Spousal Maintenance Guidelines in AZ – Rule of 65 Of all the new principles contained within the recent release of Spousal Maintenance Guidelines, the Rule of 65 seems to have garnered the most attention. Perhaps it is because the change is novel. Perhaps it is because it involves math (a lawyer’s kryptonite). But when the new Spousal Maintenance Guidelines are studied in context, it’s a small part of the overall spousal maintenance scheme. Important information about the updated guidelines The Spousal Maintenance Guidelines are designed to help judges determine eligibility, amount, and durat ..read more

Fiduciary Duty During Divorce  It’s incredible what spite can make people do. We have seen people quit six-figure jobs to reduce their monthly child support payment by a few hundred dollars. We have seen spouses let the marital residence go into foreclosure just to ensure the other spouse gets nothing. I have seen spouses torpedo the other spouse’s business as a means of pay back. — But here’s the thing about spite—it’s never free. In fact, the spiteful often find their actions to be very expensive. Spite is a bad legal strategy.  To protect people going through a divorce, the law ha ..read more

A prenup can benefit your marriage.  Many people think a prenup only benefits you in the event of a divorce. That is not true. In fact, a prenuptial agreement gives you certain benefits during the marriage.  1. A prenup can alleviate the financial arguments that are a leading cause of divorce.   Finances are one of the biggest stressors in a marriage, and one of the leading causes of divorce. The benefits a prenup provides to spouses is a requirement that they be open about their finances and prior to their marriage, and, if the spouses so choose, they keep finances separate dur ..read more

Disclosure Matters in Divorce  In the film My Cousin Vinny, recently “licensed” (he was practicing illegally) defense attorney Vinny Gambini brags to his fiancé, Mona Lisa Vito, that he was able to get the prosecutor to hand over his files.   Unimpressed, she replies, “He has to, by law. You’re entitled. It’s called disclosure.”   Disclosure is the process of providing the documents you want to use in Court to the other side. It also requires parties to disclose who they are going to call as witnesses ahead of time. This is no small thing—If you do not disclose the document ..read more

Five Ways Discovery Can Help You Find Hidden Assets in a Divorce  Many people are concerned that their spouse may be hiding assets to avoid dividing them in their divorce. Naturally, they are also worried about how they can even find the hidden assets. Finding hidden assets in a divorce can be very involved. Here, we discuss one aspect that is available to anyone going through a divorce—the “discovery” process.  To help people find the information they need, courts have created rules that allow litigants different ways to obtain information. These include various tools in the rules t ..read more

5 Steps New Fathers Should Take to Protect Themselves Legally   Arizona is a father’s rights state—in that Arizona courts view fathers as “equally” important as mothers. But that does not mean Arizona always does right by fathers. In fact, there is a pretty large exception to the idea that mothers and fathers are equally important to a child in the eyes of the law.   The exception is this—that prior to an unmarried father going to Court and establishing his paternity and custodial rights, the mother alone is the custodial parent. This puts the onus on fathers to act and act ..read more

Health Insurance Coverage After Your Divorce One of the biggest worries people have when getting divorced is how they will get health insurance once they are single. Despite the Arizona Legislature’s attempts to promote it, one of the most unknown health insurance solutions is that a spouse has the option to stay on their former spouse’s employer-provided health plan for up to eighteen (18) months after the divorce decree is signed. The Legislature wants people to know about this option—in fact, they require that the person filing for divorce fill out and provide the other spouse with a Notice ..read more

Heath Insurance Coverage During Your Divorce Health insurance coverage is protected during a divorce by the Preliminary Injunction. When initiating a divorce proceeding in Arizona, every divorce filing requires a Preliminary Injunction and a Notice to Convert Health Insurance (See A.R.S. § 25-315 and A.R.S. § 20-1377(K), respectively.)   The Preliminary Injunction governs what happens to health insurance during the divorce.   The Notice to Convert Health Insurance outlines what can happen to health insurance after the divorce is final.  What Happens with Health Insuran ..read more

How to Find Your Family Law Case in Maricopa County  Fortunately, it is easy to look up a family law court case docket, you just need to know where to look.   Go to the Family Court Case History Type your last and first name into the appropriate field and select ‘Search’ to check the resulting list for any cases that match your name and date of birth or your case number. If your search returns multiple cases, check the ‘Party/Business Name’ to verify the Date of Birth.  Once you find the case you are looking for, click on the ‘Case Number.’ The docket will show you a list ..read more

Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship in Arizona Lonergan v. Strom – How you deed your marital residence matters.   Key Terms to Know When Talking About Deeds Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship (JTWROS): The ability to own assets jointly, if there are two or more individuals who have rights to the assets. It essentially permits two or more individuals to own the property as though they were one individual. Graham v. Allen, 11 Ariz. App. 207, 208 (1970).  The right of survivorship refers to what happens when one of the owners dies. The last surviving owner gets the whole inte ..read more