Divorce Process and Procedure

Arizona is a "no-fault" state, the only grounds for a divorce is that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" with no reasonable prospect for reconciliation.

90-Day Requirement: 
You or your spouse must have lived in or been stationed in Arizona while in the Armed Forces, for a least 90 (ninety) days prior to the day you file the Petition for Dissolution.

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce):
The Petition for Dissolution provides information to the Court (including, but not limited to) about you, your spouse, children common to the marriage, and the presence or absence of domestic violence.  It also provides details of when and where the marriage took place, occupation and employer for each party, a list of assets and debts acquired before and/or during the marriage, proposed tax filing status for the year, request (or not) for spousal maintenance, and name change is so desired.

Requests to the Court are also included in the Petition proposing child custody, visitation and child support, insurance and health expenses for children, and declaration of dependent tax exemption.

This information is provided to the Court under Oath or Affirmation and Verification of the person (Petitioner) filing the Petition.

The following additional documents are filed with the Petition to complete the filing.

Family Court Coversheet, Summons, Preliminary Injunction, Child Support Information Form or Agreement Not to Establish Child Support at This Time, Notice of Right to Convert Health Insurance, Order and Notice for Parent Information Program, Notice to Creditors and Affidavit of Minor Children.

Service of Documents:
After filing the Petition for Dissolution and required documents with the Court the documents must be served on the other spouse (Respondent) or Respondent may waive service per the appropriate process.  This is an important step in a Dissolution of Marriage proceeding. 

Additional Family Law Filing Documents

Family Court Cover Sheet:
Provides the Court with information about yourself, the other party, and common or other minor children involved.  There is an area to list other previous and ongoing Court cases for either party.  The domestic violence section helps Court staff determine if domestic violence should be considered in matters related to custody and visitation.

Summons:
A legal document issued by the Court to notify a person (respondent/defendant) that a lawsuit has been filed against them.  A copy of the lawsuit and other court papers are served on the respondent/defendant with the “Summons” containing an explanation that a response/answer must be filed with the Court within a certain time frame.

Preliminary Injunction:
List actions Petitioner and Respondent are forbidden from doing from the time the “Petition for Dissolution” (Divorce) or “Petition for Annulment” or “Petition for Legal Separation” is filed with the Court, until the judge signs the Decree, or until further order of the Court.

Child Support Information Form:
Provides information to the Court regarding each parties' employer, income, common minor children, spousal maintenance support, or other child support orders.

Agreement Not to Establish Child Support at This Time (optional):
This allows the parties to agree not to establish child support initially and must be completed and filed within 20 days of Respondent's acceptance of service.

Notice of Right to Convert Health Insurance:
Arizona law allows the dependent spouse and/or children to continue to be covered after the divorce is final, however, you must contact the insurance company immediately to make the necessary arrangements to start paying the monthly insurance premium within 31 days of the date the insurance would otherwise stop.

It is important that you contact the insurance company well in advance of the divorce being final to determine the approximate cost of the monthly insurance premium. The premiums are often prohibitively expensive for a one or no income family.

Order and Notice for Parent Information Program:
Petitioner and Respondent parents in a Dissolution of Marriage with children, Legal Separation, or Paternity proceeding must attend a class in the Parent Information Program.

Affidavit of Minor Children:
This document identifies the parties' common minor children and specifies where the children currently are living and where they have lived for the past five years.  All court cases (past and present) involving the parties' common minor children must be disclosed to the Court.

Notice Regarding Creditors:
Notice that although a Court order or decree may assign responsibility for a community debt to either spouse, the order is not binding on the Creditor who may seek payment from either or both spouses.

Service of Process:
The community legally ends on the date the Respondent is served with divorce papers or the accepts service.  From that point forward each parties' paycheck or earnings belongs to the earner.  (Exceptions can exist for bonuses earned prior to service.)  Any property acquired after the date of service maybe the separate property of the person who acquires the property.

Likewise, on the date of service or acceptance of service, the community ends and debts incurred by either party may be considered by the Court to be the separate debt of the person incurring the debt.

What does this mean for a spouse who is not employed or earns substantially less than the other?  For the non-employed or lower earning spouse who is contemplating divorce, it suggests the necessity for adequate planning.  Having sufficient savings to pay the rent/mortgage, utility bills, purchase groceries and make several car payments may become an important factor to financial survival while the you wait for a Temporary Orders hearing.

Temporary Orders

Either spouse or both, may request Temporary orders regarding custody and visitation, child support, spousal maintenance, temporary use of the house, attorneys fees, payment of debts, access to financial accounts, use of property and other issues.  Temporary orders are only effective until final orders are granted at the final trial or other disposition of the proceedings.

Discovery and Disclosure

In the case where either spouse is not fairly certain of the value of community assets and debt, retirement plans, pensions, etc., it may be necessary to conduct written discovery requests and/or a deposition of the other party.

Trial

The judge assigned to your case will preside over the trial and set forth her/his findings and final orders in the divorce decree.  During the trial the parties have the opportunity to present testimony, exhibits, expert opinion and other evidence that support their positions. After the trial is completed, it may be several months before the divorce decree is signed by the judge and the parties receive a copy.