Stewart Law Group

If you lived in Arizona, you need to make a good faith effort to locate and find the opposing party, which may include hiring someone to investigate their location using various records to include MVD, mail forwards etc. If you absolutely cannot locate a person and Arizona was your marital residence then you can request service by publication.

To initiate a divorce in Arizona, a spouse files a “Petition for Dissolution of Marriage” with the clerk of the Superior Court and pays the requisite filing fee. The other spouse must be served with a copy of the petition and summons. He or she has 20 days from the date of service to file a written response with the court (30 days if service is out-of-state). The other spouse may waive service by signing and having notarized an “Acceptance of Service.” The petition and response make up the initial family court pleadings.

Maybe. Arizona has a 90 day jurisdictional requirement if you would like to file your divorce in Arizona. You may want to speak with an attorney in Ecuador about proceeding in there if the two of you are in agreement with the disposition of your property. It's quite possible you can stipulate to everything without returning, but absent agreement you may be required to return and satisfy the 90 day jurisdictional requirement. If you call an attorney in Arizona, we can give you more specific direction based upon your exact facts.

This type of insurance is usually considered supplemental (and discretionary) so probably not but given these are mostly used for high deductible health plans, the cost of the current plan with GAP coverage might be less than a low deductible plan with higher premium. I would do the math on all options before you decide how to proceed and don't forget to factor in the cost of court etc.

We handle divorce, child custody, support and most related matters. We also handle prenuptial agreements, estate planning and probate matters. Please let me know how we can assist you.

Yes, if sole legal custody is appropriate. In Arizona, there is no legal presumption favoring one parent over the other. Meaning that the Court starts with the presumption that parents should have joint custody. However, if you believe joint custody is not appropriate, you can request sole custody.

No, your child does not have the right to decide which parent shall have custody. However, the child’s wishes may be considered by the court at any stage in the proceedings. More often than not, though, the judge will rely on the opinion of a mental health professional for guidance on what is in the child’s best interests.

Divorce can profoundly affect a child’s emotional development, so preparing the child for divorce is an important parenting issue. The child’s emotional well-being during and after the dissolution depends greatly on how the parents handle their divorce. To help ease the children’s transition into the new family relationship, visit our site to read our helpful parenting suggestions for couples who are contemplating divorce.