Utah / State / 2025 General Session, as amended 2026

2025 Utah Laws ch 231, as amended by 2026 Utah Laws ch 95 Rewrote Utah’s rules on paid assistance with a VA claim, then extended them to dependents in 2026

Catalog reconciledEnactedScope changed

Signed 2025-03-25 · Takes effect 2026-05-06

Chapter 231 of the 2025 general session rewrote Utah Code sections 71A-4-102 through 71A-4-105, producing the current regime: anyone offering to help a veteran apply for VA benefits must be VA-accredited, must give a written disclosure on a department-approved retainable form stating among other things "that there is no charge to the claimant or a member of the claimant’s family for assistance with the initial benefits application", may not strike out or mark nonapplicable any provision of that form, must have it signed by both parties, must retain it three years, must give the veteran a copy the same day and the department a copy within five working days, and must document any permitted fee in a written agreement complying with 38 C.F.R. 14.636 before rendering services. Subsection 7 prohibits compensation except as federal law permits, referral fees, compensation for services rendered before a notice of disagreement, decision review or appeal is filed whichever comes first, guarantees of a specific level, percentage or amount of benefits, and excessive or unreasonable fees. Subsection 8 lets the Division of Consumer Protection accept complaints and bring an action under the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act. Chapter 95 of the 2026 general session then amended section 71A-4-101 to add a definition of "non-compliant referral" and to provide that "‘Veteran’ includes all eligible dependents". Tracked because the 2026 amendment extends the whole chapter’s protections to dependents, which matters for the surviving spouse and pension cases that unaccredited consultants target, and because section 71A-4-104 requires the department to notify the Insurance Department, the Utah State Bar and the Department of Health and Human Services every three years, with health and human services required to notify all assisted living and nursing care facilities.