H.B. 555 Changes to Family Law Actions

What this bill does

The bill changes Utah family law so courts must consider attorney fees and costs in more cases, including actions to establish or modify orders, not just enforcement. When a court does not award fees, it must state its reasons, and fees must be awarded in enforcement actions and in cases found to be filed frivolously or to harass.

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Every vote

• 10 yes, 0 no, 1 absentHouse Judiciary Committee: Amendment Recommendation · Feb 23, 2026Who voted how
• 10 yes, 0 no, 1 absentHouse Judiciary Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 23, 2026Who voted how
• 67 yes, 0 no, 8 absentFinal House vote · Feb 26, 2026Who voted how
• 5 yes, 0 no, 4 absentSenate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee: Amendment Recommendation · Mar 3, 2026Who voted how
• 5 yes, 0 no, 4 absentSenate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee: vote to approve it · Mar 3, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Feb 23, 2026 House Judiciary Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (51 turns)

  1. Committee chair (presiding)1:01:04

     You want me to keep going? We'll now go to, uh, item number three on our agenda. HB 5 55 changes to family law actions from Representative Miller. I thought it, uh, welcome Representative Miller, you thought? Yeah,

  2. Rep. Tracy Miller1:01:22

     Thank you. First time in this committee, so, oh, yeah, yeah. Uh, appreciate being here. We're a tough crowd, so, yeah, I know. I, I'm shaking. Um, one of the hardest and most courageous things a person can do is to leave an abusive relationship. Um, and it would be great if after a divorce the abuse stops. But the truth is, in some cases it morphs into a different kind of abuse. One, using the legal system. So HB 55 is just taking a small step towards addressing, um, a deeply harmful problem in our family law system, which is litigation abuse, sometimes called stalking through the courts. It happens when an ex-spouse repeatedly uses the legal system to harass, intimidate, control, or financially exhaust the other person. I've heard stories where one party files repeated protective orders, they're dismissed, submits false reports, brings frivolous motions in multiple courtrooms, appeals again and again, and, and initiates ongoing custody disputes. Even when all of those filings fail, the damage is done. The other party is forced to spend time, money, and emotional energy defending themselves. Over and over I met with a group of victims of litigation abuse and then with several family law attorneys to see if there was a way that we could curtail the harassment while still honoring the importance of due process. So this bill provides a solution by strengthening how courts handle attorney's fees and costs and family law cases. Um, specifically, um, line 47 adds the word modify. So in the past it was established, it was just inactions to establish and it adds established or modify, um, because many abusive litigation cases arise from repeated modification proceedings. Um, it also adds if the court doesn't award attorney fees, that it enters a specific finding as to the reason why. And then in lines 57 through 59, um, there's, when there's an action to enforce an order, the court shall award reasonable attorney fees and costs. And then at the end line 1 62, the court shall assess attorney fees. We just added the word or, um, instead of the word. And so, um, if the court finds an action is filed frivolously or in a manner designed to harass. And so that is, uh, that is the bill. And I'm open to questions.

  3. Committee chair (presiding)1:03:56

     Thank you Representative Miller, we have a question for you from Representative Abbott.

  4. Rep. Nelson T. Abbott1:04:00

     Thank you. So I do have a couple questions. So, current practice right now is that in temporary orders, attorney's fees are not awarded or what's, what's really happening in the courts today? So right now it says that may be awarded, um, on temporary orders and this, um, this language would, would change it, it still may be awarded, but, um, does direct the, um, judge to consider the ability of the parties to pay and then to enter a specific finding. Okay. So really the difference is just the judge has to make that finding?

  5. Rep. Tracy Miller1:04:36

     Yes. That's the difference on that part. Yeah. Okay. Got it.

  6. Rep. Nelson T. Abbott1:04:38

     Thank you. Next part I wanted to ask about was in lines 57 and 58 and 59. So you're, you're replacing shall with May and I get what you're doing there, but then you take out the word substantially.

  7. Rep. Tracy Miller1:04:53

     Oh, thank you for bringing that up. I actually have an amendment online that will put the word substantially back in.

  8. Rep. Nelson T. Abbott1:04:58

     Okay. That's what, that was my question. Okay. All it's like house amendment one. Is that House Amendment one Millard?

  9. Rep. Tracy Miller1:05:04

     It's House Amendment one, yeah. Got it. Thank. Yeah, thank you for bringing that up.

  10. Rep. Nelson T. Abbott1:05:07

      Okay. I don't have any further questions then.

  11. Committee chair (presiding)1:05:10

      Alright, we'll go to Representative Chair Libe.

  12. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:05:16

      Thank you. Um, so what seems, um, And I, sorry, I was just looking for the words you used, but what seems overly litigious to one party is often, um, just another party trying to get their rights back through the court process. It's extremely frustrating and expensive for a non-custodial parent to have to repeatedly go to court to enforce custody orders or other concerns or issues. So I'm just like, I am concerned as we try to venture into this space that, um, the interpretation by the courts could actually harm an already aggrieved party. Um, could you speak to that?

  13. Rep. Tracy Miller1:06:15

      Yeah, that is, that is definitely something that's been part of these conversations. Um, 'cause we don't, we don't wanna take away, you know, due process for anybody. Everybody, um, needs to have access to the courts and be able to address concerns. So that is something that we did have a lot of discussions about. Um, and the only it, so in most cases it's still may, um, the shall is when it's to enforce, uh, or an action to enforce an order. So if, if you have to go back to court just to get it enforced, that's the only place where we changed it to shall, um, award attorney's fees.

  14. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:06:58

      Um, so if a person is unlucky enough to get a judge that maybe isn't super friendly to their appeal and they're trying to go back to, to get an enforcement, um, anyway, I, I have some concerns around that. Uh, but I appreciate your presentation. I'll li I'll listen to public comment.

  15. Rep. Tracy Miller1:07:25speaker not certain

      Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

  16. Committee chair (presiding)1:07:27

      Thank you. Chair Libe. See no further lights. We'll go to the, we'll go to the public comment portion of the meeting. Is there anyone in the public who would like to speak to this bill? We have two in person. And then do we have anyone online? Two online. Excellent. Come on. Come on up. Um, we'll, we'll have two in person and two online. We'll make sure that each of you have two minutes.

  17. Catherine Hutton, resident1:07:59

      Thank you. Members of the committee for this opportunity. After 20 years of marriage, my ex-husband threatened to take everything from me. If I left him the house and all of its contents, sole custody of our six children, my home-based business, which provided the majority of the financial income, et cetera, in response to me telling him there's not a judge in the state that would ever rule in such a way, he replied, even the judge won't be able to stop me. How did he do it? Through filing literally dozens of separate court actions through different court systems, he was able to drain me financially and cause me to lose my business because I was either in court or preparing for court almost constantly for several years. He filed multiple bogus protective orders, all of which were summarily dismissed. He filed false reports with the police with no recourse to him. He filed multiple frivolous motions in different courtrooms. He ignored multiple judges' rulings in courting ones for child support. He appealed to the judge's deci. He appealed the judge's decisions. He appealed the appeals court decisions. He appealed to the Utah Supreme Court. He filed to have a judge removed for bias. He filed numerous custody battles. He made false reports to DCFS and he initiated multiple other filings. Gratefully, every single judge in every single courtroom has consistently ruled in my favor. My ex has not won in any court action ever, but despite my successes, it has cost me many tens of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees despite representing myself in many instances, it has evaporated, untold, unimaginable hours and caused traumatic long-term stress, confusion and harm to our daughters. And it's forced me out of the workplace and into needing state services just to feed my children. Since I, all I had was being spent just to defend myself in addition to my own personal financial cost, I estimate that my case salon has cost the Utah State over $200,000 to address these issues. If this bill was law during the course of my litigations, not only do I believe it would've at least protected me from the financial devastation that was intended by my abuser, it probably would've prevented most of it, most of it from happening in the first place. I support this bill and hope the commission will understand this as a step towards reducing the amount of victims and the drain on the court system that's currently occurring. Thank,

  18. Committee chair (presiding)1:10:27

      Thank you. Thank you so much. And just by way, could, would you be able to introduce yourself and just share if you're representing yourself or any other organization?

  19. Catherine Hutton, resident1:10:35

      Yes, I am just representing myself. My name is Catherine Hutton.

  20. Committee chair (presiding)1:10:38

      Thank you so much, Catherine. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Hi,

  21. Emily Martin Prisbrey, Utah Single Mothers Coalition1:10:42

      Good morning. I'm Emily Martin PRIs. Bri I'm representing the Utah Single Mothers Coalition. Unfortunately, Catherine's story is one of many, um, that happens in the state. And I'm here representing just to tell you a couple of those stories as well. From single mothers who couldn't be here because they're prep, preparing for a litigation right now, or they're trying to work, um, in order to pay for these bills. Uh, one of these has a protective order, which has been violated endless times with six criminal charges leading to pleas and abeyance. Her protective order was set to expire and she filed for the standard extension of three years. Her ex-spouse fought with a 37 page rebuttal, claiming victimhood, and that her protective order harmed their children. They Uintah court where she was granted a one year extension. He filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was denied in court. He objected and asked for an evidentiary hearing. So yet another day in court, she spent $30,000 in the last nine months trying to keep the protective order in place. That Utah State Code said she's entitled to another. Li mother is a lifelong Utah mother of four and a healthcare worker who is also navigating the effects of a post post divorce abuse from a high conflict ex-spouse. She filed for divorce for 23 years. After 23 years of substance abuse, emotional volatility, abusive behavior, and infidelity by her spouse. When she filed, her husband cut off all access to marital funds in violation of the domestic invention. That was injunction. That was in effect at mediation, she accepted a low ball financial offer because she cannot afford to defend herself in court while he controlled all of the family assets. Even that cost her 15,000. After the divorce decreed was, uh, signed, he, her ex continued to act in violation of court orders, forcing her to accumulate another 8,000 in post-divorce attorney fees just to enforce her prior court orders. Her court expenses nearly matched her housing costs. Later she was served by her ex claiming that due to his financial hardship, he was attempting to decrease his already reduced financial settlement by almost 80%. And note he just returned from a 10 day trip to Tahiti. This new hearing will cost her approximately another 10 grand to simply defend her position and secure her financial stability for her and her children. I support this bill and I'm here for countless women in the state of Utah that are experiencing this type of abuse. And I hope that you'll support this bill. Thank you.

  22. Committee chair (presiding)1:12:52

      And there is one question for you. Oh, sure. From Representative Ox here.

  23. Unknown speaker1:12:57speaker not certain

      Thank you for sharing all of those thoughts. Um, I'm super sympathetic to, you know, these situations, but I do wonder if by enacting something like this, we would actually be protecting some of those abusive behaviors too. We've seen a lot of people come through this court, uh, this committee talking about how abusive people in particular are usually pretty charismatic. And there's a lot of times when they can get the judge on their side. So would this actually be a stronger tool for them to continue to hold hostage, um, their ex-spouse by having their attorney fees fa paid for all the time? Like we, the people that we heard from, you know, he would, he would take her to court and usually win and, you know, get the kids taken away from her and, and get all of these things. And so, uh, you know, she talked about how much money that costs just defending against him, but then to also have to pay those bills as well. I wonder if we'd actually be compounding some of the harm while trying, you know, trying to help in one case. But are we actually opening this up to so many other cases where it would be a lot worse for those people?

  24. Rep. Tracy Miller1:14:04

      And I can see your point. I would say that in general for custodial parents has been my experience and I've been at this since 2007, um, that it's not, there's an enforcement problem in this state and we just cannot get any help. And this is just one small step that judges can take that I don't think is gonna harm as many as it's gonna protect. And the language is very careful in not doing that because, um, we're just saying that the judge has an ability to do it now before there's been no ability. And, um, and they haven't awarded it. They haven't even taken into consideration. And so I think it's important that we look at, um, the, the more that we can help then are gonna harm. And there may be a one-off case. I'm not gonna deny that that might happen. And you're right, there are charismatic. That's why often they don't get, you know, any kind of implication as to why they can do this. We have been very careful and, and I am, um, and now that I'm out of the system and don't have to do that, I realize we need to make fair laws. I don't wanna penalize people that are doing the right thing. And there are plenty of men and, and women that are non-custodial parents that are doing the right thing. But there are many, many more who are not. And this language that we did was the compromise that we could come up with, that we could help the people, um, in a way that could be fair.

  25. Committee chair (presiding)1:15:23

      Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Thank you Representative Vox here. We'll now go to online for public comment. We'll begin with Mr. Seth Stewart.

  26. Seth Stewart, American Fork resident1:15:41

      Alright, thank you. Yeah. My name is Seth Stewart. I am, uh, representing myself from American Fork. Um, I guess my concerns about this bill have to do with the fact that it's, uh, it appears to promote escalation and it's in the name of, uh, preventing harassment and so on. But, uh, I guess my concern there is that people going through family court don't really need more weapons to inflict escalation and increased damages on each other. I would submit that what they most need is shock absorbers and ability to diffuse conflicts in a, an agreeable manner. Um, obviously there are instances of people who will abuse the system, and I would question the use of a, a prejudicial or preemptory, uh, assignment of, of, uh, of attorney fees and so on, simply because there's already recourse available in those instances, especially if you were to, uh, break the mold that we're accustomed to and actually allow a jury to hear the facts of the case. Uh, there's, there's already ample recourse available to award, uh, attorney fees, et cetera. And to find against a given party if, if the finding of fact, if the trier of fact, which should be a jury, uh, determines that there is actually, uh, a, a frivolous suit being waged. And so just deciding that preemptively, um, is prejudicial. And it does stack things increasingly, uh, to one side. And frankly, we just need to get, if the, the concern is ballooning costs and so on. I mean, get a jury in there, you get access to common sense. And that would reduce the importance of attorneys. It would reduce the importance of legal maneuvering and all the strategizing and all the, uh, you know, the, the, the various plea procedures that often accompany these and, and settlements. So I would submit, if you wanna reduce costs, get a jury in there and wait for judicial maneuvering. Thank you.

  27. Committee chair (presiding)1:17:42

      Thank you, sir. We'll now go to Miss Maria, Sharon.

  28. Maria Sharon, resident1:18:09

      Good morning. Good morning. Um, allowing me the opportunity to speak. Um, I relate so much to what Catherine and, uh, Emily had to say. My situation, I believe is very extreme. I, um, strongly urge your support of this bill. It allows judges or commissioners to award attorney fees to the pro, the prevailing party if it's necessary, if it's frivolous. And that's their opportunity to decide that it's essential to pre protect our families, children, and the integrity of our courts. I have spent over 16 years post-divorce litigation with more than 400 items on my docket. I have not brought more than a handful of those before the court. I am constantly defending myself. Um, I have prevailed 99% of the time, neither parent, neither he or I can effectively care for our kids. When tied up in constant court, the cost of defending myself is overwhelming and the other party often files counter counter motions or appeals before we've even left the courtroom. As recent as last Friday, I faced a court filing of frivolous accusations against me. Defending myself will cost a small fortune and require hours of research, reviewing emails to collect all the facts. Over 16 years. This takes time away from my work and from my children. I have been a stay at home mom all of these years. And, um, I was put in a position of extreme poverty. The constant litigation is a form of judicial abuse. It extends marital marital abuse. My children have been deeply affected absorbing the stress and conflict. The financial strain has forced me at times to rely on food stamps and Medicaid creating a broader economic impact on the state. There are so many people I know that have been put in this kind of situation that have to rely on the state for help. House Bill of 5 55 brings fairness, accountability, and relief for the judges and commissioners. To be given permission to decide what's frivolous and what's not would be very helpful. And it would help both parties. It would discourage the party that is being unreasonable and litigious and abusive from filing so many things with the court. It would hold both parties responsible for unnecessary litigation, protect the kids, and reduce strain on Utah's courts and taxpayers. I respectfully ask for you to support this bill. Thank you.

  29. Committee chair (presiding)1:21:04

      Thank you, Ms. Sharon. That will conclude our public comment portion of this meeting. We'll go back to, we'll come back to the Committee for action. Representative Acton.

  30. Rep. Cheryl K. Acton1:21:16

      Thank you. Is there no substitute One Amendment? Just amendment. Just one. Okay. I, oh, I do see it there. Okay. I'd like to move Amendment one, adult Amendment. That

  31. Committee chair (presiding)1:21:29

      motion is in order. Would you like to speak to that?

  32. Unknown speaker1:21:33speaker not certain

      Um, I think she did clarify that, that we're going to add back in there substantially, which I think is a good move.

  33. Committee chair (presiding)1:21:42

      Excellent. Thank you Representative Acton. We'll go to the sponsor of the bill on the Motion to adopt House Amendment one.

  34. Rep. Tracy Miller1:21:49

      Yeah, thank you. As, as referenced, it does add back in the word substantially. It is, uh, something that we went back and forth on a few times. And then just also a line that accept is provided in subsection four, which, which talks about if, um, the court doesn't award it, uh, if the court finds the party is, um, indigent. Um, so that's the amendment. We would appreciate that being passed.

  35. Committee chair (presiding)1:22:14

      Excellent. Thank you. Um, seeing no further lights on the motion to amend, we'll go back to the sponsor of the motion Representative Acton

  36. Rep. Cheryl K. Acton1:22:22

      Waive. All

  37. Committee chair (presiding)1:22:23

      right. We'll do a voice vote on the motion to adopt house amendment one to HB 5 55. Change the family law actions. All in favor of that, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? I rule that passes unanimously.

  38. Committee chair (presiding)1:22:35

      Go back to the committee chair. Libe.

  39. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:22:40

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I would motion that we favorably recommend with the caveat that we work together to make sure that there's some nuance. Some there's a, there's a lot of concerns around this 'cause this cuts both ways. And, uh, so we wanna make sure we get this right. So if the sponsor would be willing to commit to work with a number of people on this committee with concerns, um, before the vote on the floor, then I would move that we pass it to the floor, um, for further consideration.

  40. Committee chair (presiding)1:23:20

      Thank you. Thank you, representative Libe. We'll go to Representative Miller, the sponsor of the bill on the motion to favorably recommend and work together.

  41. Rep. Tracy Miller1:23:29

      Thank you for that motion. Um, yes, I support that. I, um, I, I agree with the concern. We, this goes both ways and we wanna make sure that we're not, not causing more harm. So I'm very open to, um, having further discussions and, and making some changes to the bill.

  42. Committee chair (presiding)1:23:46

      Thank you Representative Miller. We go to the committee for discussion on the motion to favorably recommend Representative Abbott.

  43. Rep. Nelson T. Abbott1:23:52

      Yes. Thank you. So I, I actually support that motion. I, it's interesting listening to the stories that have been given here. Almost every story is saying this process is being abused and we need attorney's fees. And it sounds like, and I don't know this area of the law and I never practiced in divorce court, so I don't know, but it sounds like, and I've heard, yeah, that's absolutely a valid concern and it's something we need to address. So I appreciate you bringing this motion or this bill to kind of address that. Um, I do wonder if there are cases though, where people inadvertently violate a custody order or they, um, actually have a really strong good faith argument that they're doing it right and then they end up losing. And this, I see you give, um, leeway to the judge and say, I'm not gonna award attorney's fees if it's for financial reasons, but not really saying, I'm not going to award it attorney's fees if this was an inadvertent mistake or if it was something that you really thought and you had a reasonable person would think, okay, you're not violating this custody order, but actually I find that you are. Right. So I'm, I'm wondering if that, if you could work that would make me feel better about this as to work something like that into this.

  44. Committee chair (presiding)1:25:16

      Thank you Representative Abbott. Representative Acton, would you like to speak as well?

  45. Rep. Cheryl K. Acton1:25:22

      Yes. Uh, I just wanted to say, I thought, especially in this bill presentation, I thought that the public testimony was very, um, compelling. And I thought I learned a lot from those who came forward to speak. Um, and I think one of the most important things that emerged was that, you know, the children, how can they, when the focus is completely removed, well, not completely, but when the focus is shifted over to legal matters and then, and it becomes internalized not only in the parents, but un undoubtedly also in the children. And it's just, it is, um, it is using the courts vindictively, it is a form of abuse. And so that came through in those testimonies also. And I just really appreciate the bill. I, I, I wasn't sure what to think of it until the presentation today, so thank you for that.

  46. Committee chair (presiding)1:26:17

      Alright, thank you Representative Acton. Seeing no further lights, we'll go back to the sponsor of the, uh, first we'll go to the sponsor of the bill Representative Miller for summation.

  47. Rep. Tracy Miller1:26:29

      Thank you. I appreciate, um, um, all of your attention to this issue. We had a, you know, a lot of discussions about like how we can help, um, stop the abuse and, you know, like maybe after you've lost three times or five times, we put some sort of limits on it. But that's really difficult because, you know, you don't wanna hurt due process. And, um, so this kind of where we settled on was trying to look at attorney's fees. Um, but I, I appreciate your feedback and we'll continue to work with you on getting this right.

  48. Committee chair (presiding)1:27:01

      Thank you, Representative Miller. We'll, we will conclude with coming to chair Libe for summation on the motion.

  49. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee1:27:09

      Appreciate the sponsor working with us. Um, I think there's, there's space to move forward on this, but also to make sure that it's balanced, that it can't be abused on the other side. So appreciate the sponsor's willingness to work with us. And, uh, with that,

  50. Committee chair (presiding)1:27:26

      Let's have a vote. Okay. We'll go ahead and do a voice vote on the motion is to favorably recommend HB 5 55 as amended changes to family law actions from representative Tracy Millard. All in favor of that, please say, aye. Aye. Any opposed?

  51. Committee chair (presiding)1:27:43

      I rule that passes unanimously. Thank you, Representative Miller. Thank you. Go to item number four on our agenda,

• Feb 26, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (14 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)1:35:42

     House Bill 5 55 changes to family law actions by representative Tracy Millard. This bill was heard in judiciary with the vote of 10 0 1 Representative Tracy Millard.

  2. Rep. Tracy Miller1:35:54

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. I move to adopt substitute one. The House Bill 5 55.

  3. Speaker (presiding)1:35:59

     Thank you representative. That motion is an order we'd like speak to.

  4. Rep. Tracy Miller1:36:02

     Yes. The substitute addresses concerns brought up, um, in the committee, um, to ensure that a party is not required to pay attorney fees if they brought the action in good faith.

  5. Speaker (presiding)1:36:13

     Thank you representative. Uh, discussion to the motion to adopt First substitute on HB 5 55. Dean, I'm go ahead and place the motion.

  6. Speaker (presiding)1:36:23

     The motion before us is the House adopt first substitute on HB 5 55 under Representative Miller's name. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes the bill substitute before the body for its consideration. Back to you Representative Miller.

  7. Rep. Tracy Miller1:36:38

     Thank you. This bill, uh, is taking a small step towards addressing a deeply harmful problem in our family law system that of litigation abuse, sometimes known as stalking through the courts. It happens when an ex-spouse repeatedly takes, um, someone takes their ex-spouse back to the court to harass, intimidate, control, um, or financially exhaust the other person. I've heard stories where one party files repeated protective orders that are dismissed, submits false reports, brings frivolous motions in multiple courts and appeals again and again. Even when all of these filings fail, the damage is done. The other party is forced to spend time, money, and emotional energy defending themselves over and over. So this bill provides a solution to discourage frivolous cases by strengthening how courts handle the awarding of attorney's fees and costs in family law cases. So currently the court may order a party to pay attorney fees in an action to establish custody, parent time, alimony, or division of property. And this bill allows for attorney fees also and an action to modify those things 'cause many abusive litigation cases arise in repeated modification proceedings. It also requires the court upon request to consider the ability to pay if the court orders attorney fees and enter specific findings. And then it requires the court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs and an action to enforce an order or to modify custody or parent time if it's determined that the action petitioner motion was brought to harass cause unreasonable delay needlessly increase the cost of litigation or abuse the Juab judicial process. So the bill gives courts a cleaner, a clear tool to respond when litigation is being used to harass or to financially harm the other person while still protecting legitimate access to due process. And with that, I am open to questions.

  8. Speaker (presiding)1:38:45

     Thank Thank you Representative Miller. Discussion to the Bill Representative Shepherd.

  9. Rep. Lisa Shepherd1:38:50

     Mr. Speaker, I rise in extreme full support of this bill. I have a constituent that she has had to pay over $500,000 for frivolous cases that keep being brought to her even when she's had stalking injunctions against her ex-husband. So I couldn't, uh, ask anymore that everybody please support this bill. Thank you.

  10. Speaker (presiding)1:39:16

      Thank you Representative Shepherd. Further discussion to the bill. Seeing none back.

  11. Speaker (presiding)1:39:20

      Bacteria Representative Tracy Millard,

  12. Rep. Tracy Miller1:39:23

      Uh, thank you. This is a, a problem and this will just be one small step to hopefully help address it and I would ask for your support.

  13. Speaker (presiding)1:39:31

      Thank you. Representative Tracy Millard voting will now be open on first substitute HB 5 55 representatives, seeing all present and voting warnings now closed. First substitute. First substitute. HP 5 55 passes this body with 67 yes votes, zero, no votes, and will be sent to the Senate for its consideration. Representatives. Let's pay attention 'cause we're not gonna sit around and wait for everybody to vote, and we're not gonna call everybody out to vote. So if you don't vote, we're just gonna skip you. Okay.

  14. Speaker (presiding)1:40:16

      Uh, madam meeting Clerk items on the house surgery calendar.

• Feb 26, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (11 turns)

  1. Rep. Tracy Miller1:35:54

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. I move to adopt substitute one. The House Bill 5 55.

  2. Speaker (presiding)1:35:59

     Thank you representative. That

  3. Unknown speaker1:36:00speaker not certain

     motion is an order we'd like speak to.

  4. Rep. Tracy Miller1:36:02

     Yes. The substitute addresses concerns brought up, um, in the committee, um, to ensure that a party is not required to pay attorney fees if they brought the action in good faith.

  5. Speaker (presiding)1:36:13

     Thank you representative. Uh, discussion to the motion to adopt First substitute on HB 5 55. Dean, I'm go ahead and place the motion. The motion before us is the House adopt first substitute on HB 5 55 under Representative Miller's name. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes the bill substitute before the body for its consideration. Back to you Representative Miller.

  6. Rep. Tracy Miller1:36:38

     Thank you. This bill, uh, is taking a small step towards addressing a deeply harmful problem in our family law system that of litigation abuse, sometimes known as stalking through the courts. It happens when an ex-spouse repeatedly takes, um, someone takes their ex-spouse back to the court to harass, intimidate, control, um, or financially exhaust the other person. I've heard stories where one party files repeated protective orders that are dismissed, submits false reports, brings frivolous motions in multiple courts and appeals again and again. Even when all of these filings fail, the damage is done. The other party is forced to spend time, money, and emotional energy defending themselves over and over. So this bill provides a solution to discourage frivolous cases by strengthening how courts handle the awarding of attorney's fees and costs in family law cases. So currently the court may order a party to pay attorney fees in an action to establish custody, parent time, alimony, or division of property. And this bill allows for attorney fees also and an action to modify those things 'cause many abusive litigation cases arise in repeated modification proceedings. It also requires the court upon request to consider the ability to pay if the court orders attorney fees and enter specific findings. And then it requires the court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs and an action to enforce an order or to modify custody or parent time if it's determined that the action petitioner motion was brought to harass cause unreasonable delay needlessly increase the cost of litigation or abuse the Juab judicial process. So the bill gives courts a cleaner, a clear tool to respond when litigation is being used to harass or to financially harm the other person while still protecting legitimate access to due process. And with that, I am open to questions.

  7. Speaker (presiding)1:38:45

     Thank Thank you Representative Miller. Discussion to the Bill Representative Shepherd.

  8. Rep. Lisa Shepherd1:38:50

     Mr. Speaker, I rise in extreme full support of this bill. I have a constituent that she has had to pay over $500,000 for frivolous cases that keep being brought to her even when she's had stalking injunctions against her ex-husband. So I couldn't, uh, ask anymore that everybody please support this bill. Thank you.

  9. Speaker (presiding)1:39:16

     Thank you Representative Shepherd. Further discussion to the bill. Seeing none back. Bacteria Representative Tracy Millard,

  10. Rep. Tracy Miller1:39:23

      Uh, thank you. This is a, a problem and this will just be one small step to hopefully help address it and I would ask for your support.

  11. Speaker (presiding)1:39:31

      Thank you. Representative Tracy Millard voting will now be open on first substitute HB 5 55 representatives, seeing all present and voting warnings now closed. First substitute. First substitute. HP 5 55 passes this body with 67 yes votes, zero, no votes, and will be sent to the Senate for its consideration. Representatives. Let's pay attention 'cause we're not gonna sit around and wait for everybody to vote, and we're not gonna call everybody out to vote. So if you don't vote, we're just gonna skip you. Okay.

• Mar 3, 2026 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (20 turns)

  1. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:21:37

     Thank you Representative Miller, can you be quick

  2. Rep. Tracy Miller2:21:42

     Senate bill, I'm sorry? House bill 5 5 5. First sub. Yes. Thank you. I will, uh, I'll skip over my most, most of my presentation and get to the key points for you. Um, but this bill is, is to address a harmful problem in our family law system and that's of litigation abuse, sometimes called stalking through the courts. And it happens when an ex-spouse repeatedly uses the legal system to harass, intimidate, control, or financially exhaust the other person. So we have, I have a co-presenters Katherine Hutton non you go get this line if you wanna promote her and then I'll keep going here. Um, and then I also have a handout that my intern is bringing up. Thank you. I was trying to get her to walk in front, but she didn't want to and we don't like it when people walk behind us, so, ah, okay. That's what I was trying to avoid. Gotcha. Um, so anyway, this, this bill is providing a solution to discourage frivolous cases by strengthening how courts handle attorney's fees and costs and family law cases. So currently the court may order a party to pay attorney fees and an action to establish custody, parent time, alimony, or division of property. And this bill also allows for attorney fees and an action to modify those things. 'cause many abusive litigation cases arise in repeated modification proceedings and it requires the courts upon request to consider ability to pay if the court orders attorney fees and enter specific findings. And it requires the court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs in an action, um, to enforce an order or to modify custody or parent time if it's determined that the action petitioner motion was brought to harass cause unreasonable delay, need needlessly increase the cost of litigation or abuse the, the judicial process. Um, I do have one amendment that that makes a, just a slight wording clarification. Okay. And and that is the bill. Alright, we're, uh, is your amendment online? It is. Okay. So that is amendment number one. What can you tell us about an amendment? Number one, Um, amendment number one is just to clarify that it's referring to section three 'cause it just was, it says this section, but it was unclear. Just wasn't perfectly clear what this section was.

  3. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:23:55

     Okay. Thank you. Senator Brammer, would you like to move Amendment number one.

  4. Sen. Brady Brammer2:23:58

     So moved. We have a motion to adopt house amendment number one, um, to first substitute house bill 5 5 5.

  5. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:24:07

     All in favor of that motion, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Chair of that passes unanimously, which is five to zero.

  6. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:24:14

     All right, let me just ask by a show of hands if there's members of the public who'd like to testify in favor or against this bill. Okay, we have one. Please come forward. Maybe one online. I was gonna say my co-presenter, I haven't let her speak yet, so maybe she can get public comment. Yeah. And um, please be brief 'cause there's another committee that's supposed to be meeting in here. Less than five minutes.

  7. Maria Sherry, resident2:24:38

     Good afternoon, members of the Senate committee. My name is Maria Sharon. I strongly urge your support of House Bill 5 55, which allows judges or commissioners to award attorney fees to a prevailing party in court. This is essential to protect families, children in the integrity of our courts. I have spent approximately 16 years navigating post-divorce litigation with more than 400 items on my case docket. Very few of these items were filed by myself. Even as I've primarily prevailed. The cost of defending myself is overwhelming and the other party has often filed counter motions or appeals be before we can even leave the courthouse. As recently as two weeks ago, I faced a court filing of frivolous accusations against me, including abuse, child, child abuse. Defending myself will cost a small fortune and require hours of reviewing emails, text messages, collecting statements from others to show the facts that this is simply not happening. This is a form of li litigation abuse and an extension of the marital abuse that I suffered while married. This takes time away from my work and from the children. The children have been deeply affected as they absorb the stress and conflict not normally. The one who uses the court system in litigation as a weapon is primarily the plaintiff. And this puts someone like me in a near constant position of defense. Additionally, neither parent, the guy can care for the kids if tied up in court as I and many others have been. The financial strain has forced, forced me at times to rely on food stamps and Medicaid creating a broader economic impact on the state Bill 5 55 brings fairness, accountability, and relief. It would hold parties responsible for unnecessary and frivolous litigation, protect the children, and reduce strain on Utah courts and taxpayers. Thank You. Thank you. And

  8. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:26:21

     we'll go real quickly to Candace Smith online. Candace, please be brief.

  9. Candice Smith, resident2:26:30

     Hi, this is a brief story. Um, I have a protective order against my Candace. I need you to tell us your name and where you live. Oh, I'm Candace Smith. I live in Layton, Utah. Okay. And I'm representing myself. I have a protective order against my ex-husband, not officially my ex-husband. Four years of divorce, um, proceedings have, were still not there. He's violated his protective order endless times. There have been six criminal charges and there have been two plan advances that he has been guilty to these things. The protective order was set to expire on the third year, and so I filed for an extension after I qualified for legal aid to help me get that extension. My ex fought this extension with a 37 page ranting of how he is the victim and how me being protected and him not having access to me harms our children. We Uintah a court hearing where I was granted my extension based on his criminal plea of advances and him meeting all three requirements. Um, that means he gets a, uh, to, he's continuing to have a protective order. Um, there was, um, a motion that he filed right after that to dismiss my protective order. Um, we Uintah another court hearing three months later where the judges again found in my favor that I got to continue my protective order. As soon as that one finished, he filed another, um, motion to again dismiss my protective order. And he is arguing that, um, he is the Easter Bunny. He should never have the protective order. This is, um, uh, and then we are now going to a fourth court hearing for, um, to continue hearing these arguments in fighting them. Legal aid dropped me a long time ago. I've had to spend $30,000 over nine months to keep the protective order that Utah State Code says that I'm entitled to. This is ridiculous. Um, what protections do I get in this process? I know he gets his due process and gets to file whatever he wants, but what protections do I get? I think this bill will help and I want you guys to vote for it. Thank you very much. And I'm sorry for your experience.

  10. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:28:43

      All right. I'm gonna close the public hearing and bring it back to the committee for action. We've got about a minute left. Senator Brammer, do you wanna make a motion?

  11. Sen. Brady Brammer2:28:50

      Yeah. Um, I move that HB 5 55 first substitute pass and that I get replaced as Todd Weiler as the floor sponsor.

  12. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:29:01

      Uh, I'll recognize the first part of that motion. Um, representative, would you like to summ or waive?

  13. Rep. Tracy Miller2:29:08

      Um, uh, can I let Catherine just give a

  14. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:29:12

      Sure. But we're about to run outta time. 20 Seconds. Catherine. Catherine, keep it short. Please.

  15. Rep. Tracy Miller2:29:16

      Let, oh, I, I'm sorry. She's gone. We dropped Her. Okay. So anyway, um, thank you all. We miss her, but thank you. Thank you.

  16. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:29:24

      Senator Brammer. Yeah,

  17. Sen. Brady Brammer2:29:25

      I, I've seen this. We recently, we don't do any family law cases, but one of these types of cases came to our firm. We only do civil litigation. It was so frustrating that I told my attorneys to take a pro bono and take it to the max and do whatever it took to, to win and well within the bounds of our good ethics and all of that. But, uh, um, it, it's, it's a frustrating process. And, and this is a, a welcome change. Thank you for bringing it.

  18. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:29:52

      All right. Thank you. All in favor of the motion To favorably recommend first substitute house bill 55. 5 55 as amended to the floor of the Senate. Say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Everybody vote chair rules that that passes.

  19. Sen. Todd Weiler (presiding)2:30:08

      Five to zero will take one final motion. Adjourn. Motion to adjourn? All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you.

  20. Unknown speaker2:30:19speaker not certain

      Sorry Catherine. Alright. Um, If you You're welcome. You're welcome.