Arizona Family Law Laws

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

How To Begin a Divorce in Arizona | Phoenix Divorce Attorney

Joel Hoffman

 

Divorce in Phoenix

In a divorce without minor children, you will file a petition for dissolution of your marriage and request a division of community assets and debts, an affirmation of your sole and separate property, an award of spousal maintenance if applicable, and perhaps, reimbursement for your attorney’s fees and costs.

Minor Children

If your divorce involves minor children, then your petition will ask the court to additionally determine child custody, which is now called legal decision making, parenting time and child support. You file your petition with the superior court in the county where you reside and serve a copy on your spouse.

Divorce Case Length

The soonest you can get divorced in Arizona is (60) sixty days from the date your spouse is served. If your spouse does not file a response in the proper time frame, you can request that your spouse be defaulted and proceed to a default hearing before the court. If your spouse files a response, your case can be resolved by two options; agreement or trial.

If you reach an agreement, a consent decree can be prepared and signed by both parties and then submitted to the court for the judge’s signature and there is no need to appear in court for a trial. If you cannot reach an agreement, the court will set the unresolved issues for trial. If you want me to explain in detail the divorce process, please call me at Warner Angle, (602) 264-7101 to schedule a complimentary consultation. I look forward to meeting with you.

By: Attorney Joel Hoffman

Divorce in Phoenix

In a divorce without minor children, you will file a petition for dissolution of your marriage and request a division of community assets and debts, an affirmation of your sole and separate property, an award of spousal maintenance if applicable, and perhaps, reimbursement for your attorney’s fees and costs.

Minor Children

If your divorce involves minor children, then your petition will ask the court to additionally determine child custody, which is now called legal decision making, parenting time and child support. You file your petition with the superior court in the county where you reside and serve a copy on your spouse.

Divorce Case Length

The soonest you can get divorced in Arizona is (60) sixty days from the date your spouse is served. If your spouse does not file a response in the proper time frame, you can request that your spouse be defaulted and proceed to a default hearing before the court. If your spouse files a response, your case can be resolved by two options; agreement or trial.

If you reach an agreement, a consent decree can be prepared and signed by both parties and then submitted to the court for the judge’s signature and there is no need to appear in court for a trial. If you cannot reach an agreement, the court will set the unresolved issues for trial. If you want me to explain in detail the divorce process, please call me at Warner Angle, (602) 264-7101 to schedule a complimentary consultation. I look forward to meeting with you.

By: Attorney Joel Hoffman

Differences Between Divorce, Annulment & Legal Separation | Tempe Family Law

Douglas Gardner

 

Tempe Divorce, Annulment & Legal Separations

A divorce, an annulment, and a legal separation are all very similar in many respects, so there are a couple of important key differences that you should understand. When asked to enter a divorce, annulment, or a legal separation, the court is required to enter specific orders. If there are children involved, the court is required to make orders as to child support. The court is also required to enter orders explaining which parent is going to have the parenting time with the children and which parent, or both parents are going to have the legal decision-making for the child. Even if there are no children involved, the court is required to enter orders as to spousal support. Also, the court is required to enter orders dividing up the assets and debt of the parties. In those respects, a divorce, an annulment, and a legal separation are all very similar.

Legal Differences

Now, the differences are also important to understand. In a divorce, the judge is essentially saying, “I now pronounce the parties no longer man and wife”. With an annulment, the judge is saying, “We’re going to pretend that you guys were never really married”. With a legal separation, the parties actually remain married, but the court has divided up all the assets and debts. In a legal separation case, if the parties are able to reconcile the marriage, the court can remove the legal separation, and they are back to being married. If you would like more information, please contact me at (480) 733-6800, or you can visit us online.

For additional information on divorce, annulment and legal separation in Arizona, please visit a profile and complete a contact form.

By: Attorney Douglas Gardner

Tempe Divorce, Annulment & Legal Separations

A divorce, an annulment, and a legal separation are all very similar in many respects, so there are a couple of important key differences that you should understand. When asked to enter a divorce, annulment, or a legal separation, the court is required to enter specific orders. If there are children involved, the court is required to make orders as to child support. The court is also required to enter orders explaining which parent is going to have the parenting time with the children and which parent, or both parents are going to have the legal decision-making for the child. Even if there are no children involved, the court is required to enter orders as to spousal support. Also, the court is required to enter orders dividing up the assets and debt of the parties. In those respects, a divorce, an annulment, and a legal separation are all very similar.

Legal Differences

Now, the differences are also important to understand. In a divorce, the judge is essentially saying, “I now pronounce the parties no longer man and wife”. With an annulment, the judge is saying, “We’re going to pretend that you guys were never really married”. With a legal separation, the parties actually remain married, but the court has divided up all the assets and debts. In a legal separation case, if the parties are able to reconcile the marriage, the court can remove the legal separation, and they are back to being married. If you would like more information, please contact me at (480) 733-6800, or you can visit us online.

For additional information on divorce, annulment and legal separation in Arizona, please visit a profile and complete a contact form.

By: Attorney Douglas Gardner

What Does the Court Consider During a Divorce Case | Tempe Divorce Laws

Douglas Gardner

 

Divorce Case in Tempe Courts

For divorce cases in Arizona, the court is required to enter orders as to three basic issues, or even better, if the parties can reach an agreement on those issues, the court can adopt that agreement as the court order.

Parenting Time

The first issue is the parenting-time arrangement. This agreement should include which parent will have the child during the week, which parent will have the child on weekends, how the children will be divided up for the holidays, and other issues as to the transportation and the division of the children.

Legal Decision Making

The second issue that the court will look at is the legal decision-making for the children. In Arizona, generally the court will give both parties joint legal decision-making, which means that both parties should be involved in making major medical decisions, major educational decisions, and major religious decisions. Only in rare circumstances will the court give one person sole legal decision making of those major decisions for the child.

Child Support

The final issue is child support. In Arizona, we have a guideline adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court that gives us an opportunity to based on your income, the other party’s income, and several other factors we can figure out based on that formula real close what the court is likely to order for child support in each case.

If you’d like more information regarding child related issues in your divorce case please contact me at (480) 733-6800 or you can reach us online.

By: Attorney Douglas Gardner

Divorce Case in Tempe Courts

For divorce cases in Arizona, the court is required to enter orders as to three basic issues, or even better, if the parties can reach an agreement on those issues, the court can adopt that agreement as the court order.

Parenting Time

The first issue is the parenting-time arrangement. This agreement should include which parent will have the child during the week, which parent will have the child on weekends, how the children will be divided up for the holidays, and other issues as to the transportation and the division of the children.

Legal Decision Making

The second issue that the court will look at is the legal decision-making for the children. In Arizona, generally the court will give both parties joint legal decision-making, which means that both parties should be involved in making major medical decisions, major educational decisions, and major religious decisions. Only in rare circumstances will the court give one person sole legal decision making of those major decisions for the child.

Child Support

The final issue is child support. In Arizona, we have a guideline adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court that gives us an opportunity to based on your income, the other party’s income, and several other factors we can figure out based on that formula real close what the court is likely to order for child support in each case.

If you’d like more information regarding child related issues in your divorce case please contact me at (480) 733-6800 or you can reach us online.

By: Attorney Douglas Gardner

How Does Visitation Affect Child Support | Scottsdale Family Law

C.D. Owens

 

How Child Custody Can Impact Child Support

Visitation significantly effects child support. For example, if two divorcing parties, a divorcing party agree that their going to be adult about recognizing that a child needs both parents and agree therefore to share visitation, custody of the kids, they will have a week on week off or they’ll have five-two-two weekly application of time and whatever they decide is going to really effect visitation. A 50-50 sharing of the time with the kids with a situation where two people make almost the same amount of money a month, will result in no child support.

If the father however has every other weekend with one day in the intervening week, one night in the intervening week, he’s gonna have substantial child support, particularly if he makes substantially more money, earns more than the mother does. So, it’s a complicated situation, one of the most difficult ones that parents have to make and we’re always there to help them if we can.

By: CD Owens

How Child Custody Can Impact Child Support

Visitation significantly effects child support. For example, if two divorcing parties, a divorcing party agree that their going to be adult about recognizing that a child needs both parents and agree therefore to share visitation, custody of the kids, they will have a week on week off or they’ll have five-two-two weekly application of time and whatever they decide is going to really effect visitation. A 50-50 sharing of the time with the kids with a situation where two people make almost the same amount of money a month, will result in no child support.

If the father however has every other weekend with one day in the intervening week, one night in the intervening week, he’s gonna have substantial child support, particularly if he makes substantially more money, earns more than the mother does. So, it’s a complicated situation, one of the most difficult ones that parents have to make and we’re always there to help them if we can.

By: CD Owens

What is a Resolution Management Conference | Phoenix Divorce Attorney

Jason Castle

 

Introduction

My name is Jason Castle. I’m an attorney at Jaburg Wilk, and my practice areas are family law and criminal defense.

Resolution Management Conference

A resolution management conference – often called an RMC – is one of the first times the parties will end up going to court. Most of my clients when they come in are scared of court and don’t want to go. So the RMC ends up being their first opportunity to be a party in a lawsuit, and to go to court.  The RMC sounds scary as well. It is not. It is primarily just a scheduling conference.

However, it is an important step in the process towards litigation. It typically is scheduled somewhere between 45 and 60 days after the Respondent files his or her response, and the order setting the RMC will require the parties to have a settlement meeting prior to the RMC.

Settlement Meeting

During the settlement meeting, depending on where the parties are in the litigation process, some people come in already having an idea of what they want to do in order to resolve their divorce. Others do not. That’s a good time to set what are called temporary orders.

Temporary Orders

Temporary orders are the rules or the orders that will apply between that point in time and the final decree.  During the RMC, you will then go to be in the court. They’ll tell the court, These are our issues. This is how long we need for trial. The court will look at its calendar, talk to the parties to find out when it’s good for them, and schedule the trial.

By: Jason Castle

Introduction

My name is Jason Castle. I’m an attorney at Jaburg Wilk, and my practice areas are family law and criminal defense.

Resolution Management Conference

A resolution management conference – often called an RMC – is one of the first times the parties will end up going to court. Most of my clients when they come in are scared of court and don’t want to go. So the RMC ends up being their first opportunity to be a party in a lawsuit, and to go to court.  The RMC sounds scary as well. It is not. It is primarily just a scheduling conference.

However, it is an important step in the process towards litigation. It typically is scheduled somewhere between 45 and 60 days after the Respondent files his or her response, and the order setting the RMC will require the parties to have a settlement meeting prior to the RMC.

Settlement Meeting

During the settlement meeting, depending on where the parties are in the litigation process, some people come in already having an idea of what they want to do in order to resolve their divorce. Others do not. That’s a good time to set what are called temporary orders.

Temporary Orders

Temporary orders are the rules or the orders that will apply between that point in time and the final decree.  During the RMC, you will then go to be in the court. They’ll tell the court, These are our issues. This is how long we need for trial. The court will look at its calendar, talk to the parties to find out when it’s good for them, and schedule the trial.

By: Jason Castle

Minimum Marriage Length Requirement for Alimony to be Awarded | Scottsdale Alimony Laws

Greg Davis

 

Marriage Length Requirements

In Arizona, we refer to alimony as spousal maintenance and there isn’t a particular number of years people must be married in order for spousal maintenance to be ordered. There are many factors a court will consider. For more details, contact me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

Marriage Length Requirements

In Arizona, we refer to alimony as spousal maintenance and there isn’t a particular number of years people must be married in order for spousal maintenance to be ordered. There are many factors a court will consider. For more details, contact me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

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