Utah Courts
URCP Rule 101 (Rules of Civil Procedure)
URCP Rule 101 (Rules of Civil Procedure)
Rule 101. Motion practice before court commissioners.
(a) Written motion required. An application to a court commissioner for an order must be by motion which, unless made during a hearing, must be made in accordance with this rule.
(1) A motion must be in writing and state succinctly and with particularity the relief sought and the grounds for the relief sought. Any evidence necessary to support the moving party's position must be presented by way of one or more affidavits or declarations or other admissible evidence. The motion may also include a supporting memorandum.
(2)All motions must provide the bilingual Notice to Responding Party approved by the Judicial Council.
(3) Each motion to a court commissioner must include the following caution language at the top right corner of the first page, in bold type: This motion will be decided by the court commissioner at an upcoming hearing. If you do not appear at the hearing, the Court might make a decision against you without your input. In addition, you may file a written response at least 14 days before the hearing.
(4) Failure to provide the bilingual Notice to Responding Party or to include the caution language may provide the non-moving party with a basis under Rule 60(b) for excusable neglect to set aside any resulting order or judgment.
(b) Time to file and serve. The moving party must file the motion and any supporting papers with the clerk of the court and obtain a hearing date and time. The moving party must serve the responding party with the motion and supporting papers, together with notice of the hearing at least 28 days before the hearing. If service is more than 90 days after the date of entry of the most recent appealable order, service may not be made through counsel.
(c) Response. Any other party may file a response, consisting of any responsive memorandum, affidavit(s) or declaration(s). The response must be filed and served on the moving party at least 14 days before the hearing.
(d) Reply. The moving party may file a reply, consisting of any reply memorandum, affidavit(s) or declaration(s). The reply must be filed and served on the responding party at least 7 days before the hearing. The contents of the reply must be limited to rebuttal of new matters raised in the response to the motion.
(e) Counter motion. Responding to a motion is not sufficient to grant relief to the responding party. A responding party may request affirmative relief by way of a counter motion. A counter motion need not be limited to the subject matter of the original motion. All of the provisions of this rule apply to counter motions except that a counter motion must be filed and served with the response. Any response to the counter motion must be filed and served no later than the reply to the motion. Any reply to the response to the counter motion must be filed and served at least 3 business days before the hearing. The reply must be served in a manner that will cause the reply to be actually received by the party responding to the counter motion (i.e. hand-delivery, fax or other electronic delivery as allowed by rule or agreed by the parties) at least 3 business days before the hearing. A separate notice of hearing on counter motions is not required.
(f) Necessary documentation. Motions and responses regarding temporary orders concerning alimony, child support, division of debts, possession or disposition of assets, or litigation expenses, must be accompanied by verified financial declarations with documentary income verification attached as exhibits, unless financial declarations and documentation are already in the court's file and remain current. Attachments for motions and responses regarding child support and child custody must also include a child support worksheet.
(g) No other papers. No moving or responding papers other than those specified in this rule are permitted.
(h) Exhibits; objection to failure to attach.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (h)(3) of this rule, any documents such as tax returns, bank statements, receipts, photographs, correspondence, calendars, medical records, forms, or photographs must be supplied to the court as exhibits to one or more affidavits (as appropriate) establishing the necessary foundational requirements. Copies of court papers such as decrees, orders, minute entries, motions, or affidavits, already in the court's case file, may not be filed as exhibits. Court papers from cases other than that before the court, such as protective orders, prior divorce decrees, criminal orders, information or dockets, and juvenile court orders (to the extent the law does not prohibit their filing), may be submitted as exhibits.
(2) If papers or exhibits referred to in a motion or necessary to support the moving party’s position are not served with the motion, the responding party may file and serve an objection to the defect with the response. If papers or exhibits referred to in the response or necessary to support the responding party’s position are not served with the response, the moving party may file and serve an objection to the defect with the reply. The defect must be cured within 2 business days after notice of the defect or at least 3 business days before the hearing, whichever is earlier.
(3) Voluminous exhibits which cannot conveniently be examined in court may not be filed as exhibits, but the contents of such documents may be presented in the form of a summary, chart or calculation under Rule 1006 of the Utah Rules of Evidence. Unless they have been previously supplied through discovery or otherwise and are readily identifiable, copies of any such voluminous documents must be supplied to the other parties at the time of the filing of the summary, chart or calculation. The originals or duplicates of the documents must be available at the hearing for examination by the parties and the commissioner. Collections of documents, such as bank statements, checks, receipts, medical records, photographs, e-mails, calendars and journal entries that collectively exceed ten pages in length must be presented in summary form. Individual documents with specific legal significance, such as tax returns, appraisals, financial statements and reports prepared by an accountant, wills, trust documents, contracts, or settlement agreements must be submitted in their entirety.
(i) Length. Initial and responding memoranda may not exceed 10 pages of argument without leave of the court. Reply memoranda may not exceed 5 pages of argument without leave of the court. The total number of pages submitted to the court by each party may not exceed 25 pages, including affidavits, attachments and summaries, but excluding financial declarations and income verification. The court commissioner may permit the party to file an over-length memorandum upon ex parte application and showing of good cause.
(j) Late filings; sanctions. If a party files or serves papers beyond the time required in this rule, the court commissioner may hold or continue the hearing, reject the papers, impose costs and attorney fees caused by the failure and by the continuance, and impose other sanctions as appropriate.
(k) Limit on order to show cause. An application to the court for an order to show cause may be made only for enforcement of an existing order or for sanctions for violating an existing order. An application for an order to show cause must be supported by affidavit or other evidence sufficient to show cause to believe a party has violated a court order.
(l) Hearings.
(1) The court commissioner may not hold a hearing on a motion for temporary orders before the deadline for an appearance by the respondent under Rule 12.
(2) Unless the court commissioner specifically requires otherwise, when the statement of a person is set forth in an affidavit, declaration or other document accepted by the commissioner, that person need not be present at the hearing. The statements of any person not set forth in an affidavit, declaration or other acceptable document may not be presented by proffer unless the person is present at the hearing and the commissioner finds that fairness requires its admission.
(m) Motions to judge. The following motions must be to the judge to whom the case is assigned: motion for alternative service; motion to waive 30-day waiting period; motion to waive divorce education class; motion for leave to withdraw after a case has been certified as ready for trial; and motions in limine. A court may provide that other motions be considered by the judge.
(n) Objection to court commissioner's recommendation. A recommendation of a court commissioner is the order of the court until modified by the court. A party may object to the recommendation by filing an objection under Rule 108.
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