Tuesday, February 26, 2013

I Can't See My Kids So I am Not Going to Pay Support

I received a call today from a gentleman that was looking to get started on a divorce.  During the conversation I asked, "Do you and your wife have any children together?"

He promptly replied that he did and that his wife moved to another state about six years ago with the children.  He then told me that since she doesn't let him see the kids he refuses to pay her child support.

This is a real tragedy on a couple of levels.  First that the mother of these children will not let the kids have a relationship with their father.  Unless one or both of the parents is a danger to the child the court wants both parents to be involved.

If you are denying access to the other parent you are doing more harm to your children than you are to your spouse.  Using children as a weapon to hurt the other person is cruel and a bit juvenile if you ask me.

The other thing that is really sad and troubling about the above situation is that since mom won't let dad see the kids he refuses to pay support.  Again, the only person you are hurting are your own kids.  Letting your kids live in poverty just to prove a point is senseless and malicious.

Also it is important to point out that if the court should ever learn that one person is denying visitation to the other person they can and have given custody to the other parent.  The court insists that both parents have access to their children.

By denying parental access or to provide for your kids needs is to invite disaster in court.  The other thing to keep in mind is what kind of example are you setting for your kids.  Do you want them to grow up and mimic this same kind of behavior toward your grandchildren?  

Do the right thing.  Think of the children's well-being first.  Put you kids needs ahead of your petty bickering and your need for revenge. The only one you are really hurting are your kids.

For more information call Discount Divorce & Bankruptcy for a FREE consultation.

The experienced family and bankruptcy document prepares at Discount Divorce assists clients throughout Arizona, including the cities of Ahwatukee, Anthem, Apache Junction, Avondale, Bisbee, Buckeye, Bullhead City, Camp Verde, Casa, Cottonwood, Douglas, Eloy, Grande, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, El Mirage, Flagstaff, Florence, Fountain Hills, Gila Bend, Gilbert, Glendale, Globe, Goodyear, Gudalupe, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Litchfield Park, Marana, Maricopa, Mesa, Nogales, Oro Valley, Paradise Valley, Payson, Peoria, Phoenix, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Queen Creek, Safford, San Luis, Scottsdale, Sierra Vista, South Tucson, Snow Flake, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Tucson, Waddell, Wickenburg, Winslow, Youngtown and Yuma.

Visit
www.discountdivorcepro.com or call (602) 896-9020. Discount Divorce is located at 13817 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85023-6105.

Email:
DiscountDivorce@msn.com

As always you should seek legal advice for specific issues like the one above before coming to Discount Divorce to have your documents done and processed so that your legal rights may be protected.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Courtroom Decorm

 Some people get nervous when they have to attend a hearing.  Relax, just keep these simple rules in mind and everything will go smooth.

When you are in the courtroom, you want to act appropriately and avoid angering the judge. If you make the judge mad, he or she will remember it, and you don’t want that hanging over you. 

Some tips:

-Dress appropriately, like you’re going to a wedding or church. You can wear jeans, but if you’re dressed nicely, the court will take you more seriously.

-Don’t interrupt anyone. Wait for a break to request to be heard if you feel you’re being ignored.

-Treat everyone with courtesy and respect, even if you don’t think they deserve it. This includes bailiffs, court clerks and assistants, and the opposing attorney or party.

-Don’t get mad, or at least if you do, try to continue to act with courtesy and respect. When you get mad, you lose your perspective, you say things you don’t mean, and you’re likely to get in trouble in one way or another. The depth of your feeling or anger will not win you any points with anyone.  Sometimes in Family Court the judge or the opposing side will try to bait you into loosing your temper especially if the other party alleges that you have anger management issues.  Don't give them the satisfaction by proving them right.  Maintain your cool at all times.

-Thank the judge before you leave, regardless of the outcome.  You never know you may have to appear before this very same judge sometime in the future.

 For more information call Discount Divorce & Bankruptcy for a FREE consultation.

The experienced family and bankruptcy document prepares at Discount Divorce assists clients throughout Arizona, including the cities of Ahwatukee, Anthem, Apache Junction, Avondale, Bisbee, Buckeye, Bullhead City, Camp Verde, Casa, Cottonwood, Douglas, Eloy, Grande, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, El Mirage, Flagstaff, Florence, Fountain Hills, Gila Bend, Gilbert, Glendale, Globe, Goodyear, Gudalupe, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Litchfield Park, Marana, Maricopa, Mesa, Nogales, Oro Valley, Paradise Valley, Payson, Peoria, Phoenix, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Queen Creek, Safford, San Luis, Scottsdale, Sierra Vista, South Tucson, Snow Flake, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Tucson, Waddell, Wickenburg, Winslow, Youngtown and Yuma.

Visit
www.discountdivorcepro.com or call (602) 896-9020. Discount Divorce is located at 13817 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85023-6105.

Email:
DiscountDivorce@msn.com

As always you should seek legal advice for specific issues like the one above before coming to Discount Divorce to have your documents done and processed so that your legal rights may be protected.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Moving Out of State with the Children


More and more it comes up that people are needing to move out of Arizona because they have received a job offer in another state.  Normally this is good news but when children of divorce are concerned it can be a problem for the parents that have custody.  If the other parent is not in agreement with the move you could be looking at a long court battle.  If you are the other parent then the good news is that the law has been changed to shore up your rights.

There has been some recent changes in the law that protect the rights of parents that do not have custody.  The changes can be found in Ariz.Rev.Stat. 25-408, Rights of Each Parent...

There is a presumption in the law that states that if both parents have joint legal decision making or unsupervised visitation then they are entitled to advanced written notification from the other parent if they plan to move with the children.  Now a lot of people miss the second part of this, "unsupervised visitation"  Some parents think that if they have sole custody (sole legal decision making) that they can just pack up the kids and move.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Unless there is an order for "supervised visitation"  you can not move without the children unless you give advanced written notice AND you have permission from the court to relocate.  To do fail to do so will cause court sanctions to include loss of custody (Ariz.Rev.Stat. 25-415(B)(3))

Advanced Written Notice

First of all the parent that is planning to move with the children must give the other parent at least 60 day advance written notice if they are planning to move outside of Arizona or more than 100 miles within the state (there is a committee in the legislature as of the writing of this post that is actively seeking to change this law to more than 15 miles within the state).  This written notice must be sent certified mail, return receipt request.  For those of you not familiar with certified mail, return receipt request, this means that you must sign for a certified letter and your signature is then returned to the sender as proof that you received the letter.

After the non-custodial parent signs for the letter he or she only has 30 days to petition the court to prevent the relocation of the children.  After the expiration of the 30 days the only way you can prevent relocation is by showing "good cause".  If you get served or receive notice of the other parent's intent to relocate with the children you must act right away if you wish to prevent this.  A delay can prove disastrous if you wish to prevent the move.

Going to Court

When you get to court the court will determine what is in the "best interest" of the children.  In determining the best interest the court will consider all relevant factors.  They will look at all factors under Ariz.Rev.Stat. 25-403 plus others.

One of the others that I found in favor of the parent seeking to prevent relocation is Ariz.Rev.Stat. 25-408(H)(2), "... not to interfere with or to frustrate the relationship between the child and the other parent or the other parent's right of access to the child.  It would appear to me that the state legislator wants the "Other Parent"  rights to see their children protected.  That they understand that the non-custodial parent has a lot to offer and that the children are not to be removed from the state unless the custodial parent can meet the "burden of proof" as to why it is in the best interest of the children to be relocated.  And the burden of proof is on the moving parent according to Ariz.Rev.Stat. 25-408(F)( "... The burden of proving what is in the child's best interests is on the parent who is seeking to relocate the child. ...").

As one can start to see the moving parent has many hurtles to over come.  One of the more interesting one is the provision that is in most if not all Parenting Plan or Divorce Decree that prohibits the children from being removed from the state;

Ariz.Rev.Stat. 25-408(G), "The court shall not deviate from a provision of any parenting plan or other written agreement by which the parents specifically have agreed to allow or prohibit relocation of the child unless the court finds that the provision is no longer in the child's best interests. There is a rebuttal presumption that a provision from any parenting plan or other written agreement is in the child's best interests." The relocating parent must rebut the legal presumption that the parties' prohibition on relocation is in the child's best interests.

One of the ways that the moving parent could rebut this presumption is by demonstrating to the court that the move is in the best interest of the children because the advantage of the move would improve the general quality of life for the children.    Another way is show that the move will not affect the emotional, physical or developmental needs of the children in a negative way.  However, this last way is a double edged sword because the other parent could argue that it would negatively affect the children.  The other parent could even take it one step further and show the potential effect of the relocation on the children's stability.











































Expected Time Line

As you can see there is no silver bullet when it comes to winning.  It is difficult to relocate with the children if the non-custodial parent is not in agreement with the move.   If you are planning on relocating and the other party is not in agreement plan at least 6 months to a year in advance of your move.  You will need at least this much time to fight the court battle that is ahead of you.  I have seen many cases like this and sometimes it makes me think that the court purposely drags these cases out in order to cause one of the parents to cave in and give the other parent their way.  I am sure this not the court's intent but it makes a person wonder sometimes.  No other cases in my experience take as long as relocation matters.


If you are the other parent and you get served notification of relocation then act immediately without delay or you may find yourself without any recourse in stopping the relocation.

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For more information call Discount Divorce & Bankruptcy for a FREE consultation.

The experienced family and bankruptcy document prepares at Discount Divorce assists clients throughout Arizona, including the cities of Ahwatukee, Anthem, Apache Junction, Avondale, Bisbee, Buckeye, Bullhead City, Camp Verde, Casa, Cottonwood, Douglas, Eloy, Grande, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, El Mirage, Flagstaff, Florence, Fountain Hills, Gila Bend, Gilbert, Glendale, Globe, Goodyear, Gudalupe, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Litchfield Park, Marana, Maricopa, Mesa, Nogales, Oro Valley, Paradise Valley, Payson, Peoria, Phoenix, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Queen Creek, Safford, San Luis, Scottsdale, Sierra Vista, South Tucson, Snow Flake, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Tucson, Waddell, Wickenburg, Winslow, Youngtown and Yuma.

Visit www.discountdivorcepro.com or call (602) 896-9020. Discount Divorce is located at 13817 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85023-6105.

Email: DiscountDivorce@msn.com

As always you should seek legal advice for specific issues like the one above before coming to Discount Divorce to have your documents done and processed so that your legal rights may be protected.