Arizona Divorce

An Arizona divorce is called a "dissolution of marriage." The divorce case ends the marriage, but also divides property and debts, resolves issues of spousal support, and determines child custody and support.

Before starting the Arizona divorce court case, either spouse must satisfy the residency requirements by living in Arizona for at least 90 days.

Arizona divorce law recognizes ‘no-fault’ divorces where no specific ground for divorce is stated. Instead, the spouses seek a divorce because the marriage is "irretrievably broken" because they will no longer live their lives as husband and wife.

In an Arizona divorce case, one spouse must start the case in the Superior Court. The court case must begin in the county where the spouse requesting the divorce lives. The requesting spouse must file with the Clerk of Superior Court a written request called a "Petition." There is a filing fee that must be paid to the Clerk of Superior Court, but if the Petitioner cannot pay the fee, he/she can request that the court defer or waive the filing fee. This request must be done through the written application with the Clerk.

In Arizona, if both parties agree on the most important terms of the divorce, they may file for an uncontested divorce. An Arizona uncontested divorce should be filed when there are no children or when the parties agree that only one spouse will have custody of the children. There should also be agreement on how the marital property will be divided and there should be no future retirement benefits to divide. Often times an uncontested divorce is the quickest and cheapest option.

Arizona is a “community property” state. Under Arizona divorce law, all property is either separate property owned by the individual or marital property owned by the married couple. Separate property owned by the individual before the marriage is given to that individual.

Marital property is all property earned or acquired during the marriage. All of the marital property is divided by the court.

If one of the spouses has a retirement plan from their employer, the court may have to sign a special order (a "Qualified Domestic Relations Order") so that the employer must divide the money earned during the marriage between the spouses.

Alimony is payment for the support and maintenance of the other spouse. In an Arizona divorce case, the court awards alimony after considering several factors. The court will consider the spouses’ earning capacity, income, standard of living during the marriage and the circumstances of the marriage. For example, if one spouse stayed home to maintain the household while the other spouse earned all the money that supported the household, then the court will generally require the working spouse to continue supporting the other spouse in the same standard of living. The court will not allow the working spouse to pay so little support that the receiving spouse will lose things otherwise enjoyed during the marriage.

It is a common misunderstanding that the court in an Arizona divorce case will give the mother custody of the children. Instead, the court must ignore the gender of the parents and only consider what is in the best interest of the child.

The court will consider such factors as who took primary care of the child during the marriage, scheduled doctors’ appointments and attended school meetings. Generally, visitation is only limited or supervised when there is abuse.

Arizona divorce law provides child support guidelines that the court uses to determine how much the parents should pay towards the child’s monthly living expenses. Generally, child support is calculated by looking at the parents’ incomes and the child’s basic monthly living expenses. The court will also consider other factors such as the age of the child and whether the parents are responsible for the support of other children also.

• Community Property with Right of Survivorship
• Divorce Equitable Distribution
• Division of Marital Property

• Free Legal Separation Forms
• Divorce Statistics
• Legal Separation
• Filing for Legal Separation
• Green Card Divorce

• Divorce Settlement
• Colorado Divorce
• Arizona Child Support
• Delaware Divorce
• Special Equity Florida Divorce Cases