Probate Family Allowance Requirements in Utah

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Three bundled allowances for a Utah domiciliary

Part 4 applies only when the decedent died domiciled in Utah. For a nonresident, the law of the decedent's domicile governs homestead, exempt-property, and family allowance rights.

For a 2026 death, the official annual table sets the homestead allowance at $33,700. The surviving spouse receives it; if there is no spouse, the amount is divided equally among the decedent's minor and dependent children.

The exempt-property right is $22,500 in net value for a 2026 death. It covers household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects. If those items do not reach the cap after security interests, other estate assets may make up the deficiency. The spouse receives this right, or, if no spouse survives, the children receive it jointly.

The annual figures follow the decedent's year of death, not the year in which someone requests payment. Section 75-1-110 adjusts the statutory bases using the prior calendar year's CPI and sets the monthly § 75-2-405 figure by dividing the adjusted lump sum by 12.

Reasonable maintenance and who qualifies

The family allowance is money from the estate for maintenance during administration. It covers the surviving spouse, a minor child whom the decedent was obligated to support, and a child whom the decedent was actually supporting. Utah Code § 75-1-201(33) defines a minor as a person under 18. Actual support is an alternative route, so § 75-2-404 does not confine that category to minors.

For a 2026 death, the personal representative may determine a lump sum up to $40,500 or installments up to $3,375 per month for one year. The allowance must be reasonable. A court petition may seek a different allowance from the one the representative set—or could have set.

If the estate cannot discharge allowed claims, the allowance may not continue beyond one year. Otherwise, § 75-2-404 ties the underlying right to the period of administration, while § 75-2-405 limits the representative's own installment authority to one year. The statutes state no separate calendar deadline for requesting the allowance. A claimant's death ends the right to amounts not yet paid.

Representative determination or court petition

A court order is not the only route. The personal representative may determine and disburse a family allowance within the indexed ceiling. The representative may also make homestead or exempt-property selections if the spouse, children, or minor children's guardians cannot or do not act within a reasonable time.

An aggrieved personal representative or interested person may petition about a selection, determination, payment, proposed payment, or failure to act. Title 75 defines a petition as a written request for an order after notice. In an estate proceeding, §§ 75-1-401 and -403 ordinarily require notice to interested persons at least 10 days before the hearing and proof of notice filed by the hearing. Section 75-1-309 deems a filed petition to carry an oath, affirmation, or truth statement; Part 4 does not separately require notarization or an attachment list.

Payment, claim priority, and inheritance effect

The family allowance may be a lump sum or installments. If the spouse is living, payment ordinarily goes to the spouse for the spouse and qualifying children. If no spouse is living, it goes to the children or their caregivers. When a child does not live with the spouse, payment may be divided between the spouse and the child, guardian, or caregiver according to need.

The homestead allowance has priority over every estate claim. The family allowance is next: it has priority over all claims except the homestead allowance. Exempt-property rights also have claims priority, but assets used to make up an exempt-property deficiency abate as necessary to permit earlier homestead and family-allowance payment.

Unless the will or other governing instrument says otherwise, each allowance is charged against benefits passing to the recipient by will, intestacy, elective share, or covered nonprobate transfer. Utah Code § 75-2-202(3) makes the spouse's three allowances part of, rather than additions to, the elective-share amounts.

Written spouse waiver

A surviving spouse may waive all or part of the family, homestead, or exempt-property rights before or after marriage through a written contract, agreement, or waiver signed by that spouse. The spouse may defeat enforcement by proving involuntary execution or the statute's combined unconscionability and financial-disclosure conditions. Unless it says otherwise, an “all rights” waiver or a complete separation or divorce property settlement reaches all three allowances.

What trips people up

• The printed code figures are statutory bases. For a 2026 death, use the official adjusted amounts: $33,700, $22,500, and $40,500—not the $22,500, $15,000, and $27,000 figures printed in Part 4.
• One year has two different functions. It always limits the personal representative's installment authority and also limits the underlying allowance when the estate is inadequate to pay allowed claims.
• A spouse does not exclude every child from family maintenance. The no-surviving-spouse condition belongs to the homestead and exempt-property distribution rules; § 75-2-404 may support qualifying children while a spouse survives.
• Priority does not make the allowances extra inheritance. Unless the governing instrument changes the result, they are charged against the recipient's succession, elective-share, or covered nonprobate benefits.

Common questions

Must the family file a court petition first?

Not necessarily. The personal representative may determine and pay an allowance within the indexed ceiling. Court relief is available to an aggrieved representative or interested person.

Can an actually supported adult child qualify?

Potentially. Section 75-2-404 separately names children whom the decedent was in fact supporting; that clause does not state a minor-age limit.

Who receives payment if a child does not live with the spouse?

The allowance may be split between the spouse and the child, guardian, or other caregiver according to their needs.

Does the spouse keep unpaid installments after death?

No. The claimant's death terminates the right to family-allowance amounts not yet paid.

Statutes and sources

• Utah Code §§ 75-2-401 to -405 — domicile, the three allowance rights, eligibility, payment, priority, duration, representative authority, and court relief. Official Utah Code Part 4 PDF (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Utah Code § 75-1-110 — annual CPI adjustment, rounding, monthly calculation, and the annual publication duty; §§ 75-1-201, 75-1-309, and 75-1-401 to -403 — minor and petition definitions, filed-document truth statement, notice, hearing, and proof. Official Utah Code Chapter 1 PDF (accessed 2026-08-17).
• Utah Courts, Estate Consumer Price Index — official 2026 death-year amounts: $33,700 under § 75-2-402, $22,500 under § 75-2-403, and $40,500 under § 75-2-405. Official annual table (accessed 2026-08-17).
• Utah Code §§ 75-2-202 and 75-2-213 — elective-share credit and signed spouse-waiver rules. Official Utah Code Part 2 PDF (accessed 2026-08-03).