Arizona Divorce Laws

Are Prenuptial Agreements Enforceable in Arizona?

Michael Clancy

 

Prenuptial agreements are generally enforceable in Arizona courts. There are some pre-requisites though that are required before a prenuptial agreement can be enforced by a court. Number one, the court has to find that it was in writing and made in contemplation of marriage. Secondly, it can’t be unconscionable. If it’s unconscionable, that means it’s not fair, certain requirements weren’t made for financial disclosure or the waiver of financial disclosures, or that the provisions of the agreement were repugnant to the sense of justice. Each case is uniquely different and we’d be happy to look at your case individually. If you’d like to talk to us more about that, feel free to email me.

By: Attorney Michael Clancy

Prenuptial agreements are generally enforceable in Arizona courts. There are some pre-requisites though that are required before a prenuptial agreement can be enforced by a court. Number one, the court has to find that it was in writing and made in contemplation of marriage. Secondly, it can’t be unconscionable. If it’s unconscionable, that means it’s not fair, certain requirements weren’t made for financial disclosure or the waiver of financial disclosures, or that the provisions of the agreement were repugnant to the sense of justice. Each case is uniquely different and we’d be happy to look at your case individually. If you’d like to talk to us more about that, feel free to email me.

By: Attorney Michael Clancy

Sole & Separate Home & Business Divorce Case | Arizona Family Law

Laurence B. Hirsch

 

Separate Business in Divorce Case

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Arizona has a case called [?], and that case has allowed the spouse that doesn’t own the business to actually have an interest in the appreciation and value of that business during the course of the marriage. What we’re looking at is labor, toil, and efforts of the community. Best way to think about this is, if I have a sole and separate business and I’m actually doing something to help that business, my spouse may have a claim to my sole and separate property.

Separate Home in Divorce Case

This same situation can occur with separate property homes. So let’s say that you get married, and you have a house that’s worth $500,000. Your community earnings bought the new pool, the new landscaping, and put in the addition, and when you file for divorce that house is worth $1.5 million, so you’ve got $1,000,000 of appreciation during the marriage. Is it fair that the spouse who owned the house coming into the marriage receives all $1,000,000 of appreciation? The courts in Arizona don’t typically think so. So those are two situations where your sole and separate property is not necessarily 100% your sole and separate property. Always be wary that there may be what we call a community lien on your separate property.

By: Laurence B. Hirsch

Separate Business in Divorce Case

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Arizona has a case called [?], and that case has allowed the spouse that doesn’t own the business to actually have an interest in the appreciation and value of that business during the course of the marriage. What we’re looking at is labor, toil, and efforts of the community. Best way to think about this is, if I have a sole and separate business and I’m actually doing something to help that business, my spouse may have a claim to my sole and separate property.

Separate Home in Divorce Case

This same situation can occur with separate property homes. So let’s say that you get married, and you have a house that’s worth $500,000. Your community earnings bought the new pool, the new landscaping, and put in the addition, and when you file for divorce that house is worth $1.5 million, so you’ve got $1,000,000 of appreciation during the marriage. Is it fair that the spouse who owned the house coming into the marriage receives all $1,000,000 of appreciation? The courts in Arizona don’t typically think so. So those are two situations where your sole and separate property is not necessarily 100% your sole and separate property. Always be wary that there may be what we call a community lien on your separate property.

By: Laurence B. Hirsch

How Long Does a Legal Separation Take | Arizona

Michael Clancy

 

Legal separation can take a number of months. It can actually take longer than that, but the minimum time in Arizona is sixty days, which is the exact same as a divorce. So, if you were hoping for a quicker disposition of your legal separation, unfortunately you are not able to do that any faster than you would a divorce. But, that’s not the only reason to consider a legal separation. Each case is different. Each case is unique and we’d love the opportunity to talk about that with you. If you’d like more information, contact me.

By: Attorney Michael Clancy

Legal separation can take a number of months. It can actually take longer than that, but the minimum time in Arizona is sixty days, which is the exact same as a divorce. So, if you were hoping for a quicker disposition of your legal separation, unfortunately you are not able to do that any faster than you would a divorce. But, that’s not the only reason to consider a legal separation. Each case is different. Each case is unique and we’d love the opportunity to talk about that with you. If you’d like more information, contact me.

By: Attorney Michael Clancy

What are the Differences Between Settlement & Litigation in a Divorce Case | Tempe…

Douglas Gardner

 

Divorce Settlement vs. Litigation

There are two basic ways we can help our clients to resolve any divorce case. One is through settlement, and the other is by going to trial. Trial has certain advantages in that you can present your evidence to a judge who is a neutral person and that judge can enter orders that that judge thinks is appropriate, but there are a lot of costs associated with going to trial including the financial cost, but also the emotional cost, and the sleepless nights, and waiting to get ready for trial.

Settlement

Most clients prefer to be able to resolve their case through settlement. Sometimes settlement is the parties talking among themselves and then I, as the attorney, simply draw up that agreement. Sometimes we do an informal settlement where we talk to both parties and the attorneys involved in that. If necessary, we can bring in a professional mediator to help the parties be able to reach an agreement.

Parties are generally much more pleased with an agreement that they’ve been able to negotiate, that they’ve been able to participate in, and reach. And also, the other party is more likely to fall through and comply with an agreement that he or she has negotiated.

Now if you would like more information regarding trial, or mediation, or your divorce case, contact us at (480) 733-6800, or you can visit us online. If you have more questions on settlement and litigation in a divorce case in Arizona, please contact a lawyer in your area.

By: Attorney Douglas Gardner

Divorce Settlement vs. Litigation

There are two basic ways we can help our clients to resolve any divorce case. One is through settlement, and the other is by going to trial. Trial has certain advantages in that you can present your evidence to a judge who is a neutral person and that judge can enter orders that that judge thinks is appropriate, but there are a lot of costs associated with going to trial including the financial cost, but also the emotional cost, and the sleepless nights, and waiting to get ready for trial.

Settlement

Most clients prefer to be able to resolve their case through settlement. Sometimes settlement is the parties talking among themselves and then I, as the attorney, simply draw up that agreement. Sometimes we do an informal settlement where we talk to both parties and the attorneys involved in that. If necessary, we can bring in a professional mediator to help the parties be able to reach an agreement.

Parties are generally much more pleased with an agreement that they’ve been able to negotiate, that they’ve been able to participate in, and reach. And also, the other party is more likely to fall through and comply with an agreement that he or she has negotiated.

Now if you would like more information regarding trial, or mediation, or your divorce case, contact us at (480) 733-6800, or you can visit us online. If you have more questions on settlement and litigation in a divorce case in Arizona, please contact a lawyer in your area.

By: Attorney Douglas Gardner

How Will Divorce Impact My Business? | Arizona

Mitchell Reichman

 

Hi. I’m Mitch Reichman. I’m a board certified family law specialist, and I practice at Jaburg & Wilk.

What is community property?

Community property in Arizona is- it creates a presumption that everything that’s acquired during the marriage by either spouse is owned by the community. It means it’s owned by them jointly. They each have an undivided 100% interest in all of the community property.

If I own a business, will that become communal property when I get married?

If you put money into a business and started the business before marriage, the character of your assets doesn’t change by virtue of you getting married.  So if you come into the marriage with a business that’s a growing concern, that business is your separate property. The difficulty is if you are working in the business and the business increases in value during the marriage.  How to apportion the increase in value between what the business was in terms of it’s value and earning potential at the time of the marriage, at which time it was your separate property, and how it’s changed during the course of the marriage. Those are very difficult questions to answer, and require typically experts to do that kind of evaluation.

How can I protect my business before I get married?

There is a relatively easy way to protect your business or any other separate property before you get married. And that is to have a premarital agreement. Premarital agreements are presumptively enforceable in the state of Arizona. We have adopted something called the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. And under the Act, as long as you follow certain guidelines, there is a very strong probability that the court will enforce that agreement.

What business advice do you have for someone going through a divorce?

They need to be prepared for a forensic evaluation of their business. Someone is going to be looking at all of the personal benefits they get from the business, and attempting to quantify them. They’re going to be looking for any unusual transactions, they’re going to be looking for any unusual activity in the business that suggest that somebody might be divorce planning. And so what you want to do, is you want to operate as you always have to the extent that you can, and if there is some event or occurrence that causes you to need to do something special, you want to document it as best you can.

By: Mitchell Reichman

Hi. I’m Mitch Reichman. I’m a board certified family law specialist, and I practice at Jaburg & Wilk.

What is community property?

Community property in Arizona is- it creates a presumption that everything that’s acquired during the marriage by either spouse is owned by the community. It means it’s owned by them jointly. They each have an undivided 100% interest in all of the community property.

If I own a business, will that become communal property when I get married?

If you put money into a business and started the business before marriage, the character of your assets doesn’t change by virtue of you getting married.  So if you come into the marriage with a business that’s a growing concern, that business is your separate property. The difficulty is if you are working in the business and the business increases in value during the marriage.  How to apportion the increase in value between what the business was in terms of it’s value and earning potential at the time of the marriage, at which time it was your separate property, and how it’s changed during the course of the marriage. Those are very difficult questions to answer, and require typically experts to do that kind of evaluation.

How can I protect my business before I get married?

There is a relatively easy way to protect your business or any other separate property before you get married. And that is to have a premarital agreement. Premarital agreements are presumptively enforceable in the state of Arizona. We have adopted something called the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. And under the Act, as long as you follow certain guidelines, there is a very strong probability that the court will enforce that agreement.

What business advice do you have for someone going through a divorce?

They need to be prepared for a forensic evaluation of their business. Someone is going to be looking at all of the personal benefits they get from the business, and attempting to quantify them. They’re going to be looking for any unusual transactions, they’re going to be looking for any unusual activity in the business that suggest that somebody might be divorce planning. And so what you want to do, is you want to operate as you always have to the extent that you can, and if there is some event or occurrence that causes you to need to do something special, you want to document it as best you can.

By: Mitchell Reichman

What are the Benefits of Filing for Divorce First | Scottsdale Divorce Attorney

Greg Davis

 

Filing For Divorce First in Arizona

I am asked the question, “does it make sense to file first” all the time, almost every day. The truth is it doesn’t matter at all whether you’re the petitioner or the respondent. What may matter, however, is the filing attorney’s zip code controls what judicial district you end up in.

So, if you call me, Greg Davis, my zip code points me to the northeast judicial district. That is my home court. Every attorney has a home court and I like mine. Most attorneys like theirs too. For more information, please contact me, Greg Davis, at (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

Filing For Divorce First in Arizona

I am asked the question, “does it make sense to file first” all the time, almost every day. The truth is it doesn’t matter at all whether you’re the petitioner or the respondent. What may matter, however, is the filing attorney’s zip code controls what judicial district you end up in.

So, if you call me, Greg Davis, my zip code points me to the northeast judicial district. That is my home court. Every attorney has a home court and I like mine. Most attorneys like theirs too. For more information, please contact me, Greg Davis, at (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

Alimony, Support & Custody During Divorce | Scottsdale Divorce Laws

C.D. Owens

 

Setting Court Hearings

Everybody of course insists upon having prompt and immediate decisions on child support, custody, spousal maintenance and all of the things that are necessary to maintain stability in the family during the pendency of a divorce and the court’s set hearings promptly and as quickly as possible often within a matter of two or three weeks, where ordinarily to get a hearing in a court would take two or three months.

But, everybody recognizes that the wife or mother may be home with kids with no employment of her own and depending on the father for support and so the court sets early dates, gets people in and covers all bases right up front and people are always interested in those factors. We try to be available to answer their questions up front.

By: CD Owens

Setting Court Hearings

Everybody of course insists upon having prompt and immediate decisions on child support, custody, spousal maintenance and all of the things that are necessary to maintain stability in the family during the pendency of a divorce and the court’s set hearings promptly and as quickly as possible often within a matter of two or three weeks, where ordinarily to get a hearing in a court would take two or three months.

But, everybody recognizes that the wife or mother may be home with kids with no employment of her own and depending on the father for support and so the court sets early dates, gets people in and covers all bases right up front and people are always interested in those factors. We try to be available to answer their questions up front.

By: CD Owens

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