Blog Posts: Family Law

Where will Emma go to school? Will Jacob’s acne be treated with Accutane? Is Jackson going to see a therapist? For many years divorced parents in Arizona - with equal parenting rights and an inability to agree on such decisions - could raise their differences to a family law judge. That judge would resolve the parent’s conflict by making decisions for t...

When divorcing couples have minor children, frequently the amount of child support is an issue in the divorce.  In Arizona, child support can be estimated using the Arizona Child Support guidelines. The courts provide a free calculator that can be used to determine what a divorcing parent's child support obligations might be.  Th...

When getting divorced or filing for post-decree modifications, it is vital to keep the children out of the divorce action and legal proceedings.  The more normal their life is, the better it will be for them and the easier it may be for them to navigate through the divorce of their parents.  Divorce or changes to pa...

When women divorce, or contemplate divorce, they report being worried about their finances and how they will meet their financial obligations as a newly single woman.   With gender pay disparity and potentially not knowing their household finances, those concerns are understandable.  Compounding the worry even further are women who are either unemployed or have ...

In Arizona, a large percentage of divorces proceed without either party hiring a lawyer.  As Arizona is a no-fault divorce state, couples do not need a specific reason to file for divorce – it is sufficient that the parties do not get along – otherwise known as irretrievable differences.  While getting divorced without attorneys may be fine for s...

In Arizona, when parents are no longer married or not living together in paternity matters, they may have an agreement for parenting their children (legal decision making) and parenting time for when each parent will be with their children. The agreement may be a written agreement that they mutually agreed upon or they could have had the family law courts enter a...

Recently, the Arizona Court of Appeals clarified that only one parent is required to file a motion to modify legal decision-making or parenting time. In Sundstrom v. Flatt, Mother exercised sole legal decision-making authority and shared equal parenting time with Father. She filed a petition to retain sole legal decision-making, reduce Father’s parenting time or ...

Question: I know my spouse’s passwords to their social media accounts, bank accounts and/or financial accounts, can I log into their account and get the information we need to help win my case? Answer: While this might sound like a really good idea, the answer is no. In doing so, you would likely be breaking a number of federal laws. These laws include the Store...

Not all divorces need to be tried in court. Divorce mediation is an alternative the parties can choose instead of litigating their divorce in family law court and having the outcome decided by a judge. Mediation is a private process of resolving disputes by engaging a neutral third party who acts as a facilitator. Their role is to assist the divorcing couple to rea...

Under the recently enacted tax reform act, spousal maintenance ordered by a decree or agreement executed after December 31, 2018 will no longer be deductible by the payer and will be tax free to the recipient. Supporters of this tax law change suggested that the deduction for “alimony” was a federal government subsidy that supported divorce. Additiona...