The Utah military affidavit

How Utah handles it

Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 55 says nothing about military service. Read at legacy.utcourts.gov on August 15, 2026, its four conditions for a clerk-entered default judgment are failure to appear, the defendant is not an infant or incompetent person, personal service under Rule 4(d)(1), and a verified statement of the amount due. The military obligation reaches Utah filers through the forms the Judiciary makes mandatory in the default packet instead of through the rule text.

Three forms go in for a general civil default: 1350GE (leave it unsigned, the court signs), 1351GE, and 1352GE, the Military Service Declaration (General). Family law cases swap in the FA series, so 1350FA, 1352FA, 1351FA, 1353FA, plus 1110FA and 1354FA. Small claims uses the same paperwork with one twist the self-help page calls out: a small claims defendant defaults by not appearing at trial rather than by failing to answer, so the plaintiff can carry the default forms to the trial date and hand them up if the other side is a no-show.

Form 1352GE is short. Item 1 confirms you asked the clerk to issue a Default Certificate and names which side defaulted. Item 2 is the three-way choice: in military service (and you will also submit a Military Service Order), not in military service, or unknown to you. Item 3 is a blank box for the basis, and the court prints its own worked example on the form: "John Doe is 88 years old which is too old to be in the military. I've lived with him for the past twenty years. I personally know he has not been in the military during those twenty years. He has worked full-time at ACME Cleaning Services as a janitor in Salt Lake City for the past five years." Utah is asking for facts about the person, and the form has no attachment slot for a Defense Manpower Data Center certificate. The court's default judgment page links scra.dmdc.osd.mil separately as the way to verify status.

If the answer is "in military service" or "unknown," a second form goes up with it: 1353GEJ, Military Service Order (General), or 1353FA in family cases. It is drafted for the judge's signature and gives the judge two paths. On unknown status, the case may proceed without a bond, or proceed once the named party files a bond in an amount the judge writes in. On confirmed military service, the court appoints an attorney for the non-appearing party and the action is stayed for 90 days from the date of the order. Utah staffs those appointments through a Service Member Attorney Volunteer program run by the courts.

The court's Lawsuits Involving Military Service Members page adds what happens next: the appointed lawyer tries to find the servicemember, and if contact fails, the default judgment can be entered once the stay expires or is lifted, subject to being vacated later. If the lawyer does reach the servicemember and the servicemember chooses to waive SCRA rights and consent, the default certificate is vacated and a judgment by consent is entered instead.

What trips filers up here

• The declaration says "criminal penalty," not "penalty of perjury." That is the Utah statutory formula from the Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act, not a drafting slip, and it is why no notary appears on the form.
• Checking "unknown" hands the judge a pre-drafted bond option. Form 1353GEJ already contains the blank for a bond amount, so the bond conversation starts the moment you file.
• Two live copies of the same form circulate. The legacy PDF at legacy.utcourts.gov and the current PDF served from apps.utcourts.gov both carry "Approved November 25, 2019," and the current site also offers a guided fillable version.
• The caption block covers both the district court and the justice court, so the same declaration works in a justice court debt case and a district court divorce.

Signing it: declaration, no notary

The signature line reads "I declare under criminal penalty under the law of Utah that everything stated in this document is true." Not "penalty of perjury," not notarized. That wording comes from Utah's Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act, Title 78B Chapter 18a, which Rule 55(b)(1)(D) also names for the amount-due declaration.

No notary is needed. The signature block is an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, which is what 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) expressly allows. Signing it knowing the military statement is false is still a federal crime, and a state perjury exposure on top.

Utah law on top of the federal rule

Utah Code § 39A-6-105: Utah has its own Service Members' Civil Relief Act at Title 39A Chapter 6. Section 39A-6-105, effective May 4, 2022, lets a court stay proceedings on its own motion when a party is a service member whose state military service may adversely affect the case, and requires a stay on written request unless the court finds on the record that the ability to prosecute or defend is not materially affected. Verified at le.utah.gov on August 15, 2026.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in Utah and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: Utah SCRA benefits.