Blog Posts: Family Law

Some Arizona couples are considering cryogenically preserving embryos they have created using eggs or sperm from themselves, their spouse, or even a future spouse. A recent Arizona law has made it even more important to understand legally what may happen to those embryos if that couple gets divorced.   Effective for divorce proceedings filed on or after A...

When a couple is getting divorced both current and future tax obligations as well as tax basis are very important. There are four areas that we frequently advise our clients about. Is Child Support or Spousal Maintenance Taxable as Income? The new federal tax law does not apply to divorce decrees that were signed prior to January 2, 2019. Spousal maintenance is s...

Why do estate planning documents need to be updated when a couple is getting divorced? This simple story illustrates one of the key reasons. An Arizona couple had been married for several years and during their marriage had built a very successful, multi-million-dollar business together. Perhaps they had focused on building the business rather than their marriage ...

Anyone who has been involved in an Arizona family law case since 2013 knows that the notion of child “custody” is largely obsolete. At the end of 2012, the term “custody” was replaced with two legal concepts: legal decision-making and parenting time. Those two concepts are defined very differently.  Parenting time “means the schedule of time during whic...

One of the most anxiety-producing experiences for both a family law client and their attorney is navigating through the process relating to a Maricopa County temporary orders hearing. The client’s anxiety is easy to understand. It may be their first experience in a contested hearing, the first time a judge is going to be presented with evidence concerning the...

In Arizona, child support is determined by using a formula. Several factors are considered – income of each party, how many other children each parent supports, cost of daycare and health insurance, as well as how much time each parent spends with the child or children. There are some changed circumstances that justify changing the amount of child support fro...

Family law attorneys may have many “high-conflict” divorces in which parents cannot resolve their differences in either a business-like or amicable manner. Typically, there is on-going, unrelenting hostility between the parents.  Frequently, there are allegations of domestic violence, physical abuse, and/or sexual abuse.  The parents...

In many divorce cases, mental health issues are raised.   Their impact ranges from very mild to very severe. In this series, we will first begin by focusing on general issues that arise within a person’s life when the nuclear, scorched earth option of divorce is initiated. When a person files a divorce action, usually it significantly changes both of their liv...

It is common that divorced parents remarry or become involved in other relationships. It is also common that divorced parents (or parents in the midst of a divorce) may want to leave Arizona – to “relocate” to another state along with their minor children. There is a litany of reasons why a parent may seek relocation of minor children. However,...

Holiday parenting time issues are extremely common.  They often create strong emotional responses from each parent because not only is it their parenting time, but also it frequently includes extended family members visiting or who have traveled to see the children. The holidays are stressful enough without parenting time issues and an ounce of prevention can go ...