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answered on Mar 24, 2025

Your situation sounds incredibly challenging and traumatic. The violations you describe involving DCS, fraudulent proceedings, and the unsafe placement of your children represent a serious failure of the systems meant to protect families.

Looking at your options now, you may need to pursue... View More

Did the court enter these orders without even hearing from you ("ex-parte")? If so, then under our rules, you are entitled to a very quick hearing at which point mother would have to prove her concerns. If that hearing has already taken place, please know that temporary orders are only... View More

It sounds like it is time to go to Court. It's probably the only option you have right now to protect your parental rights.

What you're going to need to do is file a Petition to Establish Paternity, Legal Decision-making, Parenting Time, and Child Support with the Court and get... View More

One of the requirements for filing in Arizona is that at least one of the spouses must be domiciled in Arizona for 90 days. That means you must have lived here for the 90 days prior to filing for divorce with the intent to remain here. You indicate, "We wish to file for divorce soon after... View More

Mediation might be a very simple method of reaching a final agreement including this term. Although I do not know who you are meeting with as a mediator, if it is with the court, they are likely to draft a consent decree for your signature at that very meeting. However, one way to avoid mediation... View More

If you believe your daughter may be harmed if Father exercises parenting time, then YES, you need to seek temporary and/or emergency orders. Such is the quickest manner of getting to see your Judge. OR, perhaps a strongly worded letter from an experienced attorney would convince Father to make... View More

If wife was ordered to take care of the debt related to the vehicle, then that remains true even now, but unfortunately is only binding upon the two of you. It is not binding upon the creditor who can pursue either of you if you were both on the loan. One option that you have is to file a petition... View More

She can sign a "Consent to Adoption" or "Consent to Termination of Parental Rights". A consent to adopt is irrevocable unless obtained by fraud, duress or undue influence. The consent must be in writing, must be witnessed by two or more credible witnesses OR shall be signed... View More

The CAA will likely alert the Court, either prior to issuing the report, or within the report, that father refused to cooperate. The report will then likely be in your extreme favor. There could also be some manner of financial sanction, reallocation of the CAAs costs (require you to initially... View More

Yes, you can get full custody under those circumstances, but it is far from a guarantee. This is not a clearcut case for getting full custody, but you have arguments you can make that could get you there. A judge is going to be very concerned about what happened with the gymnastics dropoff, but the... View More

Presuming all parties are in Arizona, then yes. Arizona is a one-party recording state, i.e., only one person involved in the conversation needs to know a recording is being made. You could, however, request the Court order the other parent not record the phone calls.

You need to provide the notes. "Counseling or therapy records" is meant to refer to the session records. The proof of attendance is part of the compliance letter your counselor sends.

Perhaps a strongly worded letter from an experienced attorney would encourage him to be more communicative.

A qualified and experienced family law attorney can of course assist you in considering your options and then getting where you need to be. Most of us offer free, 1/2-hour... View More

You're not at fault.

She's being ridiculous.

The problem is this: How did you document this?

When you're fighting with crazy, you sometimes need to think through how to prove things that are, well, absolutely ridiculous that you have to prove.

Bear in... View More

I am probably too late on this ...

Most likely, the family court does not have jurisdiction over your dog.

The family court only has jurisdiction over dogs in divorces and only when the dog was acquired during the marriage and is the property of one or both of the spouses. In that... View More

You and your parents (who need to file since you're not 18) should contact a family lawyer if they haven't already, should consider filing to get some orders in place and perhaps emergency custody, including orders that her father not have any contact with the child.

The first is to determine what state has jurisdiction.

For that we first look to what state is the home state. The home state is either

(1) the state your son was born in, if it's the only state he has ever lived in;

OR

(2) the state where he most recently... View More

In Arizona, the Department of Child Safety (DCS) typically intervenes in family situations when there are concerns about the safety and well-being of children. This can include allegations of neglect, abuse, or other harmful environments. If DCS has removed your children from the home, it's... View More

A divorce decree is final in Arizona when all of the following criteria are met:

1. The Decree has resolved all issues related to the Petition for Dissolution.

2. The Decree states no matters remain pending.

3. The Decree states it is entered under Rule 78(c).

4.... View More