Arizona Family Law Laws

Attorney Kevin Park | Scottsdale Family Law

Kevin Park

 

Scottsdale Attorney Kevin Park

I’m very experienced. Been practicing for 25 years and doing family law for over 20 here in Arizona. For me, satisfaction in doing family law really comes from assisting people who are having a difficult time. Attorneys are also known as counselors, because most of the time when people come to you in a family law case they’re fearful, because they don’t understand what’s going to go on. They don’t understand what they can expect, so I try to get rid of those fears early on, giving them a plan, and then going forward with that.

Satisfaction, for me, comes at the end when we’ve been able to achieve all those things, and they’re happy that they had somebody who could help them along the way. I think the best-fit cases are ones that have interesting and complex financial cases. Particularly ones that involve stocks, investments, stock options, sometimes dealing with complex property issues and things like that, along with spousal maintenance.

I was a financial advisor, where I sat down with people and helped them build a financial plan for their future. My approach is such that I’m practical and pragmatic. I’m not aggressive just for the sake of being an aggressive lawyer. If it makes sense to push back, we’ll push back. But normally, I’m looking for pragmatic and reasonable approaches to getting solutions for the client.

By: Kevin Park

Scottsdale Attorney Kevin Park

I’m very experienced. Been practicing for 25 years and doing family law for over 20 here in Arizona. For me, satisfaction in doing family law really comes from assisting people who are having a difficult time. Attorneys are also known as counselors, because most of the time when people come to you in a family law case they’re fearful, because they don’t understand what’s going to go on. They don’t understand what they can expect, so I try to get rid of those fears early on, giving them a plan, and then going forward with that.

Satisfaction, for me, comes at the end when we’ve been able to achieve all those things, and they’re happy that they had somebody who could help them along the way. I think the best-fit cases are ones that have interesting and complex financial cases. Particularly ones that involve stocks, investments, stock options, sometimes dealing with complex property issues and things like that, along with spousal maintenance.

I was a financial advisor, where I sat down with people and helped them build a financial plan for their future. My approach is such that I’m practical and pragmatic. I’m not aggressive just for the sake of being an aggressive lawyer. If it makes sense to push back, we’ll push back. But normally, I’m looking for pragmatic and reasonable approaches to getting solutions for the client.

By: Kevin Park

Can a Child Decide Which Parent to Live With | Scottsdale Child Custody

Greg Davis

 

Child Opinions in Custody Cases

A child in Arizona can never decide which parent a child wants to live with. A child’s wishes are always, always a factor and never dispositive. The child is the child. The parent makes the decisions. For more information, call me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

Child Opinions in Custody Cases

A child in Arizona can never decide which parent a child wants to live with. A child’s wishes are always, always a factor and never dispositive. The child is the child. The parent makes the decisions. For more information, call me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

Am I Eligible to Receive Alimony | Scottsdale Family Law

Chris Hildebrand

 

Receiving Alimony in Scottsdale

Hello, I want to speak to you today about whether you may be eligible for spousal maintenance in Arizona. The court is going to look at a variety of factors to determine whether you are eligible for spousal maintenance, as well as the amount and duration of that spousal maintenance award.

Although there are many factors the court will look at, as a general overview, usually the more important factors include, the differences in the parties income, the amount of assets that each spouse will take from the marriage and the length of the marriage. Now there is certainly many more factors under the statute that the court will also consider, but in most cases those are the most important factors for the court to consider. If you any other questions regarding whether you are eligible for spousal maintenance in the state of Arizona, please feel free to contact me.

If you still have questions regarding whether or not you are eligible to receive alimony in Arizona, please contact a Scottsdale alimony lawyer.

By: Chris Hildebrand

Receiving Alimony in Scottsdale

Hello, I want to speak to you today about whether you may be eligible for spousal maintenance in Arizona. The court is going to look at a variety of factors to determine whether you are eligible for spousal maintenance, as well as the amount and duration of that spousal maintenance award.

Although there are many factors the court will look at, as a general overview, usually the more important factors include, the differences in the parties income, the amount of assets that each spouse will take from the marriage and the length of the marriage. Now there is certainly many more factors under the statute that the court will also consider, but in most cases those are the most important factors for the court to consider. If you any other questions regarding whether you are eligible for spousal maintenance in the state of Arizona, please feel free to contact me.

If you still have questions regarding whether or not you are eligible to receive alimony in Arizona, please contact a Scottsdale alimony lawyer.

By: Chris Hildebrand

What is an Appeal and How Do I Know if I Should Appeal My…

Kathi Sandweiss

 

I’m Kathi Sandweiss. I’m the chair of the appellate practice section at Jaburg Wilk.

What is an appeal?

An appeal is when a losing party to a judgement will ask the higher court to review a decision by a lower court, and hope that the higher court finds that the lower court made some sort of an error.  That would be an error in a legal issue or perhaps an error in a factual finding.

I am unhappy with my judgement, how do I know if I should appeal it?

Whether or not you can appeal your judgement is not always obvious just by looking at the judgement. You may not know, and your trial lawyer may not know if there is something really legally wrong with your judgement.  That’s why sometimes you want to hire a specific appellate lawyer to determine whether or not there is really something that’s appealable about your judgement. That’s where we get into what’s called the standard of review.  So if the trial court made an error that was an error in law, you’re going to have a much greater chance of getting your judgement reversed on appeal. If the trial court made an error that you think was a factual error, it’s going to be reviewed at a very tougher standard.  A standard that involves whether or not there was a clear error by the lower court. You’re going to have a much harder time getting that judgement reviewed and reversed by the court of appeals.

By: Kathi Sandweiss

I’m Kathi Sandweiss. I’m the chair of the appellate practice section at Jaburg Wilk.

What is an appeal?

An appeal is when a losing party to a judgement will ask the higher court to review a decision by a lower court, and hope that the higher court finds that the lower court made some sort of an error.  That would be an error in a legal issue or perhaps an error in a factual finding.

I am unhappy with my judgement, how do I know if I should appeal it?

Whether or not you can appeal your judgement is not always obvious just by looking at the judgement. You may not know, and your trial lawyer may not know if there is something really legally wrong with your judgement.  That’s why sometimes you want to hire a specific appellate lawyer to determine whether or not there is really something that’s appealable about your judgement. That’s where we get into what’s called the standard of review.  So if the trial court made an error that was an error in law, you’re going to have a much greater chance of getting your judgement reversed on appeal. If the trial court made an error that you think was a factual error, it’s going to be reviewed at a very tougher standard.  A standard that involves whether or not there was a clear error by the lower court. You’re going to have a much harder time getting that judgement reviewed and reversed by the court of appeals.

By: Kathi Sandweiss

Parenting Coordinators | Arizona Family Law

Laurence B. Hirsch

 

What is a Parenting Coordinator?

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Parenting coordinators are appointed by the court, and the main thing that they do is help parents make decisions when the parents can’t agree. Look, the parties are getting divorced. Clearly they’re not seeing eye to eye on everything, and more often than not they don’t see eye to eye on parental decisions, nor can they make even the most simplistic agreements on their own. And so a lot of times somebody needs some help, and that’s where parenting coordinators come into play.

Who are Parenting Coordinators?

Parenting coordinators are often either other family lawyers who are well-versed in custodial litigation, or they’re mental health professionals or medical doctors.

Appropriate Issues

What kinds of issues are appropriate for what we call a PC to oversee? They’re issues like school, vacations, the change of a parenting day, the right of first refusal, babysitters, caregivers, even medical arrangements, medical decisions, which doctors they’re going to see. In other words, these are often things that people shouldn’t be litigating about. They shouldn’t be spending $10,000 on the issue of should I be picking up the kid at 3:15 on Thursday or 3 o’clock on Thursday? So that’s where parenting coordinators come into play – highly beneficial for the parties, saves a ton of money, also helps everybody’s mental health because things are handled quickly by the parenting coordinator.

Non-Appropriate Issues

Now, what are parenting coordinators not for? The main thing that a parenting coordinator is not for is making decisions with regard to decision-making authority or custody. In other words, if you are already divorced and you want to change your custodial access schedule – let’s say it’s week on/week off – and you don’t think father should be seeing the children that much any longer, the parenting coordinator is not the right person to go to for that. Unfortunately, the court is.

By: Laurence Hirsch

What is a Parenting Coordinator?

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Parenting coordinators are appointed by the court, and the main thing that they do is help parents make decisions when the parents can’t agree. Look, the parties are getting divorced. Clearly they’re not seeing eye to eye on everything, and more often than not they don’t see eye to eye on parental decisions, nor can they make even the most simplistic agreements on their own. And so a lot of times somebody needs some help, and that’s where parenting coordinators come into play.

Who are Parenting Coordinators?

Parenting coordinators are often either other family lawyers who are well-versed in custodial litigation, or they’re mental health professionals or medical doctors.

Appropriate Issues

What kinds of issues are appropriate for what we call a PC to oversee? They’re issues like school, vacations, the change of a parenting day, the right of first refusal, babysitters, caregivers, even medical arrangements, medical decisions, which doctors they’re going to see. In other words, these are often things that people shouldn’t be litigating about. They shouldn’t be spending $10,000 on the issue of should I be picking up the kid at 3:15 on Thursday or 3 o’clock on Thursday? So that’s where parenting coordinators come into play – highly beneficial for the parties, saves a ton of money, also helps everybody’s mental health because things are handled quickly by the parenting coordinator.

Non-Appropriate Issues

Now, what are parenting coordinators not for? The main thing that a parenting coordinator is not for is making decisions with regard to decision-making authority or custody. In other words, if you are already divorced and you want to change your custodial access schedule – let’s say it’s week on/week off – and you don’t think father should be seeing the children that much any longer, the parenting coordinator is not the right person to go to for that. Unfortunately, the court is.

By: Laurence Hirsch

What Courts Consider When Determining Child Custody | Phoenix Family Law

Erik Bergstrom

 

Determining Child Custody in Phoenix, Arizona

In Arizona, child custody is now called legal decision-making. The law establishes a preference for joint legal decision-making, and a parent seeking sole legal decision-making will have the burden to prove to the court why such an order is in the best interest of the minor children. Some acceptable reasons might include drug or alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse or mental illness.

11 Statutory Factors

In making it’s order, the court is required to consider all information that is relevant to the children’s best interest and in particular, the eleven statutory factors. I won’t describe all of those factors here, but they include the past, present and potential future relationship between the parent and the children; the children’s relationship with family members and their adjustment to home, school and community; the mental and physical health of the parents and the children; and if the children are of suitable age and maturity, the wishes of the children.

Age of Children Effects Child Custody

On this last point, there is no specific age at which a child gets to choose where to live. As the child gets closer to age 18, his or her wishes will carry more weight with the court. Typically, courts start giving significant weight to the child’s wishes around age 12 or 13. If you have more questions concerning legal decision-making or parenting time, please contact me.

By: Attorney Erik Bergstrom

Determining Child Custody in Phoenix, Arizona

In Arizona, child custody is now called legal decision-making. The law establishes a preference for joint legal decision-making, and a parent seeking sole legal decision-making will have the burden to prove to the court why such an order is in the best interest of the minor children. Some acceptable reasons might include drug or alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse or mental illness.

11 Statutory Factors

In making it’s order, the court is required to consider all information that is relevant to the children’s best interest and in particular, the eleven statutory factors. I won’t describe all of those factors here, but they include the past, present and potential future relationship between the parent and the children; the children’s relationship with family members and their adjustment to home, school and community; the mental and physical health of the parents and the children; and if the children are of suitable age and maturity, the wishes of the children.

Age of Children Effects Child Custody

On this last point, there is no specific age at which a child gets to choose where to live. As the child gets closer to age 18, his or her wishes will carry more weight with the court. Typically, courts start giving significant weight to the child’s wishes around age 12 or 13. If you have more questions concerning legal decision-making or parenting time, please contact me.

By: Attorney Erik Bergstrom

Am I Required to Report Child Abuse | Scottsdale Child Abuse

Chris Hildebrand

 

Reporting Child Abuse in Scottsdale

Hello, I want to speak today about whether you are required to report child abuse and if so to whom you report that concern about child abuse. Unless you are a mandatory reporter or the care provider for a child, you do not have an obligation to report a suspicion of child abuse to law enforcement or child protective services.

Mandatory Reporters

Although, as parents and members of our community, we would hope that we would all report any concerns of abuse you may not be required to do so. A mandatory reporter in the state of Arizona however, must always report a concern of child abuse.

Mandatory reports include, but are not limited to teachers and school personal, medical personal such as nurses and doctors, counselors and psychologists, any care giver for a child, such as a day care provider or any other person who is in the position of caring for a child. If you have any other questions regarding whether you have a duty of reporting suspected child abuse, please feel free to contact me.

For more information on whether or not you are required to report child abuse in Arizona, please contact a Scottsdale child abuse lawyer.

By: Chris Hildebrand

Reporting Child Abuse in Scottsdale

Hello, I want to speak today about whether you are required to report child abuse and if so to whom you report that concern about child abuse. Unless you are a mandatory reporter or the care provider for a child, you do not have an obligation to report a suspicion of child abuse to law enforcement or child protective services.

Mandatory Reporters

Although, as parents and members of our community, we would hope that we would all report any concerns of abuse you may not be required to do so. A mandatory reporter in the state of Arizona however, must always report a concern of child abuse.

Mandatory reports include, but are not limited to teachers and school personal, medical personal such as nurses and doctors, counselors and psychologists, any care giver for a child, such as a day care provider or any other person who is in the position of caring for a child. If you have any other questions regarding whether you have a duty of reporting suspected child abuse, please feel free to contact me.

For more information on whether or not you are required to report child abuse in Arizona, please contact a Scottsdale child abuse lawyer.

By: Chris Hildebrand

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