This post is the last in my series titled “Arizona Divorce Procedure Step-by-Step.” This post will address how a decree of dissolution of marriage, informally referred to as a “divorce decree”, is entered after a divorce trial.
Following a divorce trial, the judge typically needs time to review all of the evidence presented at the trial before the judge renders a decision. Judges call this taking the case “under advisement.” It is very rare that a judge renders a decision from the bench on the day of trial. Judges may keep a case “under advisement” for up to sixty (60) days. When the judge is ready to rule, the judge issues a written decision or ruling, also called a minute entry.
If the minute entry is not signed by the judge, it is NOT a divorce decree. When a judge does not sign her minute entry, the judge directs one of the attorneys, usually the petitioner’s counsel, to prepare a formal draft divorce decree document to submit to the judge for signature. The lawyer who has been instructed to do so then drafts a proposed divorce decree that is consistent with the judge’s written ruling. Ideally, both lawyers and parties sign off on the draft decree, including any minor changes or additions to which they all agree, before it is submitted to the judge for signature. Until the draft decree is signed by the judge, the parties are not divorced. An unsigned minute entry or draft decree is not a court order. Only when it is signed by the judge is the document officially a divorce decree, a formal court order/judgment.
Sometimes the lawyer who has been directed to prepare the proposed divorce decree does not obtain the other side’s signatures on the proposed decree before submitting it to the judge for entry. When this happens, the opposing party has five business days to file an objection to the form of the decree. See Rule 81(C)(1), ARFLP. The objection may not be used to object to the substance of the judge’s ruling. Rather, the objection is used to bring to the court’s attention any provision in the proposed decree which is inconsistent with the judge’s written decision or which was not addressed in the decision. After an objection, the party who submitted the proposed decree has five business days to file a response to the objection. ARFLP, Rule 81(C)(2). The judge resolves the objection and then signs the decree after any changes the judge orders are made.
Over the past ten years or so, it has become commonplace for judges to sign their minute entry decisions as formal court orders or judgments. When a judge who presided over a divorce trial signs his minute entry ruling, that signed minute entry itself constitutes the decree of dissolution of marriage. There is no need for one lawyer to submit a separate proposed divorce decree for signature by the judge.
Once there is a final judgment–a divorce decree signed by the judge–either party may seek an appeal or file various post-trial motions. Those post-decree actions, however, are beyond the scope of this post and this series.
Copyright © 2012 by Scoresby Family Law – J. Kyle Scoresby, P.C. All rights reserved.