When is it time to file for divorce?

Spousal maintenance (“Alimony”)

In 2023, spousal maintenance is still ordered in many Arizona divorces. Defined simply, alimony is mandated by the Court when the spouse with a higher income is required to provide a monthly payment to the spouse with less income. You can think of it as an “allowance” from the spouse with a better job to the spouse with a lesser job; further, spousal maintenance is sometimes ordered when both spouses have full-time jobs. While many people think of alimony as a relic of decades past, these same people are usually aghast upon learning that they are required to provide their soon-to-be ex-spouse with a monthly cash payment for several years. While the alimony scheme mandated in Arizona was created in the 1960s—a time when the social environment inside most American homes was far different than what is found today—the law has not yet “caught up” to this reality. Adding insult to injury, since 2018, due to federal tax law changes, spousal maintenance payments are no longer deductible to the payor. That’s rough.

Arizona’s spousal maintenance law is highly nuanced and leaves the judge with a lot of discretion. Clearly, if you’re getting divorced, you are typically best off talking with a lawyer and getting them to defend you against a spousal maintenance claim when going through divorce. Better yet, if you aren’t married yet, you will probably do well to consider getting a prenuptial agreement in which both spouses agree that there will be no spousal maintenance in the unfortunate event of divorce.

How does the Court determine whether a spousal maintenance award is appropriate?

Generally, Courts award spousal maintenance when the following factors are present:

(1) One spouse has foregone the opportunity to work outside of the home for the benefit of the other spouse;
(2) the marriage produced children, and those children are still young;
(3) One spouse’s efforts greatly benefitted the other spouse’s career (i.e. through providing tuition to their spouse for school expenses, or otherwise helping with the other’s spouse’s vocational training);
(4) there’s a substantial difference in the income between the two spouses; and finally
(5) one spouse will receive insufficient property after the marital property is divide to reasonably support themselves.

Duration and amount of spousal maintenance award: spousal maintenance awards are only given when the marriage lasted five years or more. The longer the marriage (and the older the couple is when getting divorced), the longer the period the Court will mandate spousal maintenance. As a rule of thumb, the amount of spousal maintenance awarded is roughly proportional to allow the divorcing spouse to maintain the “standard of living” enjoyed during the marriage. Courts make a determination based on each spouse’s age, financial capabilities, and health.

Anecdotal example #1. Couple A was married for 25 years, both spouses are currently 55 years old. The couple has two high-school aged children. One spouse stayed home for the past ten years and lacks “good” quality professional job prospects because they’ve let their professional credentials deteriorate over the years. The other spouse worked a “good” corporate job and earns $120,000 per year. When this couple gets divorced, the working spouse will almost certainly be mandated to pay vast sums of spousal maintenance over a period of no less than 5 years. While it’s difficult to know exactly how much spousal maintenance will be ordered—because there is not a definite statutory formula mandated for the amount of spousal maintenance—one can assume that a the payment will be at least $2,500 per month.

Anecdotal example #2. Couple B was married for 13 years, and both spouses are currently in their early 40s. The couple has three kids, aged 12, 9, and 7. Neither spouse stayed home at any point in the marriage, and the kids were in daycare before they were old enough to even walk. Spouse #1 makes $95,000 per year as a blue-collar professional. This spouse gained their training through a two-year vocational technology program and was not supported through school by the other spouse. Meanwhile, Spouse #2 earns $45,000 per year as an entry-level medical professional following a four-year college program. This spouse was not officially “supported” through school (i.e. Spouse #2 took out student loans in their own name). In this case, despite the vast income differential where Spouse #1 earns $50,000 more per year than Spouse #2, an award of spousal maintenance is relatively unlikely because neither spouse gave up their employment opportunities for the other, and each spouse will be reasonably likely to maintain the marital lifestyle following the divorce.

The main “takeaway” from this situation: When structuring your marriage relationship, be cognizant that by “allowing” your spouse to stay home and sacrifice their career opportunities, you are opening yourself up to liability for many years into the future in the event of divorce. While that risk may be “worth it” in many situations, in other situations, you will be paying your ex thousands of dollars per month following divorce.

Vacating the marital residence:

In Arizona, the main asset owned by most couples is their marital residence. Following decades of massive price appreciation in the Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Peoria, and East Valley housing markets, homes in Metro Phoenix are now relatively expensive, and represent a large portion of most couple’s wealth. Divorcing couples have options regarding “what” they can do when selling their home.

Option 1: One spouse can “buy out” the other spouse’s equity and remain in the marital residence. Typically, this requires the spouse remaining in the home to refinance the property and make a large, one-time cash buyout payment to the other spouse. Clearly, the spouse that wishes to buy the other out will have to “qualify” for a loan in their own name—a feat that many find impossible in today’s market.

Option 2: The parties can agree to both move out of the home and sell the property on the open market for fair value. Once the property is sold, assets will be evenly distributed. As a point of fact, this option often leads to “headaches” for one or both of the spouses. All too often, one spouse will drag their feet when the other spouse has already moved out. By “dragging out” and delaying the sale of the martial home, the “slower” spouse is able to “squat” in the home for a long while the divorce proceedings drag on, and legally there is little the other spouse can do. Meanwhile, the “other” spouse is often desperate to get the home sold so they can receive their portion of the home equity and move on with their life. In some rare instances, one spouse, unsure of what their next living arrangement be, will refuse to execute sales documents and prevent the other spouse from selling the home and make a mess of the situation. Unfortunately, the law doesn’t provide much relief to the spouse who is seeking to make a quick sale of the home and move on with their life—this spouse is usually at the mercy of the other spouse and there’s little that can be done.

The Nasty Backdoor Attempt to get exclusive use of the marital residence: Arizona allows romantic partners to get an order of protection that exiles their spouse from the marital home. As a general rule, judges occasionally grant requests for orders of protection on scant evidence. All a disgruntled spouse has to do is walk into court, fabricate claims of abuse or domestic violence within the past year, and the Court will typically grant the request for an order of protection. More often than not, an order of protection will grant one spouse exclusive use of the marital residence and ban the other spouse from coming to the home—except for a brief civil standby in which the exiled spouse is allowed to enter the home with a police escort and gather whatever goods can be taken in a 30 minute period. Further, Courts typically bar the exiled spouse from calling or texting the other spouse unless the conversation is directly pertinent to the parties’ Children.
If your spouse files an order of protection against you, you have the option to contest the order in a formal court hearing. During the hearing, you have to convince the Judge that your spouse embellished the claims of domestic violence/harassment—or demonstrate that the claims of abuse stem from events that occurred more than one year ago. If you’re unable to win at this hearing, your spouse will “win” and the order of protection will be valid for one year from the date it was ordered.
Orders of protection are intended to rescue an embattled spouse from an overtly aggressive, dangerous partner and provide that spouse with immediate relief. All too often, the order of protection is granted for exaggerated claims of domestic abuse and is nothing more than a backdoor attempt to secure exclusive use of the residence by a wily partner that wants to “game the system” for their benefit.

How long can a divorce be put on hold?

At the bare minimum, a divorce will take sixty (60) days in the state of Arizona. The state colloquially refers to the 60 day timeframe as a “cooling off” period and mandates that the Courts wait to process a divorce for at least 60 days. The Courts rationale is based on their policy which promotes marriage between couples; The State hopes that by creating hurdles for divorcing couples to “jump” over, the Couple will be discouraged from pursuing a divorce.

Clearly, the state’s rationale is outdated; by the time a couple files for divorce, the marriage is over, and (usually) has been for a long time. While this law probably made sense when it was enacted, all the law currently does is drag out an already stressful process.

In reality, contested divorces take far longer than sixty days. It’s rare that a divorce happens in just 60 days. In order for a divorce to take just 60 days, the divorcing couple must agree on everything and submit their paperwork promptly and correctly. Unfortunately, this is relatively rare. More commonly, divorce cases takes six months to one year (or longer). In reality, contested divorces (i.e. a “contested” divorce is one where the parties don’t agree on everything) will drag out for a long while.

In particular, when there is a custody battle (i.e. you and your soon to be ex-spouse disagree on custody arrangements, parenting time, and child support) your case will have two or more evidentiary hearings and the case will almost certainly take more than one year.

The First Hearing when there is a divorce with Children

In your first hearing, you often are required to file a petition for temporary orders. When filing for “temporary orders” you are asking the Court to formally decide what will happen for the duration of your case. For example, filing for temporary orders is particularly desirable when your ex is keeping your children from you. When your ex keeps the kids from you, they are engaging in “gatekeeping” or “parental alienation.” While this is widely known to be illegal, couples that are heading for divorce often engage in this behavior….typically as a last-gasp effort to exert power over their ex. When your ex does this, it creates a need for a special “first” hearing in which the Court addresses how Child custody, parenting time, and child support will be handled between the time that you file and the case ends.

Courts rarely address financial matters between couples before the case’s “final hearing.”

Later Hearings During a Divorce At your final hearing, the Judge slams his gavel and makes final determinations about your case. Anything that could not be agreed upon at an earlier is are handled at the final hearing. Your case’s final parenting plan, custody arrangement, child support, spousal maintenance, and property division are all decided at this final hearing.

What is a short marriage?

Are you considering divorce after a short-term marriage? Typically, Arizona’s courts consider any marriage that lasted less than five years to be a short marriage. While the same law applied to all marriages, regardless of their duration, typically, short term marriages are “easier” to dissolve than long term marriages.

Dividing Assets: the realities of ending a short marriage are (usually) different than ending a long marriage.

While the same law applies to dissolving short term marriages as long marriages, short marriages are usually easier to dissolve. Usually, after a short marriage, the couple has accumulated few—If any—significant assets. Frequently, the couple’s individual assets, debts, and financial accounts have not yet been fully commingled, and the parties can settle in a reasonable time frame.

Also worth noting, spousal maintenance ( “alimony”) is not typically awarded unless a couple was married for five years. Further, in the exceptionally rare circumstance were spousal maintenance is awarded after a short marriage, the maintenance award is usually extremely small (and not worth fighting over).

Short Marriages with Children

While dividing assets is usually easier for a couple that is ending a short marriage, the difficulty of fighting for custody is just as tough for couples that were married for a short period as those who were married for a long time. Typically, legal decision-making authority, parenting time, and child support are unaffected by the length of a couple’s marriage. In fact, short marriages often yield fewer children—who are typically younger when their parent’s divorce—which almost always leads to joint custody and equal parenting time.

While it is difficult to determine how much property you will receive following a short-term marriage, speaking to a family law attorney is imperative. Call Troon Law Group today for a free consultation at (602) 830-0539.

The Three Primary Determinations Preventing Joint Custody

An explanation into three ominous factors that prevent parents from getting joint custody over their children:

(1) a history of domestic violence or child abuse (A.R.S. § 25-403.03); and
(2) substance abuse issues (A.R.S. § 25-403.04); and
(3) any sexual offender issues (A.R.S. § 25-403.05).

How strong is my domestic violence claim in my child custody matter?

Frankly, it is difficult to get a court to determine that an act of significant domestic violence was committed is difficult. Because the stakes are high—if a Court determines that a parent committed domestic violence, they are unable to allow that parent to have legal decision-making authority—Courts take a multifactorial approach to examining whether significant domestic violence occurred in a relationship. A person commits an act of domestic violence if that person has:

(1) intentionally, knowingly or recklessly caused or attempted to cause sexual assault or serious physical injury; or
(2) placed a person in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious physical injury to any person; or
(3) engaged in a pattern of behavior for which the court may issue an ex parte order to protect the other parent who is seeking legal decision-making authority or to protect the child or the child’s siblings. A.R.S. § 25- 403-03(B).

Evidence of domestic violence:
The court considers evidence of domestic violence as being contrary to the best interests of the child. The court considers the safety and well-being of the child and of the victim of the act of domestic violence to be of primary importance. The court considers an alleged perpetrator’s history of causing or threatening to cause physical harm to another person. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(B).

In accordance with A.R.S. § 25-403.03(C), the Court considers the following factors to determine whether significant domestic violence was committed:

1. Findings from another court of competent jurisdiction (i.e. another court has already determined that domestic violence occurred).
2. Police reports.
3. Medical reports.
4. Department of Child Safety records.
5. Domestic violence shelter records.
6. School records.
7. Witness testimony.

Obviously, the strength of your domestic violence claim hinges on the strength of the evidence you can present on the day of trial. Gathering records well in advance of Court dates is imperative.

How is Child Support Calculated in Arizona?

Determining which Parent gets child support: The party with more parenting time receives child support from the other parent.

Courts have little discretion in deciding the amount of monthly financial support awarded in an Arizona child support case. Courts are duty bound to use the Arizona Child Support Guidelines Calculator when computing the amount of child support owed in a case.

Determining how much child support is awarded: The amount of child support awarded depends on the following factors:

(1) Amount of parenting time: The more parenting time that one parent has, the more child support is owed to that parent. When parents have essentially equal parenting time, child support is at its lowest possible amount.
(2) Gross Monthly Income. The parent earning more money has a greater responsibility to support the child financially.
(3) Amount of medical, dental, and vision insurance paid for the children. Payment of insurance premiums for the children act as a “deduction” (or credit) toward your child obligation.
(4) Amount of extra education expenses paid. Payment of these sums acts as a deduction/credit toward your obligations.
(5) Amount of extraordinary (gift or handicapped) child expenses paid. Once again, these sums paid can lower (or raise) your child support obligation.
(6) Amount of spousal maintenance paid and received. If applicable; receipt of spousal maintenance acts as “income” for the receiving party and “expenses” (and a deduction in gross monthly income) for a paying party.
(7) Amount of child support paid and received (to and from children of other relationships). This is a large
(8) Number of children from other relationships.

The Arizona Child Support Guidelines takes all of the eight aforementioned factors and computes the amount of child support you owe.

While Child Support is simple for most cases, there are a few nuances.

My Ex quit their job to avoid paying child support

Sometimes in divorce and custody matters, one party may voluntarily quit their job—or becomes voluntarily “underemployed”—in an attempt to reduce their child support or spousal maintenance obligations. The logic goes something like the following: “If I earn less, I owe less.” Historically, Arizona Courts have disfavored this practice.

While long-standing case law disfavors this practice, it can be difficult to actually get the “appropriate” amount of money that should be owed to you from your spouse in this situation.

What can be done?

If your spouse quits their job in order to reduce their presumptive child support obligation, you will likely have to go to court to fight them to pay the proper amount of spousal maintenance or child support. By employing a lawyer, you can put on evidence that your spouse willfully quit their job (or is working a lower quality job and they could have) and that you and your child should not have to suffer due to your ex’s whims.

Imputation of income

By default, all parents in Arizona are required to work full-time—forty (40) hours per week—at a job that is appropriate for the level of skill and training they have. If a parent refuses to work full-time at their job, courts typically “impute” income equal to what they should earn at an appropriate job. The primary exception to this occurs when one parent is severely disabled or otherwise unable to meaningfully participate in their child’s upbringing.

The legal term “imputation of income” means that “if one Parent is voluntarily under employed or unemployed, their support obligation is still the same as it would be if they were appropriately employed.” One common scenario occurs when a parent earns essentially no money and is completely unemployed. As of writing this article, the minimum wage in Arizona is $13.85 per hour. The court assumes that all Parents are capable of earning at least the minimum wage, and all parents are capable of working a full-time job to support their children. Translated into numbers, this usually means that all parents are capable of earning at least $13.85 per hour while working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Imputation of income prevents one parent from “gaming” the system and willfully earning less than they could.

Evidentiary Hearing – (A.R.S. 25-320 Child Support Hearing)

During an evidentiary hearing, you will have to prove that your ex is earning substantially less money than they are capable of earning. As a rule of thumb, for the court to impute income upon your ex, you will need to be able to demonstrate that your ex earns at least 33 percent less than they are capable of making. For example, if your ex was previously employed as a manager and earned $60,000 per year, but shortly after your case was filed happened to start earning just $35,000 as a low-level employee, the Court may decide to impute income upon them. However, if your spouse was previously earning $60,000 but for a good reason (i.e. injury, illness, a bad economy), is now earning just $50,000 (especially after losing their previous job), it’s unlikely the court will find that your spouse is trying to evade their obligations, and the court will probably not impute income upon them.

Which Evidence is Most Important?

Evidence is usually gathered early in litigation (this process is called “disclosure” or “discovery”). After submitting and gathering your ex’s: (1) last three tax returns; (2) two most recent paystubs, and (3) they complete an affidavit of financial information, the Court will allow both sides an opportunity to testify to their finances and income. Sometimes, it can be useful to “trace” the source of funds by analyzing bank statements and financial accounts.

While the situation is complicated, the lawyers at Troon Law Group are able to make significant headway in cases like these. Give us a call at (602) 830-0539 to get started today.

Do I Need a Prenup?

It depends on your goals. Are you seeking to keep your finances separate once you marry? If so, a prenuptial agreement is a good tool to help ensure that your assets are protected once you get married. Prenuptial agreements are a great tool for couples that don’t want to adhere to Arizona’s community property system and prefer a “customized” approach to how property will be handled in their marriage (and if they get divorced).

When asked for the advice he could offer to prospective couples before entering into a marriage, a famous lawyer was recently quoted by Glamour magazine stating:
“When you buy a house, they make you fill out 50 forms, explaining that you understand the lead paint disclosure, you understand the loan, you understand everything…[when] you get married, you don’t get a pamphlet, you don’t even get a piece of paper saying, ‘Oh, by the way, you just did the most legally significant thing—other than dying—that you’ll ever do.’ The fact that you’re entering into this significant legal contract—that most people have zero idea what’s actually involved in that contract—and spend a lot more time figuring what kind of cake they’ll have at the event is a really strange thing to me… Take marriage seriously.”

While the famous lawyer’s characterization of marriage was glib, there are certainly grains of truth to his message. Most people do not understand how legally significant marriage is. When you get married in Phoenix, Arizona, your legal status is greatly impacted. Here’s how: All of the money earned by either spouse belongs to the other partner in equal shares.

Married couples in Arizona are bound by a concept called “community property.” Under A.R.S. 25-211: All property acquired by either husband or wife during the marriage is community property unless the property was:

(1) brought to the marriage by one partner and was never gifted to the other partner; or
(2) acquired by gift or inheritance; or
(3) acquired after service of a petition for dissolution of marriage.

That’s it. That’s how simple Arizona community property law is. While (2) and (3) are relatively straightforward, (1) is sometimes complicated. Formerly “separate” property that an individual brings to the marriage is “commingled” or “transmuted” when that property is “gifted” to the other spouse. Under community property law, “gifts” are VERY broadly construed. Did you know that adding your spouse to the home mortgage documents—but NOT adding them to the deed title—of a home you owned before getting married is deemed a “gift” of the home’s equity to your spouse under Arizona law? Also, did you know that “separate property” spent on your spouse is non-refundable? For example, if you pay off your spouse’s student loans or some other debts, you will be unable to get that money back when you get divorced. The takeaway is roughly the following: keep your separate assets SEPARATE and don’t take out joint (i.e. “shared”) credit unless you understand and accept that later division of the assets will be divided equally.

Arizona Is A Community Property State

At its core, “community property” is a fancy way of saying “each partner takes half of whatever was earned during the marriage.” While this is a straightforward analysis for most divorcing couples, nuances do come into play. Essentially everything earned in a marriage is “community property.” (including wage income). So is the appreciation of community savings like stocks, bonds, and real estate.

What Is Separate Property?

The polar opposite of “community property” is “separate property.” Property that was accumulated prior to the marriage or was gifted to one of the spouses is deemed “separate property.” Separate property remains “separate” in divorce, and the other spouse has no claim to separate property when a marriage ends. One common nuance when classifying community and separate property is the existence of “commingled property” (also referred to as “transmuted property”). Commingled assets are those assets that were originally separate property before the marriage, but became community property during the marriage. This happens when the originally separate property assets are “benefitted” (i.e. maintained, acquired, or improved) by the parties’ community property.

Two Illustrative Examples Distinguish Community Property From Seperate Property

Two common examples are:

1. Real Estate and the Marital Home—the marital home sometimes begins the marriage as separate property. When the purchasing spouse buys the home before the couple gets married, the property starts out as sole and separate property. Before getting married, the purchasing spouse titles the deed and mortgage in their own name. Over the years though, when “community funds” are used to pay the mortgage or improve the property, the marital estate has a claim to the appreciation in the home, and each partner has an undivided claim to one half of the marital home’s value. However, at this point, the spouse who purchase the home still has an argument that their down payment is separate from the marital estate, and when the parties divorce, the purchasing spouse may be able to get his or her down payment back, and get more than 50 percent of the home’s equity.

Sometimes matters get cloudy though, because parties re-finance the home after they get married. When this happens, the contributing partner loses their “separate” property down payment for the home and the real estate asset is fully commingled. At that point, each spouse owns half of the property despite the fact that one spouse did not contribute at all to the home’s down payment.

2. Bank accounts—when couples have separate bank accounts prior to marriage, the accounts only remain separate if community property doesn’t make its way in to the account. When community property enters the “separate” bank accounts, the character of the bank account is commingled, and each partner is then capable of taking one-half of the entire value of the bank account.

3. Retirement Accounts and Pensions Couples in Arizona are capable of entirely skipping the community property stage of their marriage by drafting and signing a mutually agreed upon prenuptial agreement (“prenups”). However, in the year 2022 (when this article was written), prenups remain extremely uncommon in Arizona, and most people end up bound to the default approach (the community property scheme).

Clearly, the community property system is confusing. Give us a call and we can tell you what your rights are under the law.

Are you tired of your current parenting plan? The good news: you’re able to change it! The bad news: You will have to go through the same messy process you went through during your first custody battle.

Absent extenuating circumstances, you have to wait one full year after the Court entered your most recent parenting plan before modifying your existing one. Also, before filing a petition for modification, you are required to attend formal, court-ordered mediation with your ex through Maricopa County Reconciliation Services.

You are able to Petition the Court for either a partial or total modification of your parenting plan. If you are content with your current parenting time, and are only concerned with changing your existing parenting plan regarding legal decision-making authority, you are able to file for a modification of that one issue only. On the other hand, if you are successful in modifying your parenting time, typically child support will have to change too.

Practically speaking, some issues are worth the trouble of going back to Court for while other issues are not. Usually, people only petition the Court for a modification of their existing parenting plan when they want to change their existing parenting time schedule or child support (when your income changes by more than 15% in one year, a modification of child support is typically “in the cards.”). Courts have an easy time wrapping their minds around why a parent wants more (or less) time with their children.

However, Courts rarely grant relief for highly specialized topics pertaining to legal decision-making authority like choice of school or choice of doctor. In Arizona’s short family law evidentiary trials (i.e. no case lasts more than three (3) hours), you’re unlikely to successfully convince a Judge that you need to modify the legal decision-making authority balance. Courts usually gravitate toward granting the parents joint legal decision-making authority (“custody”).

If the time has finally arrived for your to modify your parenting plan, contact us.

My Ex Wants to Move My Child Out of State

Child relocation cases are difficult. Arizona—like most states—is “greedy” with its jurisdiction over children. Once the state of Arizona deems that a child’s legal “home state” is Arizona, children usually remain there indefinitely. Arizona defines home state as the state where the Child resided for the 6 months prior to filing court paperwork. See A.R.S. 25-1031.

In cases where the parties have joint legal decision-making authority, relocating a child out of state is extremely difficult. To succeed, the moving parent has to show why moving out of state is in the Child’s best interests and simultaneously demonstrate to the Court why taking away the majority of their ex’s parenting time is also in the child’s best interests. This is extremely difficult to do and the moving parent has a high burden to clear. Per A.R.S. 25-408, the factors that a Court examines are:

(1) The typical best interest factors.
(2) Whether the relocation is being made or opposed in good faith.
(3) How much the move will improve the general quality of life for the custodial parent or for the child.
(4) The likelihood that the parent with whom the child will reside after the relocation will comply with parenting time orders.
(5) Whether the relocation will allow a realistic opportunity for parenting time with each parent.
(6) The extent to which moving or not moving will affect the emotional, physical or developmental needs of the child.
(7) Whether the parent moving will earn substantially more money.
(8) The potential effect of relocation on the child's stability.

The Court examines each of the above factors, and after “balancing” the factors makes a determination. At a bare minimum, substantial evidence needs to be presented that clearly shows the child’s health, welfare, and education would all substantially improve if the child relocates out-of-state. Further, the improvement created by moving must be enough to outweigh the detrimental effect of losing parenting time with their other parent.

I have sole custody, is my “battle” to relocate any easier?

In a word, the answer is “yes.”

Parents with sole legal custody (legal decision-making authority) have an easier time convincing Courts that out-of-state relocation is in the child’s best interests. Courts often presume that a sole custodial parent is in a far better position to make legal decisions, and as such, the Court typically assumes that the sole custodial parent “knows what is best” for their child when relocating out state. Courts usually trust the discretion of a sole custodial parent and tend to “tilt” the above A.R.S. 25-408 factors in the moving parents favor. Nonetheless, the non-sole custodial parent—that is opposed to relocation—is able to present their opposition by formally stating their opposition and facing trial on this issue.

How it’s done: Opposing your ex’s plan to relocate

When your ex attempts to move your child out of state, the first step they must follow is properly informing you forty-five (45) days before they intend to relocate. Once you receive notice, you should immediately state your opposition to your ex relocating in writing (e-mail and text message will work). Then, if your ex is truly serious about moving, they will usually file suit and try to get permission from the Court to formally relocate. Because relocating out of state presents a need to modify your parenting plan, you can usually expect to receive a “petition to modify legal decision making authority, parenting time, and child support.” Once this document is received you will need to examine the document and determine whether your ex can actually has the necessary facts to demonstrate to a Court that the Child’s best interests will be served by being taken away from you for the majority of parenting time. Admittedly, this is tough to do, and hiring a lawyer can really help you in achieving this. Call us at (602) 830-0539 for a free consultation.

What Relocation Actually Looks Like: What is a typical parenting time schedule after relocation?

It depends. After relocating out-of-state, the new parenting plan will depend on a number of factors, but the guiding light will be practicability. Essentially, the Court asks, “when is it actually practical and sensible to expect the parents to exchange the Children?” Further, issues like distance from Arizona and the Child’s age will play a significant part in determining whether relocation will be allowed. For example, a parent who moves to San Diego from Phoenix will have an easier time arranging for parenting time exchanges than someone who moved from Scottsdale to Connecticut. A 16 year old will have an easier time traveling over long distances than an 8 year old.

Relocating out-of-state requires the Court to declare one parent as the “primary residential parent.” The primary residential parent is the one the Child spends the majority of the time with, particularly during the academic school year. During school breaks, the Child travels to be with the non-custodial parent. A typical holiday parenting time schedule for the non-custodial parent looks like the following: the first six weeks of summer break, every other winter break, every other thanksgiving break, and each spring break will be spent with the non-custodial parent.

If you are facing a relocation case, get help from a professional, experienced lawyer. Call Troon Law Group at (602) 830-0539 to book a free consultation today.