Grandparent Rights in Arizona

Each of the 49 states in the U.S. possess their own specific statutes that address the matter of visitation rights for grandparents. In Arizona, reasonable visitation rights may be granted to grandparents if two circumstances are met.

The first thing that must be proved to the court to establish visitation rights for grandparents is that it is within the best interests of the child for the visitation to occur. In making this determination, the court will consider all factors relevant to the matter (per A.R.S. 25-409), which include:

• The historical relationship, if any, between the child and the person seeking visitation.
• The motivation of the requesting party in seeking visitation.
• The motivation of the person denying visitation.
• The quantity of visitation time requested and the potential adverse impact that visitation will have on the child’s customary activities.
• If one or both of the child’s parents are deceased, the benefit in maintaining an extended family relationship.

In addition to proving that visitation is within the best interests of the child, one of three situations must also be true. The first is that the marriage of the parents of the child must have been dissolved for at least three months. Second, a parent of the child must be deceased OR missing for at least three months. The court will consider a parent to be missing if the location of the parent has not been determined and if the parent has been reported missing to a law enforcement agency. Finally, visitation rights can be sought if the child was born out of wedlock.

If a grandparent is able to acquire visitation, and if it is logistically possible and appropriate to do so, the court will typically allow the visitation to occur when the child is spending time with whichever parent that the grandparent used to claim the grandparent’s right of access to the child. However, the court recognizes that this sort of scenario is not always possible and will order alternate arrangements if necessary to minimize conflict and maintain a safe and stable environment for the minor child.

Though this statute applies specifically for grandparents, a provision also provides the same rights to great-grandparents if they can meet the elements listed above.

Like most actions involving custody and/or visitation of a minor child, the outcome is largely contingent upon what is in the best interests of the child. Because these matters are often hotly contested, it is usually a good idea to contact an experienced and knowledgeable attorney to help guide you through the process. To speak with an attorney regarding Grandparents’ Rights in Arizona, contact The Carroll Law Firm at (623)551-9366.

Pre-Marital Agreements (aka “Pre-Nups”) in Arizona

Arizona law defines a premarital agreement (or what is commonly referred to as a “pre-nup”) as an agreement between two prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage. Once the marriage of the parties becomes official, the premarital agreement goes into effect.

Arizona Alimony in a Nutshell

Arizona law does not use the term “alimony,” and instead uses the term “spousal maintenance” when referring to support payments made by one spouse to another.

Spousal maintenance can be awarded as part of the terms of a divorce decree, during the time between filing for divorce and the court entering a final decision, or even while the parties are still married. Spousal maintenance is awarded to ensure adequate income for those who have become economically dependent on their spouse through the marriage.

Spousal maintenance is NOT used to punish a spouse for any wrongdoing and is NOT dependent on gender. However, while either party in a divorce can ask for spousal maintenance to be awarded, the trend in recent years has been to award less support than what has been seen in the past.

Rights of Unmarried Couples

With more unmarried couples living together every day, the rights of individual partners in an unmarried relationship are giving rise to more prominent legal issues. Arizona law does not grant common law marriage rights. (Though, in some cases, common law marriages formed in another state may be recognized in Arizona.)

Community Property is a legal presumption that allows married partners to have equal claim to almost all property and debts acquired during marriage. Because Arizona does not allow common law marriages, an unmarried couple could live together indefinitely and not have any legal rights to the other partner’s property.

Generally, if an unmarried couple splits up, each partner will be able to keep their own separate property and have no rights to the other partner’s property. If one partner purchased a home in his name alone, the other partner generally will not have claim to that home, even if it were purchased during the relationship and both parties lived together in the home. While there are some exceptions that may grant the other partner rights to property, (for example, if the unprotected partner has proof that he or she contributed to the purchase price, mortgage, and maintenance) in most cases absent written agreement, the partner with title will prevail.

Palimony is a term that refers to money that one partner may be entitled to by another partner upon separation. Although this concept is not a legal concept recognized by statutory law, there are some cases that suggest that unmarried partners may have rights to “palimony” upon separation in rare circumstances.

The best way to avoid a messy legal conflict upon separation is to enter into a written agreement prior to living together. This agreement should address any concerns such as how finances should be split (both incomes and expenses), real property, and personal property. This agreement should also address any issues that may come about such as one partner working and providing income to the other partner, or what rights each partner may have in the event that the couple has children. While it is not possible to address every potential issue that may arise from a relationship, the more in depth the agreement is, the better off the parties will be if they separate. Approaching one’s partner with this matter may be a touchy subject. While hopefully the relationship may survive indefinitely, it’s better to be safe than sorry by taking necessary precautions and entering into a written agreement with one’s partner.

Another concern that unmarried couples should address is what will happen upon the death of each partner. Per Arizona intestacy law, unmarried partners have no rights of inheritance. For this reason, it is imperative that both partners in an unmarried relationship draft wills explaining how they wish their assets to be devised upon death.

The attorneys at The Carroll Law Firm can help you with any of your legal issues including drafting a cohabitation agreement, drafting wills and estate documents, or researching and explaining rights you may have absent an agreement upon separation. Call us today to set up a free initial consultation at (623)551-9366.

Community and Separate Property

Though February may be an “interesting” choice to post two articles concerning divorce, The New York Post reports that there is a 40 percent spike in divorce rates around this time of year. For this reason, we’ve opted to continue on with the topic of our last post and focus on an issue that is nearly universal to all divorces; community property.

Arizona is a community property state, which means the law presumes that all property acquired during the course of a marriage is community property. On the other hand, all property that is acquired before marriage, or after the divorce papers are served, is considered to be separate property.

If an item is classified as community property then both you and your spouse have an equal ownership in that item. This property includes most assets acquired during the marriage, as well as any income generated by either you or your spouse.

Separate property belongs solely to either yourself or your spouse. Typically, separate property is anything that you brought into the marriage, or acquired as a gift or through inheritance to you personally. These items will generally remain your separate property throughout the course of the marriage, as long as you keep them separate, but there are certain actions or events that may grant your spouse an interest in your separate property, or even change it to community property entirely (such as depositing money into a joint account used for the good of the community).

The presumption that everything acquired during marriage is community property is very broad, but there are ways to defeat it. Certain exceptions exist that allow some items or earnings can to be viewed by the courts as separate property, though the method of proving these exceptions is often complex, and usually necessitates the use of an attorney.

Along with child custody and spousal maintenance, concerns about the fate of assets gained both during and after the marriage lead to some of the most common questions asked in divorce proceedings. If you find that you and your spouse seem to be spiraling out of love rather than relishing the romance this Valentine’s Day, feel free to speak to any of our attorneys who will be happy to help answer all of your questions.