Arizona Family Law Areas Of Practice

Arizona Family Law is the area of practice that primarily covers divorce, child custody and child support in Maricopa County, Arizona.  Arizona Family Law Attorneys who handle divorce cases also cover specific areas such as property division, legal separation and spousal maintenance (alimony).  The ever changing Arizona Revised Statutes that focus on Arizona Family Law contain a large volume of laws that govern the areas of family law.  This article focuses on the different areas of Arizona family Law and a brief definition of each.

No-Fault Divorce

By 1987 all fifty states had adopted, either as an option or as their exclusive model, the no-fault divorce model.  Arizona Family Law Attorneys who handle divorce argue cases using the no-fault divorce model exclusively.   No-fault divorce means the court only focuses on the existing state of the marriage.  Arizona makes no rulings concerning adultery, alcoholism or cruelty and allows people to enter into divorce simply on the grounds of incompatibility, irretrievable breakdown or irreconcilable differences.

Spousal Maintenance

Spousal Maintenance is about being eligible for alimony, or receiving an order to pay alimony, under Arizona Revised Statute 25-319.  Spousal Maintenance is solely left up to the discretion of the court.  Alimony is not usually awarded if the spouse who seeks alimony has the ability to be financially self sufficient or if the marriage was of short duration.  Alimony is often awarded when the spouse seeking alimony requires education or training to return to the work force or is at an age when starting a new career would be challenging. 

Child Custody

In January of 2013, Child Custody was significantly changed by breaking it into two separate areas that are now called Legal Decision Making and Parenting Time.  During a marriage, both parents had the right to spend time with their children and share major decisions made on behalf of the child in the areas of religion, medical, educational and other areas.  When marriages end, couples often disagree about these two topics.  The court will focus completely on what is in the best interest of the child in these cases.

Child Support

The Arizona Family Law courts use the Income Shares Model to prevent undue hardship to children.  Arizona focuses completely on the best interests of the child and uses the Arizona Child Support Guidelines to assess and enforce support.  The courts will also make use of the Arizona Child Support Calculator when determining how much support is to be paid and the length of time the support should be in effect.  

Parenting  Time

Parenting Time is about the time each parent will be spending with their children for visitation.  Arizona courts attempt to make rulings that provide equal, meaningful and frequent contact.  Matters such as the distance between the two homes are taken into account by the court.  The court always focuses on the bests interests of the child as outlined in ARS 25-403 Best Interest of the Child. 

Legal Decision Making

Legal Decision Making is about which parent will be making all important legal decisions for the child.  Arizona Family Law offers three possible scenarios for this that include  joint legal decision making, sole legal decision making or joint legal decision making with one parent having the final say.  Courts make every attempt to encourage both parents to be involved in this process and will often mandate counseling, mediation or high conflict resolution classes to help parents who are in conflict over this area.