Handling a Wide Range of Arizona Family Law-Related Matters
Family law is a highly personal and sensitive area of law since it involves your closest family relationships. Many events and circumstances can initiate the need for a family law case, such as the following that occurred in Maricopa County in a recent year:
Any of these events can lead to a family law matter—and in any type of case, you want a qualified family law attorney on your side.
At DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC in Phoenix and Scottsdale, our experienced family law attorneys are here for you. We can handle every aspect of your family law case, from start to finish, minimizing the stress and effects on you and your children. Contact our office today to discuss how we can help you.
Common Arizona Family Law Issues
Family law encompasses many important issues that can arise throughout your life involving marriage, divorce, or children. The manner in which you resolve these issues will likely play a significant role in your future and the future of your children. An experienced Arizona family law attorney will help ensure that you receive the most favorable resolution of your case possible. The following are some common family law matters with which we can help.
Child Custody and Support in Arizona
Decisions related to your children often take priority, especially when it comes to your children’s relationships with you and their other parent. Your children’s futures are obviously your primary concern, and you want to make well-informed decisions regarding how they grow up. Whether you are getting divorced or were never married to your child’s other parent, child custody and child support questions will certainly arise.
Arizona law refers to legal custody as legal decision-making. It encompasses the parents’ legal rights to make all non-emergency decisions for their children, including decisions related to education, healthcare, religion, and personal care. The court can approve joint custody, with neither one of you having final decision-making authority (instead you must come to a joint decision together), joint with one of you having final decision-making authority, or sole with one of you having all of the legal decision-making authority.
Another aspect of child custody is physical custody, which is the time each parent spends with the child. The court’s presumption is that it is in the children’s best interests to have meaningful and substantial contact with both parents, and this typically translates into joint physical custody. Joint custody is common absent a compelling reason that one parent should have sole custody, such as if the other parent is unfit or unsafe.
In addition to custody determinations, the court may approve or issue child support orders. Arizona sets out a specific child support calculator based on the income and expenses of each parent, among other factors. You always want to hire an experienced child custody attorney to ensure that all custody and support decisions are fair to you and your children.
Divorce
Divorce is rarely a simple decision, as it can mean many changes in your life. Divorce can affect your finances, your residence, your relationship with your children, and more. Our divorce attorneys help you address every issue in the divorce process so that you can move forward in the best possible position.
Common issues we handle in divorce cases include:
- Child custody and support – As mentioned above, we can ensure you receive a fair decision regarding all child-related matters.
- Spousal maintenance – Spousal maintenance, also called spousal support or alimony, is an issue in divorces that involve a financial discrepancy between the spouses. If one spouse cannot support themselves for certain reasons, the court may award spousal maintenance payments for a specific duration. Whether you are seeking spousal maintenance or challenging a request, our attorneys can work to support a just decision by the courts.
- Division of marital property – Arizona is a community property state, which means that the law presumes that the property and assets you acquire during your marriage belong to both of you equally. Unlike some other community property states, however, this does not mean the court will divide your marital property exactly down the middle in a divorce. Instead, the court aims to divide property in a way that it considers fair. It is always easier for spouses to agree on how to divide their own property instead of leaving the decision to the courts, so we work to encourage settlements regarding community property.
Family Law Mediation
Family law mediation can help resolve complicated and overwhelming issues. If you and the other party can’t come to terms on certain important issues that neither of you is ready to leave to the discretion of the court, mediation can guide you toward a common ground. Many couples reach an agreement through mediation, and they often save time, money, and stress in the process.
Juvenile Legal Matters
Family law also covers those highly sensitive juvenile legal matters like guardianships and the termination of parental rights. Such issues can make a huge impact on your future, so seek legal assistance right away if a juvenile issue arises in your family. We fight for our clients to retain parental rights or obtain guardianships when possible.
If You Have Any Concerns, Consult an Arizona Family Law Attorney Serving Phoenix and Scottsdale Today
At DeShon Laraye Pullen PLC, our Arizona family law attorneys help clients through the difficult times they face. We know the impact that family law matters have on individuals and their families, so we build strong relationships with every client and create an individually tailored strategy to help each client achieve his or her goals. We also educate our clients about the legal process and what they should and should not expect. Our team believes that each client benefits from being an active participant in his or her own case. To discuss any family law matter, please call (800) 409-0262 or contact us online to set up an appointment.
