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Same-Sex Marriage and Child Custody in Arizona In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, declaring that the Constitution protected the right of same-sex couples to marry. This required Arizona courts to reinterpret family law in Arizona in same sex marriages. Many aspects of marriage and divorce law had to be altered to […]

Failing to Appear for a Child Custody Hearing in Arizona The Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, examines in Brenda D. v. Department of Child Safety (DCS), Z.D.(minor child),(2017), whether a parent’s 25 minute tardiness to a juvenile court parental termination hearing constitutes a “failure to appear” within the meaning of Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) […]

Prohibiting Consumption of Alcohol as a Condition of Parenting Time in Arizona The Arizona Court of Appeals-Division One rendered a decision in Dawson v. Dawson. Justice Rebecca White Berch delivered the decision for the appeals court, in which Presiding Judge Kent E. Cattani and Judge Lawrence F. Winthrop joined. Background of the Case Father and […]

Jurisdiction for Dependency Petitions Under the Uniform Child Custody Act, a child’s domicile is usually that of his parents. Domicile at the beginning of a case determines the court’s jurisdiction. That is, if parents and a child live in Arizona at the beginning of a case, Arizona has jurisdiction. What happens if parents live in […]

Domestic Violence and Parenting Time in Arizona A family court must decide whether a parent presents a danger to a child. If so, it must protect the child by limiting that parent to supervised parenting time. A court that grants such a parent unsupervised parenting time abuses its discretion. In Campbell v. Stephens– 1CA-CV 15-0830 FC, […]