After a one year waiting period, any child custody order in Arizona may be modified upon a showing of a substantial and continuing change of circumstances. The Arizona statutes and procedural rules require that a petition to modify any child custody order–the legal decision-making and/or parenting time provisions–must include “detailed facts” which establish “adequate cause” to set an evidence hearing on the petition to modify.
Some attorneys fail to recognize or remember the importance of alleging detailed facts in their petitions to modify. Without detailed facts, a petition to modify is vulnerable to a motion to dismiss. An example of an allegation lacking detail would be “Mother believes Father has a substance abuse problem and that his parenting time should be supervised.” An example of an allegation including detailed facts would be “On May 1, Father was arrested for extreme DUI in Mesa, Arizona, as evidenced by the attached police report.”
The requirement of detailed facts establishing adequate cause for an evidence hearing means that the parent seeking the modification and her attorney must take time and care in crafting the petition to modify. In my office, before we prepare a petition to modify legal decision-making or parenting time, we require our client to prepare a written document outlining the detailed events which have transpired since the entry of the previous custody order, including dates, times, places and detailed facts, which they believe support their request to modify legal decision-making or parenting time. We attach police reports and affidavits of witnesses when appropriate and when available.
To maximize the likelihood of success in a child custody modification case, it is imperative that the petition to modify include specific and detailed facts which, if true, would form a probable basis to modify the existing custody orders. When the petition contains such detailed factual allegations, it is likely the judge will find it establishes “adequate cause” to set an evidence hearing and that dismissal will be avoided.
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