{"id":1517,"date":"2013-01-16T02:29:39","date_gmt":"2013-01-16T02:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/?p=1517"},"modified":"2019-11-23T22:26:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-24T05:26:38","slug":"update-on-new-child-custody-statutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/16\/update-on-new-child-custody-statutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on New Child Custody Statutes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The current Arizona child custody statutes have been in effect \u00a0since January 1, 2013. \u00a0 Yes, I said &#8220;custody.&#8221; \u00a0Until the new label, &#8220;legal decision-making&#8221; , becomes widely known, I will continue to use the word &#8220;custody&#8221; at least to some extent in this blog and in my communications with laypersons and prospective clients. \u00a0Eventually the concept of \u00a0&#8220;legal decision-making&#8221; will take hold and replace &#8220;custody&#8221; just as the concept of &#8220;parenting time&#8221; for parents replaced &#8220;visitation&#8221; over the course of several years following <em>that<\/em> statutory change.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Even before the new statutes became effective, most judges were beginning their analyses with the presumption that legal decision-making should be equally shared unless there was a solid factual and legal basis to award one parent sole legal decision-making. \u00a0I believe that will continue to be the case under the new statutes but that the presumption in favor of joint legal decision-making will now be even stronger.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As to parenting time, the new statutes certainly slant toward equal time for both parents. \u00a0Under new A.R.S. Section 25-403.02 B., &#8220;the court\u00a0<em>shall<\/em> adopt a parenting plan that . . .\u00a0<em>maximizes<\/em> <div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 hundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-overflow:visible;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last fusion-column-no-min-height\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-margin-bottom:0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\">[the parents&#8217;] respective parenting time.&#8221; \u00a0<em>Emphasis added<\/em>. \u00a0Even under the old statutes, however, there had been a strong trend toward awarding parents equal parenting time. \u00a0I believe the trend toward equal parenting time will continue and become even stronger under the new statutes. \u00a0In cases where both parents desire maximum parenting time, \u00a0and where there are no significant concerns of substance abuse, domestic violence or mental health issues, it is my opinion that equal parenting time will become the norm.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, over the past year I have seen that come about. \u00a0Absent significant evidence indicating that equal decision-making and equal parenting time are <em>not\u00a0<\/em>in the children&#8217;s best interests, my experience is that judges are routinely ordering equal decision-making and equal time. \u00a0I have even had several judges say in open court that they <em>will<\/em> award equal decision-making and equal time unless one parent can convince them they shouldn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p>Shared legal decision-making and equal parenting time were not mandatory under the old statues, however, and they not mandatory under the new statutes. \u00a0 Judges still have discretion to award sole legal decision-making and\/or unequal time if they make factual findings that such orders are in the best interests of the children. \u00a0\u00a0<em>See<\/em> A.R.S. Section 25-403.01 A. and A.R.S. Section 25-403 B. \u00a0In the future, however, I believe sole legal decision-making rulings and lopsided parenting time schedules will become a rarity, with shared legal decision-making and equal time or nearly equal time becoming standard.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Copyright \u00a9 2014 by Scoresby Family Law \u2013 J. Kyle Scoresby, P.C. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The current Arizona child custody statutes have been in effect \u00a0since January 1, 2013. \u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[55,68],"class_list":["post-1517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-child-custody","tag-legal-decision-making","tag-parenting-time"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Update on New Child Custody Statutes - Arizona Divorce &amp; Family Law Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/16\/update-on-new-child-custody-statutes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update on New Child Custody Statutes - Arizona Divorce &amp; 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