Taylor v. Taylor
Taylor v. Taylor, 2022 UT 35 (Pearce, A.C.J.)
Family
Ex-husband asked ex-wife to arbitrate their divorce, hoping for an expeditious resolution allowing him to take advantage of favorable tax treatment of the alimony he was about to pay. The arbitration award was higher than he would have liked, and—with new counsel—he now contests the arbitration award for a number of reasons. The Utah Supreme Court affirmed, holding:
- Having participated in arbitration without objection, ex-husband lost the chance to rely on section 78B-11-107 to contest the arbitration award in his divorce case.
- Utah law does not prevent parties from submitting at least some aspects of their divorce—like alimony and property division—to arbitration. The strong policies underlying statutory provisions ensuring the protection of children, on the other hand, dictate that a court maintain the ability to consider whether an arbitration award addressing child support or custody is in the best interests of the child.
- The arbitrator did not manifestly disregard the law.