Gardner v. Gardner, 2019 UT 28 (June 27, 2019)

The district court reduced the amount of alimony awarded to the wife based on wife’s “fault” that “substantially contributed” to the demise of the marriage.  The Utah Supreme Court interpreted the statutory requirement that the fault “substantially contributed to the breakup of the marriage” to mean that the conduct at issue must be an important or significant factor in the divorce, but it does not have to be the first cause or the only cause.  Applying this definition, the court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in reducing the alimony awarded to the wife, even though there were other potential causes of the divorce.