Divorce, Custody, and Family Law Attorneys

Spousal maintenance is defined in A.R.S. § 25-319. It has two parts for determining how much spousal maintenance is ordered. Under A.R.S. § 25-319(A), a spouse must meet one of the five listed criteria to qualify for spousal maintenance. Once they do, we move to the calculation. It used to be that we moved onto A.R.S. § 25-319(B) to determine the amount, but under the new Guidelines and updated law, the 25-319(B) factors while still considered are applied during the calculation and determination phases of spousal maintenance.

Custody refers to “legal decision-making and parenting time.” But, the term “custody” is actually no longer used in Arizona. In 2012, the Arizona Legislature passed, and Governor Brewer signed, a bill that renamed custody as “legal decision-making and parenting time.” The thought was that many parents fought over “custody” without understanding what it really meant, so the Legislature reasoned if they made terms more descriptive of the rights involved, there would be less conflict over “custody.” So legal decision-making and parenting time are descriptive terms. Legal decision-making means the right to make decisions on behalf of your child when it comes to major decisions in the areas of healthcare, education, religious, and personal care decisions. And “parenting time” means the schedule of when the child is with each parent.

The best interests of the child are the standard under which the Court determines all matters relating to the child. To assist the Court in this function, the Legislature has enacted the 11 best interest factors listed in A.R.S. § 25-403. Parties should address these factors in their Pretrial Statement and at trial. The Court must make written findings on the 11 factors at trial.

To start a divorce in Arizona, the first step is to file the Petition for Dissolution with the Superior Court. The Petition is the paperwork that starts that divorce. After you file the Petition, you need to have it legally served to your spouse. Before you file, you may want to consider consulting with an attorney. Divorces are complex, and you should be fully informed before you file something. Otherwise, you risk making a mistake that could hurt your case.

The best time to meet with an attorney about a potential divorce, is before you have decided to divorce. An attorney can provide you information about what might happen in a divorce and help you make an informed decision. We’ve seen too many people rush into a divorce without considering what their life might look like afterwards.

That said, when you are in that stage, what attorney you meet with to get that information is critical. Some attorneys use their consultations as a sale pitch. Worse, others use it to scare you or pressure you into making a decision you may not be ready for.

At State 48, we do not believe in those approaches. We believe it is our job to provide you as much information as possible and let you decide. Seeking a divorce is a deeply personal decision, one of the biggest decisions you will ever make—and it is your decision. We do not want to make the decision for you.  But we are happy to help you understand the potential outcomes and how to protect yourself if you decide to divorce.

After you file for divorce, your next step is to serve your spouse with the paperwork. Your spouse needs a copy of everything that was file, including the Petition, Summons, Preliminary Injunction, Notice Re: Creditors, Notice Re: Health Insurance, and, if children are involved, the Affidavit of Minor Children and the Parent Information Program document. Additionally, any other notices or motions you filed at the same time should be included in the package to be served on your spouse.

Any property that is deemed as part of the marital community (aka community property) will be divided during the divorce. Community property is any property or debt that was acquired by either spouse during the marriage—with some exceptions. That means that pretty much anything you acquired during the marriage, asset or debt, will be divided as part of the divorce proceeding.

Community property is any asset or debt either spouse acquired during the marriage. It includes houses, businesses, retirement accounts, stocks, bank accounts, credit card debts, student loans, HELOC’s, intellectual property, etc. The exceptions to community property are any property acquired as an inheritance or as a gift. If a prenup or postnup was signed, the spouses may have opted out of the community property laws altogether. Additionally, certain federal law may prevent state courts from dividing certain assets, such as a military disability pension or Social Security benefits.

The quickest timeline for a divorce is a little more than two months, and it requires both parties to be in agreement. That is because of a 60-day waiting period that is put in place under Arizona law. On this timeline, one spouse files the Petition for Dissolution, the paperwork that starts the divorce. Then they serve the other spouse (when things are amicable, this is done by giving your spouse the paperwork and having them sign a notarized document that they received it, and this is then filed with the Court. That service date is important because it starts the sixty-day waiting period. At the end of the waiting period, the two of you can file your Consent Decree (and Parenting Plan, if you have children, and a Property Settlement Agreement, if necessary). These are the documents that divorce you, contain your agreement, and divide your property and decide what happens with your child. Once the papers are signed by the judge, you are divorced. 

If the business was started during the marriage and there are no agreements in place altering the ownership or the division of community property and it is deemed community property, it is subject to equal division between the parties. Under Arizona law, it does not matter whether a spouse’s name is on the business because it was started during the marriage, therefore it is part of the community property and needs to be divided as part of the divorce proceeding. There are a few exceptions: Where the business was inherited or gifted to your spouse or where or a prenup or postnup is in place, then the business may not be community property. If the business was started prior to the marriage, most likely, the business will not be divided in the divorce, but the increase in value and/or income received from the business will be equitably divided.