Utah Rules of Civil Procedure Deadlines: A Practitioner's Reference
A bookmarkable deadline reference for Utah civil practice: the answer, disclosure, discovery, summary judgment, post-judgment, and appeal dates in clean tables, each linked to the rule it comes from — plus the Rule 26 tier system that decides how much discovery your case gets, and the trigger date almost everyone miscounts.
In Utah district court, a defendant answers within 21 days of in-state service and 30 days if served outside Utah, and standard fact discovery closes 120, 180, or 210 days after the first defendant's initial disclosures come due, depending on which Rule 26 tier the case falls into. Where a scheduling order conflicts with any default below, the scheduling order controls.
Every date here was checked against the rule text published by the Utah State Courts on September 7, 2026. These rules are amended on a regular cycle, so confirm each against the current rule and the orders in your own case before you calendar anything. General information, not legal advice.
The deadlines you will hit most
| Event | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Serve the summons and complaint | 120 days after the complaint is filed | 4(b) |
| Answer — served inside Utah | 21 days after service | 12(a)(1) |
| Answer — served outside Utah | 30 days after service | 12(a)(1) |
| Answer after a Rule 12 motion is denied or deferred | 14 days after notice of the ruling | 12(a)(1)(A) |
| Plaintiff's initial disclosures | 14 days after the first answer to that plaintiff's complaint is filed | 26(a)(2)(A) |
| Defendant's initial disclosures | 42 days after that defendant's first answer is filed | 26(a)(2)(B) |
| Interrogatory, document request, and admission responses | 28 days after service | 33(b), 34(b)(2), 36(a) |
| Memorandum opposing a motion | 14 days after the motion is filed | 7(d)(1) |
| Reply memorandum | 7 days after the opposition is filed | 7(e)(1) |
| Close of standard fact discovery | 120 / 180 / 210 / 90 days by tier | 26(c)(5) |
| Summary judgment motion | No later than 28 days after the close of all discovery | 56(b) |
| Pretrial disclosures | At least 28 days before trial | 26(a)(5)(B) |
| New trial, alter or amend, amended findings, renewed JMOL | 28 days after entry of judgment | 59(b), 59(e), 52(b), 50(b) |
| Notice of appeal | 30 days after entry of the judgment or order | URAP 4(a) |
Every entry is a default. Rule 16(a) lets the court set its own dates for motions and discovery, and Rule 16(a)(10) expressly authorizes extending fact discovery. When an order and a default disagree, the order wins. Utah district courts also issue a Notice of Event Due Dates once a response is filed, listing the computed dates for disclosures, discovery, ADR, and the certificate of readiness.
Rule 6: how Utah counts
Rule 6(a) governs any period in the civil rules, a local rule, or a court order. Exclude the triggering day, count every intervening day including weekends and legal holidays, and include the last day — unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, in which case the period runs to the next day that is not.
Two mechanics catch people out. Rule 6(a)(5) counts forward for periods measured after an event and backward for those measured before one, so a deadline running back from trial that lands on a Sunday moves earlier, to the preceding Friday. And Utah's holiday list is not the federal list: Rule 6(a)(6) counts Pioneer Day (July 24) and Washington and Lincoln Day.
Rule 6(c) adds 7 days only when service was exclusively by mail under Rule 5(b)(3)(C)(i). Electronic filing and email add nothing, and attorneys in Utah's district courts must hold an e-filing account, so the extension almost never runs between represented parties.
Rule 6(b) permits extensions for good cause, or afterward for excusable neglect. But Rule 6(b)(2) forbids any extension of the times in Rules 50(b) and (d), 52(b), 59(b), (d) and (e), and 60(c).
Answering the complaint
Rule 12(a)(1) gives a defendant 21 days after service within the state and 30 days after service outside it — the first place Utah diverges from federal practice, where FRCP 12(a)(1)(A)(i) sets 21 days regardless. Crossclaims and counterclaims are each answered within 21 days.
A Rule 12 motion alters those periods rather than suspending them: if the court denies the motion or defers it to trial, the responsive pleading is due 14 days after notice of the ruling. A motion directed at fewer than all the claims does not affect the time to respond to the rest. Our guide to answering a complaint covers the drafting. Service has its own clock — Rule 4(b) requires it within 120 days of filing, which bites when the limitations period has run.
The Rule 26 discovery tiers
Instead of a discovery plan negotiated case by case, Rule 26(c) assigns every civil case to a tier by the money at stake, and the tier fixes both the volume of discovery and the length of the fact discovery period.
| Tier | Amount of damages | Fact deposition hours | Rule 33 interrogatories (incl. subparts) | Rule 34 requests for production | Rule 36 requests for admission | Days to complete fact discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 or less | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 120 |
| 2 | More than $50,000 and less than $300,000, or non-monetary relief | 15 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 180 |
| 3 | $300,000 or more | 30 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 210 |
| 4 | Domestic relations actions | 4 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 90 |
Source: Rule 26(c)(3) and (c)(5), effective May 7, 2025. Non-monetary claims sit in Tier 2 unless an accompanying damage claim exceeds $300,000.
Three features of that table decide most Utah discovery fights.
Limits are per side, not per party. Plaintiffs count collectively, defendants collectively, third-party defendants collectively — three co-defendants in a Tier 2 case share 15 deposition hours and 10 interrogatories. Federal practice is the opposite: FRCP 30 gives 10 depositions of 7 hours each and FRCP 33(a)(1) gives every party 25 interrogatories, with nothing capping document requests or admissions.
Depositions are measured in hours. Three hours for an entire side is one short witness, which is why Tier 1 cases are effectively tried on the disclosures.
"Amount of damages" is a defined term. Rule 26(c)(4) makes it the total sought, without duplication for alternative theories, by all parties in all claims for relief in the original pleadings. A $40,000 collection case answered with a $400,000 counterclaim is Tier 3, and the calendar moves with it.
The trigger date almost everyone miscounts
Rule 26(c)(5) calculates the fact discovery days "from the date the first defendant's first disclosure is due" — not from filing, not from service, not from the answer. Rule 26(a)(2)(B) sets that date at 42 days after that defendant's first answer is filed.
Worked forward, fact discovery closes 42 days plus the tier days after the first answer: roughly 162 days in Tier 1, 222 in Tier 2, 252 in Tier 3. Domestic relations actions run on a different trigger — Rule 26.1(b) requires disclosures within 14 days after the first answer. Two related traps: the tier days exclude expert discovery, and Rule 26(c)(2) bars a party from seeking discovery before its own disclosure obligations are satisfied.
Extraordinary discovery
The tiers are not hard ceilings, but escaping one is a formal act. Under Rule 26(c)(6), a party who wants more must, before the close of standard discovery and after actually reaching the limits, file a stipulated statement that the extraordinary discovery is necessary and proportional (with counsel's statement that they consulted the client), file a request under Rule 37(a), or obtain an expanded schedule under Rule 100A.
The Rule 37(a) route is a four-page statement of discovery issues certifying a good-faith meet-and-confer, addressing proportionality, and — for extraordinary discovery — certifying an approved discovery budget. Other parties have 7 days to object. It is also the vehicle for a motion to compel in Utah.
Expert discovery is a cascade
Rule 26(a)(4)(C) sequences expert discovery off the close of fact discovery, each step feeding the next:
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Party bearing the burden discloses its experts | 14 days after the close of fact discovery |
| Opposing party elects deposition or written report | 14 days after that disclosure |
| Deposition taken or report served | 42 days after the election is served |
| Non-burden party discloses its experts | 14 days after the later of that disclosure due date or completion of the report or deposition |
| Rebuttal experts disclosed | 14 days after the later of the election due date or completion of that report or deposition |
If no election is served, no further discovery of that expert is permitted. Expert depositions are capped at four hours and the deposing party pays the expert's hourly fee. Because each link runs off completion of the last, only the first date is calendarable on day one.
Summary judgment
Rule 56(b) differs from the federal rule in both directions. A claimant may move only after the adverse party serves its own motion or after 21 days from commencement; a defending party may move at any time. Unless the court orders otherwise, any party may file no later than 28 days after the close of all discovery — where FRCP 56(b) allows 30 days and imposes no waiting period on claimants.
Rule 56(a) adds a briefing format the federal rule does not: a numbered, record-cited statement of material facts claimed not to be genuinely disputed, and an opposition containing a verbatim restatement of each disputed fact with the grounds for the dispute. Facts not disputed in that form are deemed admitted. Rule 7 applies on top — 14 days to oppose, 7 to reply.
Post-judgment and appeal
Utah puts nearly every post-judgment motion on the same 28-day clock, measured from entry of judgment.
| Motion | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| New trial | 28 days after entry of judgment | 59(b) |
| Alter or amend the judgment | 28 days after entry of judgment | 59(e) |
| Amended or additional findings | 28 days after entry of judgment | 52(b) |
| Renewed judgment as a matter of law | 28 days after entry of judgment | 50(b) |
| Notice of appeal | 30 days after entry of the judgment or order | URAP 4(a) |
None of the 28-day motions can be extended. URAP 4(a) offers one mercy — judgment entered on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday is deemed entered on the first following non-holiday day — and two shorter deadlines: 10 days from a forcible entry or unlawful detainer judgment, 21 days from an order denying a motion to dismiss under Utah Code § 78B-25-103.
Rule 4(b) extends the appeal clock when a party timely files a Rule 50(b), 52(b), or 59 motion, a Rule 60(b) motion within 28 days of judgment, or a Rule 73 fee motion: time then runs from entry of the order disposing of it, and from the last such order. Cross-appeals are due 14 days after the first notice. For which court hears what, see our map of the Utah court system.
Calendaring practice
Docket the trigger, not just the date. Utah deadlines are almost all derived — "42 days after the first answer is filed," "14 days after the close of fact discovery" — so an entry holding only the computed date cannot be rebuilt when the trigger moves. Record the event, the rule, and the date together, then re-run the arithmetic three times: when the first answer is filed, which sets the whole Rule 26 chain; when a pleading changes the damages at issue, because a counterclaim moves the tier and every date with it; and when the court issues its notice or a scheduling order.
Rule 7 changed effective November 1, 2025, Rule 26 on May 7, 2025, Rule 26.1 on May 1, 2026, so confirming a rule still says what you think it says is its own recurring task. When you are checking a Utah rule or the case law construing it, CaseRead searches your firm's own matter files and the public law together and cites the source it actually retrieved, flagging what it cannot verify. Our guide to searching Utah case law covers the free routes.
Frequently asked questions
How long do you have to answer a complaint in Utah?
Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a)(1) gives a defendant 21 days after service of the summons and complaint within the state, and 30 days after service outside it. Crossclaims and counterclaims are answered within 21 days. If the court denies a Rule 12 motion, the responsive pleading is due 14 days after notice of the ruling.
What are the Utah Rule 26 discovery tiers?
Rule 26(c)(5) sets per-side limits by the damages claimed. Tier 1 ($50,000 or less): 3 deposition hours, 0 interrogatories, 5 document requests, 5 admissions, 120 days of fact discovery. Tier 2 (over $50,000, under $300,000, or non-monetary relief): 15 hours, 10 of each, 180 days. Tier 3 ($300,000 or more): 30 hours, 20 of each, 210 days. Tier 4 (domestic relations): 4 hours, 10 of each, 90 days.
When does the fact discovery period start in Utah?
Not at filing, and not at the answer. Rule 26(c)(5) counts the fact discovery days from the date the first defendant's first disclosure is due, and Rule 26(a)(2)(B) sets that date at 42 days after that defendant's first answer is filed. Confirm the result against the court's Notice of Event Due Dates.
How many interrogatories can you serve in Utah?
It depends on the tier, and the limits run per side rather than per party. Rule 26(c)(5) allows zero Rule 33 interrogatories in Tier 1, 10 in Tier 2, 20 in Tier 3, and 10 in Tier 4, counting all discrete subparts. More requires extraordinary discovery under Rule 26(c)(6).
Do you get extra days for service by mail in Utah?
Only for actual mail. Rule 6(c) adds 7 days when service was made exclusively by mail under Rule 5(b)(3)(C)(i). Electronic filing and email service add nothing, and attorneys in Utah's district courts must hold an e-filing account, so the extension rarely runs between represented parties.
How long do you have to file a notice of appeal in Utah?
Rule 4(a) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure requires the notice within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from. A timely Rule 50(b), 52(b), or 59 motion restarts the clock from entry of the order disposing of it. Unlawful detainer judgments carry 10 days.
A deadline table is only as good as the rule text behind it, and the same goes for a brief. If any part of a filing was drafted with a general-purpose AI tool, run it through the free Hallucination Shield first — each citation it finds (up to 50 per run) is checked for existence and support, before a Utah judge checks it for you.
CaseRead Team
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