Blog Posts: Family Law

A relationship with a narcissist involves a toxic cycle of emotional abuse and destruction.  It is not uncommon for a victim to be entirely unaware of the negative toll a narcissist takes on their mental health and self-esteem until the damage is already done.  While certainly not all individuals displaying these traits are diagnosable with a personality disorder...

The question of whether medical records could be used in a divorce case was settled – so long as the issues of parenting time and legal decision-making were in dispute, all medical records relevant to these issues were to be exchanged and could be used in a family law case. The same was true of medical records pertaining to a spousal maintenance claim – medical...

For many years, the question of whether medical records could be used in an Arizona divorce case was settled – so long as the issues of parenting time and legal decision-making were in dispute, all medical records relevant to these issues were to be exchanged and could be used in a family law case. The same was true of medical records pertaining to a spousal main...

A couple is divorcing in Arizona.  They have minor children.  The wife filed for divorce, served the husband, and a response has been filed.  The spouses have very different views, perhaps diametrically opposed views, about what monthly amount of support the wife should receive, what parenting time schedules are in the children’s best interests, and how to add...

No one contemplates divorce when they are getting married.  While some people plan with a pre-nuptial agreement, many do not.  If that relationship, which was at one point the most important and fulfilling aspect of your life, is ending, it is hard to envision what real “winning” would look like.  Unfortunately, the reality is divorce presents many more oppo...

In a custody dispute between parents in an Arizona proceeding, if a parent has committed an act of “domestic violence” their right to have equal decision-making authority and unsupervised, or any, parenting time is at risk.  Arizona laws direct that when determining legal decision-making authority, previously known as custody, and parenting time, more commonly...

Mediation is a voluntary process in which the parties jointly select a neutral third party facilitator to help reach resolution of all or some of the issues in their divorce proceeding.  Mediation as we prefer to conduct it involves the lawyers at all times, including all meetings between the clients and the mediator. The mediator is a private person who is engag...

Parties may jointly agree to modify child support by submitting a stipulation, signed by both parties and/or their respective counsel, to the Court. To qualify for modification of your child support obligation, Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) §§ 25-327 and 25-503 requires a showing of changed circumstances that are considered both substantial and continu...

In Arizona, child support is calculated pursuant to the Arizona Child Support Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) under Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) § 25-320. However, to determine a party’s child support obligation, data based on the Guidelines is collected and inserted into a Child Support Calculator which will then calculate the amount of child suppo...

Nothing is more difficult than predicting what a judge will decide is the appropriate spousal maintenance award on any given set of facts.  This uncertainty can be traced to the statutory factors that a judge is compelled to consider to decide if a person is entitled to receive spousal maintenance and if so, the amount and duration of the award.  The fac...