If you’ve decided to end your marriage and you share a minor child with your spouse, you will need to clarify the child’s post-divorce living arrangements. Commonly known as a parenting plan, you’ll need to craft an arrangement that outlines how you will co-parent your child.
Ideally, the court prefers that divorcing parents work out a parenting plan on their own. If you and your spouse can resolve your differences amicably in this way, the court will eventually review and (very likely) approve whatever plan you come up with. To ensure that your parenting plan is approved, however, it must reflect your child’s best interests.
Here are three things you need to take into account when creating a parenting plan:
1. Each party’s responsibilities
It is important that you clearly outline how you and your co-parent will share parental rights, responsibilities and childcare duties. For instance, if one parent works night shifts, it might make sense for the child to live primarily with the parent who is either working from home or day shifts.
Also, be sure to specify exactly how parenting time will be shared. Setting realistic expectations is important so that everyone involved can plan and can be held accountable for not honoring their responsibilities.
2. Decision-making process
You will still need to make some decisions together on your child’s behalf after the divorce, just as you did while you were living together. Decisions regarding their healthcare, education and co-curricular activities may best be made together. It is important that you specify how these decisions will be made and what issues will require the input of both parents.
3. Conflict resolution
Conflicts are part and parcel of life. Even if your divorce has been amicable, there is always a possibility that differences with your ex will develop over time. It is important that you include in your parenting plan how you will handle conflicts when they arise. You may want to specify a conflict resolution mechanism, like mediation.
Let’s face it – parenting after divorce can be difficult, especially if you do not have a plan. Find out how you can create a post-divorce parenting plan that will work for you, your child and your future co-parenting relationship.
Do you have the right to defend yourself in Arizona?
Defending yourself against an attacker seems like a natural thing to do – but a lot of people still end up in handcuffs after they’ve been in an altercation of some kind.
Sometimes, the police simply make a bad call and arrest someone whose actions were well within their right to self-defense. Other times, people just don’t quite understand how far their right to self-defense goes – and where it stops.
Arizona has specific laws that address this issue
ARS 13-404 and ARS 13-405 are the two primary statutes in this state that speak on this issue, and here are the rules you need to keep in mind about self-defense:
- You can use force (violence) to protect yourself when it is reasonable to believe that your actions are immediately necessary to protect yourself.
- This includes the use of deadly force, when that amount of force is reasonable and proportionate to the danger being posed by the other party.
- You do not have a duty to retreat before using force if you are in a place you are legally allowed to be and not doing anything illegal while you’re there.
You cannot, however, claim self-defense if you were resisting arrest (even if the arrest was unlawful) so long as the police officer in question didn’t exceed the legal use of force. You also cannot claim self-defense if you provoked the other party – unless you clearly tried to withdraw and the other party wouldn’t let you, nor may you use this defense if your use of force was a response to mere words.
In practical terms, this generally means you can’t claim self-defense if you were trespassing and got attacked by the property owner. Nor can you claim self-defense if you threw the first punch in a fight, even if the other person verbally insulted you first. It also stops being self-defense once the other guy throws up their hands and tries to back away or when you return a shove with a knife attack.
If you’ve been arrested for a violent crime and you were just defending yourself, it’s wise to learn more about your legal options right away.
Why is fentanyl illegal in Arizona?
Fentanyl has been in the news recently; however, many people do not fully understand what it is, why it is illegal or the potential consequences of having it.
Fentanyl is classified as a narcotic. It is a synthetic opioid made in a lab and a Schedule II controlled substance. While it does have a medical use, it also has a high possibility of abuse. If you are caught with even a small amount of fentanyl, you can face drug trafficking or distribution charges, even if other drugs in the same amount would only result in possession charges. Understanding why this is the case can help you better understand your rights in these situations.
Fentanyl is strong and potent
Fentanyl is stronger than heroin and morphine. Because it is so potent, even small amounts can result in an overdose.
Having other drugs may result in fentanyl-related charges
Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is more likely to result in overdoses than pharmaceutical fentanyl. One reason for this is that it is used for cutting other drugs.
You may not even realize you have this substance since detecting it is only possible with specialized testing strips. If you are caught with another drug and the authorities test it for fentanyl, you may face more serious penalties if it is found. This is true even if you were unaware that fentanyl was in the drug.
Protecting your rights when found with fentanyl
As you can see, being caught with fentanyl is serious, and the authorities take these crimes seriously. Because of the penalties you may face, it is best to learn your legal rights and how to protect them.
Both you and your spouse made contributions to your marital household that benefit of the other. You likely shared income and insurance benefits with one another, and each of you may have performed certain tasks around the home.
Separating your lives will be one of the biggest challenges in your upcoming divorce. Financial issues are often one of the leading sources of disputes and misconduct in modern divorces. Your spouse, intent on beating you, might illegally act to deprive you of your fair share of the marital estates. What are some of the ways in which people manipulate the outcome of property division proceedings?
1. They undervalue assets or do not report personal belongings
Some people comply with your financial discovery rights but only minimally so. They may provide an inventory of assets that includes ridiculously undervalued property or may not truthfully account for their personal belongings, such as a designer wardrobe or a fine art collection. While you may not intend to return those assets in the divorce, you have every right to claim your fair share of their value.
2. They hide income or resources
Your spouse may have had a secret bank account since before the two of you ever got married. They may take money out of their paycheck every single week and move it into that private account without you ever knowing it exists.
They could also have spent months or even several years making incremental purchases of items that they intend to keep for themselves in the divorce. They may store these items someplace away from your home to set up an apartment or separate house once they leave you. People often need to bring in financial experts, such as forensic accountants, when they hope to prove that their spouse has hidden money or other assets.
3. They intentionally diminish your shared resources
Maybe your spouse gives away thousands of dollars in furniture and household belongings shortly before filing for divorce. Perhaps they hold a garage sale and sell items for pennies on the dollar. They might even make gifts to family and friends with the intention of reclaiming the items after your divorce.
Other people might wastefully spend or accrue credit card debt to limit what their spouse receives in the divorce. When you believe that your separation may lead to financial misconduct on the part of your spouse, you may need to employ a particularly cautious approach to your upcoming divorce proceedings.
Accounting for financial misconduct as you prepare for property division proceedings can help you obtain an appropriate outcome in your divorce.
How do you parallel parent?
As divorcing parents of minor children, you need to keep cooperating to raise those children. Yet, the turmoil of a divorce ( and the events that led to it) can make that incredibly challenging.
What then? What if you just cannot get along enough to co-parent?
Parallel parenting offers an alternative when co-parenting is not realistic
A dose of realism can go a long way. Once you accept that you are not yet at a point where you can talk about things without every conversation having the potential to turn into a full-blown argument, you can look for ways to reduce your contact.
Remember that conflict is damaging for your kids. So if not talking to each other is what’s required to keep the peace, it may be what you need to do. Here are some ways you can do that:
1. Set out how you will communicate
Maybe you agree to communicate only via email and between 9 and 6 on weekdays, except for emergencies. You could use something like a shared calendar or parenting app to reduce the need to talk. If you each enter events relevant to your child there, you let each other know without direct communication.
2. Leave the other person to parent as they see best
If your child is with their other parent, they might go to bed later than you like. They might not eat as healthily as you like, or they might see a movie you’d rather they didn’t. Just accept that parents don’t all think the same and that most things are not really going to harm your kids. The only time you should step in is if your child is in danger.
3. Arrange handovers to minimize contact between parents
Maybe you agree not to discuss anything at a handover, as things could easily flare up in front of the kids. Or perhaps you use school starting and finishing as the handover time to reduce the chance of lateness by one parent becoming an issue that leads to an argument.
While it would be ideal if you could co-parent, parallel parenting is sometimes the best choice, at least for the moment. Take legal help to understand how to build your custody plan around it in a divorce.
Is a plea deal a good deal?
There is a high chance that a prosecutor will offer you a plea deal if you face criminal charges.
Despite everyone having the constitutional right to a jury trial, most cases are settled with plea deals. It suits the overburdened legal system. It suits the prosecutor, who can chalk up yet another win. But does it suit you?
Not if you are innocent
Many innocent people accept plea deals because they don’t believe they can prove their innocence. The prosecutors will try to scare them into believing the odds of an acquittal are next to nothing. Buy that’s not true. There is always a chance if you have the right legal support.
It might not be the best deal even if you are guilty
Prosecutors may exaggerate the líkely sentence you’ll receive if your case goes to trial and you are convicted.
Judges take a lot of things into account when determining what sentence to give and can be much more lenient than the prosecution would like or will tell you.
There are also many technical grounds on which a judge may dismiss a charge. For example, however steadfast the evidence against you, if the police seized it during an improper search, the judge should refuse to admit it.
If it was properly collected but improperly stored, the judge might instruct the jury to discount it due to a lack of reliability.
Whatever your situation, if a prosecutor offers you a plea deal, seek legal help to understand more about your defense options and whether accepting is right for you.
Christmas is approaching fast. While divorce might take away a lot of the seasonal stress – no more having to be polite with the inlaws – it can add plenty more, especially if you have children.
If this is the first Christmas since you and your spouse split, your children may struggle. Here are some tips to help them through it:
Do not let it become a competition
Maybe you can afford to buy your seven-year-old a new MacBook Pro this Christmas. It doesn’t mean that you should, as it could have negative side effects.
Perhaps they will feel guilty about being so happy about your present when they know their other parent can’t afford the same. Maybe your ex-spouse might accuse you of trying to buy your child’s favor, or maybe they will blow their budget to try and outdo you.
Time and peace is the best present you can give your child
When they say Christmas is a time of goodwill to all, that should include your co-parent. Staying civil will make for a more relaxing Christmas for your children (and for you).
If you did not take good account of special occasions such as Christmas in your parenting schedule, consider a bit of flexibility. While it might be one of your turns to be with the kids on the 25th, your children would probably prefer to see you both if at all possible, at least for a bit. You could also consider giving them two Christmases, one on the 25th with you and your family and one on the 26th with the other side of the family (or vice versa).
Whatever you do this Christmas, put your children’s best interests first. Seek legal help to learn more about creating parenting schedules around important dates.
The theory of parental alienation has never been scientifically proven valid. Yet many courts and litigators treat it as though it has. The belief behind it is that one parent can influence their child to turn against the other parent through their actions and words.
The United Nations is so concerned about the worldwide rise in claims of parental alienation that they have commissioned a report into it. They fear that divorce litigators are weaponizing it, and judges in divorce cases are believing them, putting children’s lives at risk.
How does it work?
Your spouse wants more custody when you divorce (or at some point after). Therefore, they make a claim of parental alienation to the court. They say that you are trying to turn the child against them and are trying to brainwash the child to think that they are a bad parent.
If they make their story convincing enough, and the judge believes that parental alienation is a real psychological condition, you could see your share of parenting time cut drastically.
A loss of parenting time is not the only problem
If your child claims their other parent abuses them, there’s a good chance it is true. If the abusive parent convinces the judge that it is all a fantasy you inserted into the child’s mind, it frees them to continue the abuse and perhaps expand it. If the judge takes parenting time away from you, you will be less able to protect your child.
Seeking legal to fight your custody case gives you the best chance of fighting back against false claims of parental alienation and giving your child the protection they need.
plan to marry. Despite your best intentions, you may find yourself in an untenable situation. Maybe the two of you have opposing political opinions and can no longer even converse civilly with each other. Perhaps your spouse cheated on you, and you know you will never forgive them.
You believe that divorce is likely the appropriate solution, but you’ve probably heard horror stories from other people who decided to end their marriage or got served unexpectedly by their spouse. It’s natural to worry about what will happen with your finances after you file for divorce, especially if you’re close to retirement age.
Are your retirement savings at risk in an Arizona divorce?
Community property rules apply to almost everything
Part of promising to spend your life with someone else is the tacit agreement to pool your assets and cover each other’s financial obligations. Unless you have a marital agreement, what you earned during marriage is marital property, so the contributions from your paycheck to your retirement savings are also marital property.
What you contributed before your marriage or after a formal separation won’t be at risk, but you could very well have to divide your account in half to share with your spouse under Arizona’s community property laws.
How can you protect your retirement account?
You and your spouse have the option of negotiating an agreement and settling property division matters on your own. If retaining the full balance of your retirement account is your biggest goal in your divorce, you can make that your priority during negotiations or mediation. You might allow your ex to keep other assets, like your small family business, to make up for the value of your retirement account.
If you can settle matters on your own, you can potentially reach any arrangement that works for both of you. Otherwise, a judge will order the division of your retirement account along with other property in accordance with Arizona state statute. Learning about the rules that apply in property division matters can help those contemplating divorce in Arizona.
Should you pursue child custody out of court?
Litigating child custody can be overwhelming. At the end of the day, important decisions regarding your child’s upbringing will be determined by the judge who has absolutely no clue about your family dynamics. With this in mind, it is not uncommon for divorcing couples to wonder whether they can settle child custody out of court.
A simple answer is, YES– you can settle child custody out of court. In fact, Arizona child custody laws encourage parents to work out custody and visitation plans on their own without involving the court.
If this is something you want to consider, then it is important that you understand how to go about this sensitive subject.
Important considerations when settling child custody out of court
Coming up with a solid parenting plan is essential whether or not you are going to settle your child custody in or out of court. Here are some of the factors you need to consider when negotiating an out-of-court child custody settlement:
The type of custody
This is probably the first step in reaching a custody settlement. Depending on the child’s needs, parents’ abilities and availability as well as each household’s living arrangements, you can opt for shared custody or full custody to one parent as the other gets visitation rights.
The child’s education and extra-curricular activities
Consistency in education is crucial for the child. Thus, compelling the child to change schools, and possibly the environment, in the middle of the year can not only be disruptive but an unnecessary hindrance as well.
The custody arrangement you come up with may address how both parents will be involved in the child’s education (studying, homework and school events) as well as extra-curricular activities. It could also address other concerns like the child’s holidays.
Divorce is a major life event for everyone involved. As soon as you decide to divorce, it is important that you begin working out a plan for your child’s custody and living arrangement going forward.
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