No one expects their walk down the aisle to end in divorce court, but sometimes life takes us on unanticipated paths. When it’s time to move in a new direction, filing for divorce in Arizona doesn’t have to feel overwhelming when you understand the process ahead and have experienced representation guiding you through every step.
If you’re facing a divorce in Arizona, reach out to Wilson Goodman Law Group, PLLC, your trusted Chandler divorce lawyer. Let us help you navigate this challenging time with compassion and expertise. Contact us today for a consultation.
Like all states, Arizona has residency requirements to establish jurisdiction for divorcing spouses. To file for divorce in Arizona, at least one spouse must have lived in the state for at least 90 days. For spouses with children, the court can only establish jurisdiction for custody decisions over children who have lived in Arizona for at least six months before the filing date. Infants under six months old must have lived in Arizona since birth.
Arizona follows the no-fault divorce laws that are now the accepted norm in every state. In Arizona, spouses do not have to prove that they were wronged by a spouse to obtain a dissolution of their marriage (divorce). Instead, divorcing spouses file on the grounds that marriage is “irretrievably broken.” Only one spouse must believe the marriage is irretrievably broken to file for divorce, but if the other spouse disagrees, the judge will schedule a hearing. At the hearing, the judge hears the arguments from both sides. Depending on the judge’s evaluation of the circumstances, they may agree that the marriage is broken or order a 60-day delay followed by a conciliation conference. This helps facilitate reconciliations for some spouses; however, if one spouse still determines that the marriage is broken, it’s rare for a judge to deny the request for a divorce. The only exception to the no-fault divorce laws in Arizona is for spouses in covenant marriage cases. To enter a covenant marriage, spouses agree not to divorce without specific grounds. In these marriages, a judge can only grant a divorce on grounds of adultery, a felony conviction, abandonment, domestic violence, sexual abuse, chronic addiction, or after living apart for at least two years.
Once divorcing spouses ensure that they meet the residency requirement for an Arizona divorce and understand the grounds for their divorce, it’s time for each spouse to hire a respected divorce lawyer. An attorney represents their best interests and guides their client through the process, beginning with the initial filings. The spouse who files for divorce becomes the petitioner, while the other spouse is the respondent. The petitioner files the papers at the county clerk’s office at the courthouse of their jurisdiction. There are no significant legal advantages to being the petitioner, other than choosing the jurisdiction for the divorce in Arizona if the spouse has moved to a different state where they might meet that state’s residency requirement. The divorce petition includes specific requests for property division, child custody, and sometimes spousal support. After officially receiving the petition for divorce, the respondent has 20 days to respond with their own position on the petitioner’s requests. Out-of-state spouses have 30 days to respond. Arizona has a mandatory 60-day waiting period to finalize the divorce, beginning after the respondent is officially served with the divorce papers.
During the 60-day waiting period after filing for divorce in Arizona, both spouses must submit full financial disclosure affidavits with the help of their attorneys. During the discovery process, each attorney examines the financial disclosures of the other spouse and may request additional documents. Both parties have a legal obligation to produce these financial records.
There are two types of divorce processes in Arizona. In an uncontested divorce, both spouses agree on all aspects of the divorce, including the division of their community assets, child custody, and spousal support. They achieve this settlement agreement with the help of their attorneys and a professional mediator who offers workable solutions to resolve disputes. An uncontested divorce does not require an adversarial trial process. Instead, the attorneys present the divorce settlement agreement to a judge who typically signs it into binding orders unless the judge finds it egregiously unfair to one spouse or suspects coercion. If the spouses have one or more unresolved disputes, such as a disagreement over child custody or the division of their assets, then the divorce becomes a contested divorce and goes to court. In a contested divorce, both spouses present their arguments to a judge with the help of their attorneys and the judge makes the final decisions on all disputed divorce terms after considering the evidence and testimony.
Arizona is a community property divorce state, requiring divorcing spouses to divide their marital property either 50/50 or in a way that’s fair and equitable if not precisely 50/50. The spouses may retain their separate property—including assets owned before the marriage, inherited during the marriage, or gifted to them during the marriage—however, if a separate asset increases value during the marriage, the other spouse may have a right to a portion of the increased value. Property division may be fairly simple for spouses with few assets or it can become complex for high-asset spouses. If disputes on asset division require a judge to decide in divorce court, the judge has significant discretion for how they may divide and distribute the marital assets depending on the circumstances.
Arizona courts make all decisions in the best interests of the child. The court begins each child custody case with the presumption that it’s in a child’s best interest to keep frequent close contact with both parents through joint custody. The parents may agree to a joint custody or shared parenting plan, or they may choose an arrangement in their child custody schedule that works for them. If they have a dispute over child custody, a judge will hear both sides before making a decision.
A divorce is a challenging endeavor, especially when there are disputes over child custody or asset division that require negotiations, mediation, or a divorce trial. Contact the Arizona divorce lawyers who are ready to help protect your interests at Wilson Goodman Law Group, PLLC.
