UTAH BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Utah Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT
UBE jurisdiction · MBE 50% / MEE 30% / MPT 20% · portable UBE score (subject to each state's minimum and transfer window) · write GENERAL/multistate law on the MEE — do NOT import Utah statutes unless a question expressly asks for Utah law · prioritize the multistate outlines; use this page to recognize Utah's signature departures, chiefly its 50%-bar comparative fault and strong UPC framework.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE & LIMITATIONS
Utah Rules of Civil Procedure govern state practice, with distinctive TIERED/proportional discovery (discovery limited based on the amount in controversy) · SOL: 4 yrs personal injury (Utah's catch-all/PI period is comparatively long) · 6 yrs written contracts / 4 yrs oral contracts · med-mal generally 2 yrs from discovery + 4-yr statute of repose · on a Utah-specific question, name the period and run the math, then check the discovery rule and any repose period.
3. EVIDENCE
Utah Rules of Evidence mirror the FRE in numbering and substance; differences are limited and rule-specific · apply your MBE evidence analysis directly and cite "the Utah Rules of Evidence" when a question asks for Utah law.
4. FAMILY LAW
Fault grounds (adultery, cruelty, desertion, habitual drunkenness, felony, others) + no-fault: irreconcilable differences and 3-yr living separately under a separate-maintenance decree · statutory WAITING PERIOD (generally ~30 days after filing before a decree, waivable for extraordinary circumstances) · divorce-education/parenting-orientation course required where minor children are involved · ALIMONY DURATION generally capped at the LENGTH OF THE MARRIAGE (absent extenuating circumstances) · NO classic common-law marriage, but a statutory UNSOLEMNIZED-MARRIAGE recognition (court may validate an unceremonied relationship if statutory criteria met and a petition is filed within 1 year of the relationship ending) · distinctive bigamy/plural-cohabitation treatment (plural cohabitation among consenting adults reduced to an infraction) · equitable distribution (not community property).
5. WILLS, TRUSTS & ESTATES
UPC state (Utah Code Title 75) · will = writing + testator signature (or by another at the testator's direction in the testator's conscious presence) + 2 witnesses within a reasonable time · HOLOGRAPHIC WILLS VALID (signature + material portions in the testator's hand, no witnesses) · UPC HARMLESS-ERROR/dispensing power — a document may be probated despite a technical execution defect on clear-and-convincing evidence the decedent intended it as a will · ELECTIVE SHARE = 1/3 of the AUGMENTED estate (the augmented-estate concept pulls in certain non-probate transfers) · UPC intestacy: spouse takes the entire estate when all the decedent's descendants are also the spouse's, reduced where there are stepchildren/non-common descendants · UPC defaults (anti-lapse, pretermitted heirs, 120-hour survival, per-capita-at-each-generation) apply · homestead/family/exempt allowances off the top · EX: a will signed before only one witness can fail for lack of a second witness — but Utah's harmless-error doctrine may still admit it if the testator's intent is proven by clear and convincing evidence.
6. REAL PROPERTY
RACE-NOTICE recording — a subsequent BFP must BOTH lack notice AND record first · adverse possession = 7 YEARS PLUS PAYMENT OF ALL PROPERTY TAXES assessed during the entire period (a distinctive Utah requirement — a claimant who satisfies every common-la