Can a Utah home be left by will or by trust?

Yes. Utah places no restriction on devising a home; it passes under the will or the trust, or by survivorship, or by intestacy with the rest of the estate (Utah Code § 75-2-102). A home titled to a trustee carries the terms of the trust in the deed or a recorded instrument (§ 75B-2-816).

What is the Utah homestead exemption worth?

The statute states $42,000 for an individual's primary personal residence and $5,000 for other property, as amounts for May 14, 2019 through December 31, 2019, recalculated each calendar year by the state auditor from the Consumer Price Index and rounded to the nearest $100, with each joint owner's exemption capped per household (Utah Code § 78B-5-503). It is a creditor exemption, distinct from the $22,500 homestead allowance a surviving spouse takes from the estate (§ 75-2-402).

Can a Utah home pass by small estate affidavit?

No. The affidavit of Utah Code § 75-3-1201 reaches tangible personal property, instruments, securities and up to four registered vehicles or boats, in an estate not exceeding $100,000; land passes by deed, by the trust or through probate.

The Home After a Death in Utah

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What “homestead” means in Utah

In Utah “homestead” means two different things: the homestead exemption — an individual's primary personal residence, kept from judicial liens and forced sales up to $42,000 as the statute states it for 2019, recalculated each year from the Consumer Price Index (Utah Code § 78B-5-503) — and the homestead allowance, the $22,500 a surviving spouse takes from the estate ahead of creditors (Utah Code § 75-2-402). Who inherits the home is decided by the will, the trust, the deed or intestacy.

Who gets the home

In Utah the home passes like the decedent's other property — under the will or the trust, or by intestacy (Utah Code § 75-2-102) — subject to a surviving spouse's elective share (Utah Code § 75-2-202) and the spouse's homestead allowance of $22,500 from the estate (Utah Code § 75-2-402):

With a will or a trust that disposes of the home, it passes as the instrument says — subject to a surviving spouse's elective share of one-third of the augmented estate, which counts property passing outside probate (Utah Code § 75-2-202; Utah Code § 75-2-211).
Without one, the home passes by intestacy with the rest of the estate — to the surviving spouse alone where every surviving descendant is also the spouse's, otherwise the first $75,000 plus half the rest to the spouse and the balance to the descendants per capita at each generation (Utah Code § 75-2-102; Utah Code § 75-2-103).
A home owned in joint tenancy with a right of survivorship passes to the survivor outside the will; a home titled to a trustee passes by the trust's terms, which the deed states or a recorded instrument carries (Utah Code § 75B-2-816).

Can the home be left by will or by trust? Yes

Utah places no restriction on devising a home: the owner may leave it by will or by trust to anyone, subject to a surviving spouse's right to elect one-third of the augmented estate (Utah Code § 75-2-202).

Named in a revocable Trust? The family's rights still apply

Holding the home in a revocable Trust changes who holds title, not the family's rights: a surviving spouse's elective share is measured on an augmented estate that counts the decedent's nonprobate transfers, and the court may fix the liability of a person who holds that property as trustee (Utah Code § 75-2-202, § 75-2-211); the trust's property answers for the settlor's creditors, the estate's expenses and the statutory allowances to the extent the probate estate is inadequate (Utah Code § 75B-2-505); and the trustee's deed out of the trust is absolute in favor of a purchaser for value only where the terms were not made public (Utah Code § 75B-2-816). A Trustee who distributes or sells the home before those questions are settled can cloud the title. In a firm-supervised matter, TrusteeClear routes these questions to the attorney before anything moves.

Creditors and the home after a death

After the owner's death, the home is part of the estate — or the trust — that answers for the decedent's debts: the property of a trust that was revocable at the death answers for the settlor's creditors to the extent the probate estate is inadequate (Utah Code § 75B-2-505), while the homestead exemption keeps a primary residence from most judicial liens and forced sales up to the statute's amount, with the sale proceeds exempt for one year (Utah Code § 78B-5-503), and the homestead allowance comes ahead of creditors (Utah Code § 75-2-402). Liens and mortgages on the home still apply. Whether particular property is reachable is fact-specific attorney territory.

Property taxes

Utah values property on an annual cycle under its property tax code, and no statute in the Utah statute library reassesses a home because it changed hands at a death; a transfer to a trust is not itself a taxable event. A new owner reviews any residential exemption with the county assessor, who determines the effect. A Utah attorney can confirm what applies.

What should happen next?

Outcomes turn on facts: who survived, how the deed reads, whether minors are involved, and a spouse's elective-share petition, filed within nine months after the death or six months after the probate of the will, whichever is later (Utah Code § 75-2-211). This page is general information, not legal advice. A free role check shows you where you stand, and a Utah attorney can confirm how the home passes in your situation.

General information about Utah law, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Utah home be left by will or by trust?: Yes. Utah places no restriction on devising a home; it passes under the will or the trust, or by survivorship, or by intestacy with the rest of the estate (Utah Code § 75-2-102). A home titled to a trustee carries the terms of the trust in the deed or a recorded instrument (§ 75B-2-816).
What is the Utah homestead exemption worth?: The statute states $42,000 for an individual's primary personal residence and $5,000 for other property, as amounts for May 14, 2019 through December 31, 2019, recalculated each calendar year by the state auditor from the Consumer Price Index and rounded to the nearest $100, with each joint owner's exemption capped per household (Utah Code § 78B-5-503). It is a creditor exemption, distinct from the $22,500 homestead allowance a surviving spouse takes from the estate (§ 75-2-402).
Can a Utah home pass by small estate affidavit?: No. The affidavit of Utah Code § 75-3-1201 reaches tangible personal property, instruments, securities and up to four registered vehicles or boats, in an estate not exceeding $100,000; land passes by deed, by the trust or through probate.