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Cites the recodified Title 81 statute

Utah Child Support Arrears Calculator 2026

Utah sets arrears interest by vintage. Each missed payment becomes a judgment the day it is due, takes the year rate, federal postjudgment plus 2 percent, and keeps it forever. For 2026 judgments that is 5.51 percent.

Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log

Estimate a Utah arrears balance with interest

Arrears owed

The unpaid support amount itself, before any interest.

Accrual period
How do you want to enter the period?

Estimated arrears with interest: $5,275.50

Interest of $275.50 at 5.51% simple per year (Utah Code 15-1-4(3); 81-7-102).

How this estimate was computed
Line itemAmount
Arrears principalUtah Courts, Historic Post Judgment Interest Rates (Utah Code 15-1-4: federal rate as of Jan 1 plus 2 percent; 2026 = 5.51 percent) (Utah State Courts (utcourts.gov))$5,000.00
Simple interest at 5.51% per year for 12 month(s) (Utah Code 15-1-4(3); 81-7-102)The 5.51 percent figure is the 2026 rate (federal postjudgment rate as of January 1 plus 2 percent, Utah Code 15-1-4(3)). Each missed payment is its own judgment when due (81-7-102) and keeps the rate of ITS year for life: installments from 2025 carry 6.23 percent, 2024 carries 6.81, 2023 carries 6.73. A single-rate estimate therefore approximates a multi-year ledger. Collection reality per ORS policy CS 085P: the Office of Recovery Services does not routinely calculate or collect this interest; it collects interest only where a court has reduced it to a specific lump-sum judgment, an interstate case supplies the amount, or criminal nonsupport restitution orders it.Utah Courts, Historic Post Judgment Interest Rates (Utah Code 15-1-4: federal rate as of Jan 1 plus 2 percent; 2026 = 5.51 percent) (Utah State Courts (utcourts.gov))$275.50
Arrears principal plus interestUtah Courts, Historic Post Judgment Interest Rates (Utah Code 15-1-4: federal rate as of Jan 1 plus 2 percent; 2026 = 5.51 percent) (Utah State Courts (utcourts.gov))$5,275.50

Assumptions

  • Accrual period expressed as 12 month(s); partial months prorate.

Estimate only. The court or state agency calculation controls.

Utah arrears interest under Utah Code 15-1-4(3); 81-7-102; rules last reviewed 2026-08-07.

How arrears interest works in Utah

Two statutes do the work. Utah Code 81-7-102 makes every unpaid support installment a judgment on and after its due date, no separate court step needed. Utah Code 15-1-4 then prices that judgment: the federal postjudgment interest rate in effect on January 1 of the year the judgment was entered, plus two percentage points, applied as simple interest.

The rate is fixed at entry, which makes Utah arrears a layered ledger rather than a single running rate. A payment missed in 2023 accrues at 6.73 percent for as long as it stays unpaid, a 2024 miss at 6.81, a 2025 miss at 6.23, and a 2026 miss at 5.51, each per the Utah Courts official rate table. Later rate changes never touch older installments.

Now the practical catch. The Office of Recovery Services, which enforces most Utah support cases, does not calculate or collect this interest in the ordinary course; its case system cannot, and since 2003 its notices have not mentioned interest. ORS collects interest in three situations only: a court has already reduced it to a specific lump-sum judgment, another state supplies the figure in an interstate case, or a criminal nonsupport restitution order includes it.

That means the interest a Utah obligee is legally owed usually sits uncollected until the obligee goes to court, does the year-by-year math, and gets it reduced to a sum certain. This page helps you see the scale of that number before deciding whether the trip is worth it.

When a judgment arises
Each support payment becomes a judgment on its due date (Utah Code 81-7-102)source
Rate formula
Federal postjudgment rate as of January 1 of the judgment year, plus 2 percent, simplesource
Recent year rates
2026: 5.51 percent; 2025: 6.23; 2024: 6.81; 2023: 6.73source
Who collects it
ORS does not routinely calculate or collect interest; a court judgment is usually neededsource

How to use this estimate

Enter the arrears principal and how many months it has been outstanding. The tool applies the 2026 rate of 5.51 percent as simple annual interest and shows principal, interest, and total on separate lines.

Remember the vintage rule when you read the result. A real Utah ledger accrues each missed installment at the rate of ITS year, so a balance built across 2023 through 2026 blends four different rates, most of them higher than 5.51 percent. A single-rate estimate like this one runs modestly low for older debt.

If ORS handles your case, do not expect its balance to include interest at all; that is policy, not an error. To actually collect, an obligee typically files for a judgment that fixes the interest as a dollar sum, and this estimate is a reasonable first read on what that filing is worth.

What this estimate includes

  • The arrears principal you enter
  • Simple annual interest at the 2026 rate of 5.51 percent under Utah Code 15-1-4
  • A principal-plus-interest total with the statutory citations attached

What it leaves out

  • Year-by-year layering: each installment legally carries the rate of the year it was missed
  • Partial payments, tax intercepts, and ORS ledger adjustments along the way
  • The lump-sum judgment step that makes the interest collectible through ORS
  • New support accruing under the current order

Utah arrears FAQs

What is the interest rate on Utah child support arrears?

It depends on the year each payment was missed. Utah Code 15-1-4 sets the rate at the federal postjudgment rate as of January 1 plus 2 percent, fixed for the life of that judgment, and section 81-7-102 makes every unpaid installment a judgment on its due date. The Utah Courts table puts 2026 at 5.51 percent, 2025 at 6.23, 2024 at 6.81, and 2023 at 6.73.

Why did my ORS statement not show any interest?

Because ORS does not calculate or collect interest in the normal course, by its own published policy. Its system cannot track judgment-by-judgment rates, and interest references came off its notices back in 2003. The exceptions are a court order fixing interest as a specific amount, an interstate case where the other state certifies the figure, and criminal nonsupport restitution.

So is the interest real, or not?

It is real as a matter of law and dormant as a matter of practice. The installments accrue interest by statute whether or not anyone bills it. What an obligee usually lacks is a collection channel: getting one means asking a court to compute the accrued interest and enter it as a sum certain, after which ORS can enforce it like any other judgment amount.

Does the rate on my old arrears change when the annual rate changes?

No. The rate attaches at entry and stays. A payment missed in 2024 keeps 6.81 percent even though a 2026 miss earns only 5.51. One open question our research flagged: when a court consolidates years of arrears into one judgment, whether the consolidated sum takes the new year rate is a case-law detail we mark official-confirmation-required.

Is Utah arrears interest simple or compound?

Simple. Section 15-1-4 states an annual percentage on the judgment amount and no Utah statute compounds support arrears, so a $10,000 principal from 2026 grows by $551 a year, flat, until it is paid or reduced to a new judgment.

Can Utah back child support be forgiven?

Not by the court going backward. Each installment vested as a judgment when it came due, and modification only reaches forward from a filed petition. The interest component is the flexible part in practice, since collecting it takes an affirmative step the obligee can simply decline to make.

Official sources

Official sources last verified: .

Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log

Changelog: page first published with the year-fixed 15-1-4 rate rule and the ORS collection posture. Material changes are dated in the update log.