate.
2. Beneficiary designations
Life insurance, 401(k)s, IRAs, and bank accounts with payable-on-death designations pass by the form, not the will. Check every one. A designation naming a former spouse or a parent will beat a will that names your partner.
3. An advance health care directive
Naming your partner as your health care agent moves them from fourth in line to first, and it avoids the one-year cohabitant threshold entirely.
4. A durable financial power of attorney
No statute gives an unmarried partner authority over your accounts or bills if you are incapacitated. Without a power of attorney, the alternative is a court conservatorship.
5. How you title the house
If only one name is on the deed, the home belongs to that person, no matter who paid the mortgage. A deed to both partners as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship passes the home to the survivor outside probate. Titling has tax and creditor consequences, so get advice before you record a new deed.
6. A cohabitation agreement
This is a contract that says who owns what, how shared expenses work, what happens to the home, and whether anyone owes support if the relationship ends. Utah courts do not divide property between unmarried partners the way they do in a divorce, so without a written agreement, a breakup turns on deeds, account titles, and whatever can be proven about contracts. Section 81-2-102(2) preserves these contract rights. A cohabitation agreement works much like a prenup, which we discuss in the benefits of a prenuptial agreement.
Many of these same tools appear in our guide to estate planning for childless couples, which is useful reading for partners with no children.
Domestic Partnerships Utah: Common Mistakes
- Assuming another state’s domestic partnership still works here. Under 81-2-102, Utah will not give it marriage-like effect.
- Treating the Salt Lake City certificate as legal protection. It helps with employer benefits and city facilities. It does not make anyone an heir.
- Relying on the cohabitant surrogate rule. It requires a full year of living together and still ranks behind parents and adult children.
- Letting old beneficiary forms stand. They override your will.
- Waiting on an unsolemnized marriage petition. The filing window closes May 5, 2027, and it already requires filing within a year after a relationship ends.
- Buying a home in one name “for now.” The deed controls. A partner who paid half can be left with a lawsuit instead of a house.
Frequently Asked Questions About Domestic Partnerships in Utah
Can you register a domestic partnership in Utah?
No. Utah has no statewide domestic partnership or civil union registry. Utah Code 81-2-102 bars the state from giving legal effect to any status substantially equivalent to marriage. Salt Lake City residents can join the city’s Mutual Commitment Registry, which is a city program only.
Does Utah recognize a domestic partnership from another state?
Not as a marriage-like status. Utah Code 81-2-102 says Utah will not recognize or enforce any status giving rights substantially equivalent to marriage. Contracts and other rights that are enforceable on their own, such as a will or a deed, still work.
How much does the Salt Lake City Mutual Commitment Registry cost?
The city charges a $36 registration fee. Both partners must be over 18, competent to contract, each other’s sole partner, and share a primary residence in Salt Lake City, and must document three of five listed financial or legal ties.
Does Utah have common law marriage?
Utah allows a court to validate an “unsolemnized marriage” under Utah Code 81-2-408 if five conditions are met, including cohabiting and holding yourselves out as spouses. No new petition may be filed on or after May 5, 2027.
Can my unmarried partner inherit from me in Utah?
Only if you plan for it. Utah intestacy law gives nothing to an unmarried partner. A will, a living trust, beneficiary designations, or a joint tenancy deed are the ways a partner receives property at your death.
Can my partner make medical decisions for me in Utah?
Possibly, but not first. Under Utah Code 75A-9-111, a cohabitant of at least one year ranks behind a spouse, adult children, and parents. Naming your partner in an advance health care directive puts them first.
What is a cohabitation agreement in Utah?
It is a written contract between unmarried partners covering property, shared expenses, the home, and what happens if the relationship ends. Utah Code 81-2-102(2) preserves contract rights, so a properly drafted agreement is enforceable like any other contract.
Do unmarried partners in Utah get alimony?
No statute provides it. Alimony under Title 81 follows a divorce. An unmarried partner’s only routes are a written agreement or, before May 5, 2027, a court order validating an unsolemnized marriage.
Living together without marrying, or moving to Utah with a domestic partnership from another state? The right will, trust, directive, and deed protect your partner in ways the law does not.
Contact Jeremy Eveland or call (801) 613-1472. Learn more about our Utah estate planning attorney services.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Salt Lake City registry details are taken from the city’s website and can change.
