Utah Surviving Spouse Rights

Utah law generally does not let a will leave a surviving spouse with nothing. Utah Code 75-2-202(1) gives the spouse of a person who died domiciled in Utah the right to elect one third of the augmented estate instead of taking under the will. It is a right that has to be exercised, and Utah Code 75-2-213 allows it to be waived by written agreement, so the protection is not automatic. The fraction is flat. It does not rise with the length of the marriage. The petition is due within nine months after the death or within six months after the will is probated, whichever limit expires later, under 75-2-211(1).

Three more protections sit beside the election, and a fourth applies only to couples who moved here from a community property state. Utah probate runs in the district court in all 29 counties, so the petition goes to the district court holding the estate file. This page describes Utah law broadly rather than advising on one estate, so confirm your own numbers and dates with that court or with a licensed Utah attorney.

The Elective Share Is a Flat One Third

Utah Code 75-2-202(1) states the whole rule in one sentence. The surviving spouse of a decedent who dies domiciled in Utah has a right of election to take an elective share amount equal to the value of one third of the augmented estate.

Read Part 2 of Title 75 Chapter 2 from front to back and you will not find a table keyed to how long the marriage lasted. A marriage of two years and a marriage of forty years produce the same fraction. What changes between those two marriages is the size of the pool the fraction applies to, because the augmented estate excludes separate property and separate property is largely what each spouse brought into the marriage.

The election is a right, not an automatic entitlement. A surviving spouse who files nothing takes what the will leaves. Utah Code 75-2-211(3) lets a spouse withdraw the demand at any time before the court enters a final determination, so the filing preserves the option rather than committing to it.

The Supplemental Amount Is $112,500 for a 2026 Death

Utah Code 75-2-202(2) prints $75,000. That number has been out of date since 2010.

Utah Code 75-1-110 indexes the dollar amounts in five sections, and 75-2-202(2) is one of them. The adjustment runs against a 2009 reference base using the Consumer Price Index annual average for the calendar year before the year the person died, rounded down to a multiple of $100 for an increase. The Administrative Office of the Courts has to publish a cumulative list before February 1 each year, and it does, on a page titled Estate Consumer Price Index. That page never uses the word spouse or the word allowance, which is why searching for either fails to find it.

For a death in 2026 the supplemental elective share amount is $112,500. Here is how the figure has moved.

Read the row for the year the person died, not the year you are settling the estate. An estate opened in 2026 for someone who died in 2022 carries $94,700.

The floor works as a top up rather than a second payment. If the amounts already credited to the spouse under 75-2-209(1), plus the part of the elective share payable out of the probate estate and the nonprobate transfers, come to less than the supplemental figure, the spouse receives the difference.

What the Augmented Estate Counts

The augmented estate is the pool, and it is much wider than the probate estate. Utah Code 75-2-203 builds it from four components, and 75-2-208 then carves pieces back out.

1. The decedent's net probate estate (75-2-204). The probate estate reduced by funeral and administration expenses, the homestead allowance, family allowances, exempt property and enforceable claims.
2. The decedent's nonprobate transfers to others (75-2-205). Property the decedent owned or owned in substance immediately before death that passed outside probate: a fractional interest in joint tenancy property that went to a surviving joint tenant, a payable on death or transfer on death account that went to someone else, life insurance the decedent owned, and property subject to a general power of appointment the decedent held alone. It also reaches transfers made during the marriage where the decedent kept the income or the use, and transfers made in the two years before death, counting gifts only to the extent the total to any one donee in either of those years passed $10,000.
3. The decedent's nonprobate transfers to the surviving spouse (75-2-206). The same categories, where the property went to the spouse.
4. The surviving spouse's own property and nonprobate transfers to others (75-2-207). What the spouse owned at the decedent's death, plus what would have counted as the spouse's nonprobate transfers had the spouse been the one who died, reduced by enforceable claims against the spouse.

The fourth component surprises people. The spouse's own assets go into the pool, and under 75-2-209(1)(b) they are then applied first to satisfy the elective share. Read that with 75-2-208(1), which excludes the separate property of either spouse from the augmented estate even where 75-2-207 would otherwise pull it in. So what gets credited against the spouse's share is the spouse's marital property, not everything the spouse owns.

Where two provisions reach the same property, 75-2-208(8) counts it once, under whichever provision yields the greatest value.

Separate Property Drops Out of the Calculation

This is the piece of Utah law that changes the arithmetic most, and it is written in 75-2-208(1). The value of any separate property of the decedent or of the surviving spouse is excluded from the augmented estate even where another section would have pulled it in.

Property is separate under 75-2-208(1) if it was:

• owned at the date of the most recent marriage of the decedent and the surviving spouse;
• acquired by gift, or by disposition at death, from someone other than the two spouses;
• subject to a presently exercisable power of appointment neither spouse created that is exempt under 75-10-502;
• acquired in exchange for, or with the proceeds of, other separate property;
• designated separate by a written waiver under 75-2-213; or
• recovered for a personal injury, to the extent it covers expenses paid out of separate property.

Income from separate property during the most recent marriage stays separate under 75-2-208(2), and appreciation in its value stays separate under 75-2-208(3). Improvements and debt reduction split more finely. Under 75-2-208(4) an increase in value from improvements or from paying down debt is separate, except to the extent the payments came from the couple's joint or commingled funds or from the surviving spouse's separate property, and that carve out cannot exceed the value of the separate property itself.

The burden runs the other way from what most families expect. Utah Code 75-2-208(5) rebuttably presumes that all property of either spouse, commingled or not, is not separate. Somebody has to prove separate character with records, which is why the ranch that came down through one side of the family needs a paper trail rather than a family understanding.

Two more exclusions sit in 75-2-208(6). A transfer for which the decedent received adequate and full consideration drops out, and so does a transfer the surviving spouse joined in writing or consented to in writing. Signing a beneficiary change or a deed can remove that asset from the pool years later.

Electing Charges the Allowances Against the Share

Utah gives every surviving spouse three allowances that outrank the estate's creditors: a homestead allowance of $33,700 for a 2026 death under 75-2-402, exempt property of $22,500 measured above any security interests under 75-2-403, and a reasonable family allowance for maintenance during administration under 75-2-404. For the year by year figures, who selects the property and how the personal representative pays it, see the homestead, exempt property and family allowances.

Electing changes how those three interact with everything else. Utah Code 75-2-202(3) says that when the right of election is exercised, the homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance are charged against, and are not in addition to, the elective share and supplemental elective share amounts. Utah Code 75-2-209(1)(d) puts them in the first group of amounts applied to satisfy the share.

The two routes produce different arithmetic, and the difference is narrower than it looks. Utah charges the allowances against a devise by default too: 75-2-402, 75-2-403 and 75-2-404(2) each say that unless the will or governing instrument provides otherwise, the allowance is chargeable against any benefit passing to the spouse by the will or by intestate succession. What separates the routes is that the will can opt out of that default and an election cannot, because 75-2-202(3) charges the three against the elective share with no contrary-intent escape. Which route is larger in a particular estate is a question for a licensed Utah attorney working from the actual asset values and the actual will.

The Deadline Has Two Limbs, and Waiting Costs the Nonprobate Assets

Utah Code 75-2-211(1) sets the clock. The spouse makes the election by filing a petition for the elective share in the court and mailing or delivering it to the personal representative, if there is one, within nine months after the date of death, or within six months after the probate of the will, whichever limitation later expires. The spouse then gives notice of the hearing to interested persons and to the distributees and recipients whose interests the election will cut into.

The later of two dates sounds forgiving. Read the last sentence of the same subsection and it stops being forgiving. The decedent's nonprobate transfers to others are not included in the augmented estate for the purpose of computing the elective share if the petition is filed more than nine months after the death.

So a spouse who waits past nine months while the six-month limb is still running keeps the right to elect and loses the joint tenancy interests, the payable on death accounts, the life insurance and the two-year gift lookback out of the pool. On an estate where the decedent moved most of the money outside probate, that is close to losing the election itself.

Utah Code 75-2-211(2) is the fix, and it has to be used inside the same nine months. The spouse petitions the court for an extension of time and gives notice of that petition to everyone interested in the nonprobate transfers. If the court grants the extension for cause shown, the nonprobate transfers stay in the pool for a petition filed within the extended time.

Five features of the statute shape how the question gets analyzed:

1. The clock runs from the death, not from the funeral or from the appointment. Both limbs of 75-2-211(1) run from the date of death or from the probate of the will.
2. The nonprobate side has to be identified before the pool can be measured. Joint accounts, beneficiary designations, life insurance and gifts made in the two years before death all sit in 75-2-205.
3. The extension in 75-2-211(2) exists for the case where nine months is not enough time to value the nonprobate assets, and it operates only if it is sought inside those nine months. The six-month limb does not preserve those assets on its own.
4. The two outcomes are different numbers. One third of the augmented estate on one side, the will plus the three allowances on the other, with 75-2-202(3) applied.
5. An election is made by petition and by service, filed with the court and mailed or delivered to the personal representative, with notice to the people whose shares it reaches.

Whether an election is worth making in a particular estate, and on what timetable, is exactly the analysis a licensed Utah attorney does against the actual documents.

The Utah probate deadlines guide puts the election beside the rest of the calendar.

Who May Elect, and How

Utah Code 75-2-212(1) keeps the right personal. Only a surviving spouse who is living when the petition is filed can exercise it. Where the spouse does not act personally, a conservator, a guardian, or an agent under the authority of a power of attorney may act on the spouse's behalf.

An election made for an incapacitated spouse comes with a condition. Under 75-2-212(2) the court sets aside the portion of the share due from the probate estate and from the recipients of nonprobate transfers, then appoints a trustee to hold it for the spouse's support. An election made by an agent under a durable power of attorney is presumed to be on behalf of an incapacitated spouse. The trustee spends income and principal for support without a court order, nobody can terminate the trust during the incapacity, and the spouse may terminate it in writing after regaining capacity. Whatever is left when the spouse dies passes under the residuary clause of the predeceased spouse's will, or to that spouse's heirs under 75-2-711.

Utah Code 75-2-209 decides where the money comes from. Amounts already passing to the spouse are applied first, then the probate estate and the nonprobate transfers other than the two-year lookback categories, apportioned among recipients in proportion to their interests, then the remaining nonprobate transfers. Utah Code 75-2-210 makes the original recipients and their donees personally liable for their proportional contribution, and lets a recipient hand back the property instead of paying its value.

A Prenuptial or Postnuptial Agreement Can Waive All of It

Utah Code 75-2-213(1) allows a waiver of the right of election and of the rights to a homestead allowance, exempt property and a family allowance, wholly or partly, before or after the marriage, by a written contract, agreement or waiver the surviving spouse signed.

The grounds for setting one aside are narrow and the burden sits on the surviving spouse. Under 75-2-213(2) the waiver fails if the spouse proves it was not executed voluntarily, or that it was unconscionable when executed and, before signing, the spouse was not given fair and reasonable disclosure of the decedent's property and financial obligations, did not expressly waive disclosure in writing, and did not have and could not reasonably have had adequate knowledge of them. Unconscionability is a question of law for the court under 75-2-213(3).

Watch the catch-all language. Utah Code 75-2-213(4) treats a waiver of all rights, or equivalent wording, in a property settlement made after or in anticipation of separation or divorce as a waiver of the elective share, the homestead allowance, exempt property and the family allowance, plus a renunciation of anything that would have passed under a will signed before the settlement.

Community Property Brought Into Utah Sits Outside the Elective Share

Utah borders Nevada, Arizona and Idaho and receives steady inbound moves from California and Washington, so this chapter matters more here than its length suggests. Utah enacted the Uniform Disposition of Community Property Rights at Death Act at Title 75 Chapter 2b in 2012.

Utah Code 75-2b-102 sets the reach. The chapter covers personal property, wherever it sits, that was acquired as or became community property under another jurisdiction's law and stayed that way, along with property bought with its rents, income or proceeds or traceable to it, and Utah real property acquired with community funds or in exchange for community property.

Utah Code 75-2b-104 then does two things at once. Half of that property belongs to the surviving spouse and is not subject to the decedent's will or to Utah succession law. The other half is the decedent's and passes by will or by succession. And the section closes with a sentence that keeps the two systems apart: property the chapter covers may not reduce, be subject to, or be used in calculating the surviving spouse's elective share.

Utah Code 75-2b-103 supplies the presumptions. Property acquired during the marriage while the couple was domiciled where community property was possible is presumed to be covered. Utah real property and personal property acquired while domiciled elsewhere, taken in a form that created survivorship rights, is presumed not to be covered. Both presumptions are rebuttable.

There is a short clock here too. Under 75-2b-105 the surviving spouse perfects title by court order or by an instrument the personal representative, heirs or devisees execute with the court's approval, and any action to perfect title has to be brought within four months after the personal representative or the successor trustee of the decedent's revocable trust sends written notice of the limitation period. Neither the personal representative nor the court has to go looking for community property unless the spouse makes a written demand.

What a Spouse Takes With No Will

The elective share answers a will. When there is no will, 75-2-102 answers instead, and the two are separate rights that readers often merge.

The surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate where no descendant of the decedent survives, or where every surviving descendant of the decedent is also a descendant of the surviving spouse. Where one or more of the decedent's surviving descendants are not the spouse's, the spouse takes the first $112,500 for a 2026 death plus half of any balance. That first-share figure is indexed by 75-1-110 in the same way the supplemental elective share is, and the statute's printed $75,000 is the 2010 amount.

For the full order of heirs beyond the spouse, see the spouse's share with no will.

Married After the Will Was Signed

Utah Code 75-2-301 covers the spouse a will never mentioned because the will predates the marriage. A surviving spouse who married the testator after the will was executed receives no less than the intestate share they would have taken, calculated on the part of the estate that is not devised to a child of the testator born before the marriage who is not the surviving spouse's child, and not devised to that child's descendants.

Three things defeat the claim. The will shows on its face or by other evidence that it was made in contemplation of the marriage. The will says it stays effective despite a later marriage. Or the testator provided for the spouse outside the will and meant that transfer to replace a testamentary gift, shown by the testator's statements, by the size of the transfer, or by other evidence.

Where the share is paid, devises to the surviving spouse are used first, and other devises abate under 75-3-902, with the pre-marriage child's devise protected.

Who Counts as a Surviving Spouse

Three sections can remove the title before any of these rights attach.

Divorce and annulment. Utah Code 75-2-802 says a person divorced from the decedent, or whose marriage was annulled, is not a surviving spouse unless a later marriage put them back together at death. A decree of separation that leaves the marriage intact is not a divorce for this purpose. Subsection (2) also excludes a person who obtained or consented to a divorce Utah does not treat as valid, a person who remarried after the decedent obtained an invalid divorce, and a person who was party to a valid proceeding that ended with an order purporting to terminate all marital property rights.

Surviving by less than 120 hours. Utah Code 75-2-702 treats an individual who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived the decedent by 120 hours as having predeceased. Five days decide whether the estate passes through one family or two.

Homicide. Utah Code 75-2-803 was rewritten by Chapter 291 of the 2026 General Session and took effect on July 1, 2026. An individual who commits a disqualifying homicide of the decedent forfeits all benefits under Title 75 Chapter 2, and the section lists them: the intestate share, the elective share, an omitted spouse's or child's share, the homestead allowance, exempt property and the family allowance. A disqualifying homicide is any felony homicide offense under Title 76 Chapter 5 whose elements are established by a preponderance of the evidence, applying the same principles of culpability and defenses that the criminal code uses, and it excludes automobile homicide under 76-5-207 and 76-5-207.5. The killing also revokes revocable gifts, powers and fiduciary nominations in the decedent's governing instruments and severs joint tenancies into tenancies in common.

Three Years After the Death, These Rights End

Utah Code 75-3-107(1) bars an informal probate proceeding or a formal testacy proceeding more than three years after the death, with narrow exceptions for a dismissed proceeding, a missing person, and a contest of an informally probated will.

The court keeps continuing jurisdiction past that line, and 75-3-107(4)(b) states what can no longer be brought once it is used: a homestead allowance, exempt property, a family allowance, a support allowance, an elective share of the surviving spouse, and any claim other than expenses of administration. An estate can still be administered after three years. A spouse's protections cannot be claimed in it.

The Utah probate timeline sets that outer date beside the shorter clocks.

What a Spouse Inherits Is Valued at the Date of Death

Federal law, not Utah law, sets the income tax basis of inherited assets. Property a surviving spouse receives from the estate generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death, so the gain that built up during the decedent's life is not taxed when the spouse later sells. Utah charges no inheritance tax and no estate tax. The Utah Inheritance Tax Act at Title 59 Chapter 11 was repealed on May 6, 2026, and the legislature's own chapter page now reads Repealed 5/6/2026.

Community property covered by Title 75 Chapter 2b raises the question in a sharper form, because the federal treatment of community property drives the answer for both halves. The tax basis of what you inherit covers how that valuation generally works.

When to Bring in a Utah Attorney

Most surviving spouses never file an election, because the will already leaves them the estate. Bring in a licensed Utah attorney when the will leaves the spouse less than a third, when a large share of the decedent's wealth passed by beneficiary designation or joint title, when either spouse brought separate property into the marriage and the records are thin, when a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is in play, when the couple lived in a community property state, or when the nine-month mark is close and the nonprobate side is still unvalued. Those are the situations where filing or not filing decides who receives what.

The Utah executor duties guide covers the personal representative's side of the same events, and the Utah probate guide explains how the estate is opened in the district court in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Utah will disinherit a surviving spouse?

Not completely. Utah Code 75-2-202(1) gives the surviving spouse of a decedent who died domiciled in Utah the right to elect one third of the augmented estate instead of taking what the will leaves. The spouse can also claim the homestead allowance, exempt property and a family allowance under Part 4 of Title 75 Chapter 2. The election is a right the spouse has to exercise by filing a petition, so a spouse who does nothing takes only what the will gives.

How much is the Utah elective share?

One third of the augmented estate, under Utah Code 75-2-202(1). The fraction is fixed. Part 2 of Title 75 Chapter 2 contains no schedule that raises or lowers it with the length of the marriage. Utah Code 75-2-202(2) then sets a floor: if what the spouse already receives plus the elective share comes to less than the supplemental amount, the spouse is topped up to it. That figure is $112,500 for a death in 2026.

What is the deadline to file for a Utah elective share?

Utah Code 75-2-211(1) sets two limits and the later one controls. The spouse files a petition with the court and mails or delivers it to the personal representative within nine months after the death, or within six months after the will is probated, whichever expires later. Filing more than nine months after the death carries a cost even when the six-month limb is still open: the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others drop out of the augmented estate.

Do the allowances come on top of the Utah elective share?

No. Utah Code 75-2-202(3) says that when the right of election is exercised, the surviving spouse's homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance are charged against the elective share and supplemental elective share amounts rather than added to them. Utah Code 75-2-209(1)(d) applies them first to satisfy the elective share. A spouse who does not elect is not automatically better off, because Utah charges the allowances by default on that side too: 75-2-402, 75-2-403 and 75-2-404(2) each make the allowance chargeable against any benefit passing by the will or by intestate succession unless the will or governing instrument provides otherwise. The difference is that a will can say otherwise and an election cannot.

Can a prenuptial agreement waive Utah elective share rights?

Yes. Utah Code 75-2-213(1) lets a spouse waive the right of election and the rights to a homestead allowance, exempt property and a family allowance, wholly or partly, before or after marriage, by a signed written contract, agreement or waiver. The waiver fails only if the surviving spouse proves it was not signed voluntarily, or that it was unconscionable when executed and the spouse lacked fair and reasonable disclosure. A waiver of all rights also renounces benefits under any earlier will.

What happens to community property a couple brought to Utah?

Utah Code 75-2b-104 gives half of it to the surviving spouse outright, and that half is not subject to the decedent's will or to Utah succession law. The chapter reaches personal property that was acquired as community property under another state's law and stayed that way, plus Utah real property bought with community funds. The same section keeps that property out of the elective share calculation entirely. Utah Code 75-2b-105 gives the spouse four months to act once the personal representative sends written notice of the limitation period.

Related Guides

• Utah Family Allowance - the three allowances, year by year, and who selects the property
• Utah Exempt Property Allowance - the 75-2-403 household-property allowance charged against an elective share
• Utah Intestate Succession - who inherits when there is no will
• Utah Step-Up in Basis - the tax basis of what a spouse inherits
• Utah Probate Deadlines - every date in one calendar
• Utah Will Requirements - what makes a Utah will valid in the first place
• Utah Executor Duties - the personal representative's side of the election
• Utah Probate Guide - how a Utah estate opens in the district court

Sources:

• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-202, Elective share -- Supplemental elective share amount -- Effect of election on statutory benefits -- Nondomicilary. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 93, 2010 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S202_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-203, Composition of the augmented estate. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Repealed and Re-enacted by Chapter 39, 1998 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S203_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-205, Decedent's nonprobate transfers to others. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/7/2025, Amended by Chapter 338, 2025 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S205_2025050720250507.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-208, Exclusions, valuation, and overlapping application. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/9/2017, Amended by Chapter 125, 2017 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S208_2017050920170509.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-209, Sources from which elective share payable -- Elective share amount -- Unsatisfied balance. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 142, 1999 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S209_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-211, Proceeding for elective share -- Time limit. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 39, 1998 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S211_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-212, Right of election personal to surviving spouse -- Incapacitated surviving spouse -- Custodial trust. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 39, 1998 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S212_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-213, Waiver of right to elect and of other rights. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 39, 1998 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S213_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-1-110, Cost of living adjustment of certain dollar amounts. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 93, 2010 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter1/C75-1-S110_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Estate Consumer Price Index, the cumulative list of cost-of-living-adjusted dollar amounts published under Utah Code 75-1-110(3). Publisher: Utah State Courts, Administrative Office of the Courts. Publication Date: Page last modified 2026-01-15, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/about/miscellaneous/legal-community/price.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-102, Intestate share of spouse. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 93, 2010 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S102_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-301, Entitlement of spouse -- Premarital will. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Repealed and Re-enacted by Chapter 39, 1998 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S301_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-402, Homestead allowance. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 93, 2010 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S402_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-403, Exempt property. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 93, 2010 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S403_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-802, Effect of divorce, annulment, and decree of separation. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Repealed and Re-enacted by Chapter 39, 1998 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S802_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2-803, Definitions -- Effect of homicide on intestate succession, wills, trusts, joint assets, life insurance, and beneficiary designations -- Petition -- Forfeiture -- Revocation. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 7/1/2026, Amended by Chapter 291, 2026 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2-S803_2026050620260701.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2b-104, Disposition upon death. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 132, 2012 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2b/C75-2b-S104_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-2b-105, Perfection of title of surviving spouse. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 132, 2012 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2b/C75-2b-S105_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Title 59 Chapter 11, Inheritance Tax Act (Repealed 5/6/2026). Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Repealed 5/6/2026, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title59/Chapter11/C59-11_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-107, Probate and testacy proceedings -- Ultimate time limit -- Presumption and order of intestacy. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/8/2018, Amended by Chapter 244, 2018 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S107_2018050820180508.html

This guide describes Utah surviving spouse rights broadly. The dollar figures move with the decedent's year of death, the deadline turns on two dates that run together, and whether electing beats taking under the will depends on the assets in one estate, so confirm your own numbers and dates with the district court handling the file or with a licensed Utah attorney. It is not legal advice.