Maricopa County, Arizona · Family Law
Maricopa County, AZ Custody Attorneys
Desert Legal Group represents parents throughout Maricopa County, in a court system large enough that where your case is heard is its own practical question.
Key Takeaways
- Arizona separates custody into legal decision-making and parenting time, and the court decides both on the best-interests standard in A.R.S. § 25-403.
- Maricopa County hears family law at four separate locations, and the one nearest you is not necessarily the one your case is assigned to.
- We keep caseloads low because the county’s court system does not, and a prepared file is the only real advantage available.
Overview
Maricopa County runs one of the largest court systems in the country. For a parent in the middle of it, that scale mostly shows up as waiting and as paperwork that assumes you already know how this works.
Our custody attorneys keep caseloads low precisely because the system does not. Call for a free consultation and we will explain what happens next in your case in plain terms.
Arizona custody law
How Arizona Decides Legal Decision-Making and Parenting Time
Arizona splits custody into two decisions. Legal decision-making is authority over school, medical care and religious upbringing. Parenting time is the actual schedule.
Under A.R.S. § 25-403, the court decides both on the child’s best interests and weighs all relevant factors, including each child’s relationship with each parent, adjustment to home and school, the mental and physical health of everyone involved, and which parent is more likely to allow frequent and meaningful contact with the other.
Which parent supports the child’s relationship with the other household is a factor people consistently underrate, and it is one of the few a parent can improve deliberately before a hearing.
Four courthouses
Where Maricopa County Hears Family Law
Maricopa County Superior Court hears family law matters at four locations.
The Central Court Building sits at 201 W. Jefferson Street in Phoenix. The Northeast Regional Center is at 18380 N. 40th Street in Phoenix. The Northwest Regional Center is at 14264 W. Tierra Buena Lane in Surprise. The Southeast Regional Center is at 222 E. Javelina Avenue in Mesa.
Roughly, the East Valley looks to Mesa, the West Valley to Surprise, the northeast to the 40th Street location, and everything else to downtown Phoenix. That is a rule of thumb about geography, not a rule of law. Case assignment belongs to the court, and some hearings are now held by video.
The practical instruction is the same in every case we handle here. Read the hearing notice every time. It tells you the location and whether you are appearing in person, by video or by phone. Parents lose more ground to a missed appearance than to a weak argument.
One county, many districts
Maricopa County Is Not One School District
Parents often speak about the school district as though the county has one. It has dozens, and the boundaries follow neither city limits nor common sense.
Some cities sit inside a single unified district. Others are split across several. In parts of the West Valley and in Tempe, children attend an elementary district through eighth grade and a separate high school district afterwards, so the school question reopens at ninth grade whether or not the parents are ready for it. In one town, the district named after it largely does not serve it.
Because school choice sits inside legal decision-making under A.R.S. § 25-403, this is not background detail. Where parents share legal decision-making, a change of school needs agreement, and a change of address can force the question without either parent intending to.
The fix is in the drafting. Name the district and the school specifically, address what happens if a parent’s address changes the assignment, and set out who decides and by when if agreement fails. If you want the detail for your own city, our city pages set it out.
When someone moves
When a Move Triggers the Relocation Statute
Under A.R.S. § 25-408, when both parents have joint legal decision-making or parenting time and both live in Arizona, a parent must give at least 45 days advance written notice before moving the child out of state or more than 100 miles within Arizona. Notice goes by certified mail with return receipt requested, or as the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure allow.
Inside Maricopa County that threshold is rarely crossed by an ordinary move, which is why parents here are often caught out by it. A move to Tucson, to Yuma, or out of state is a different matter entirely.
The nonmoving parent has 30 days from notice to petition the court to prevent the move, and after that only good cause will do. The burden of showing the move serves the child rests on the parent proposing it, weighed against the A.R.S. § 25-403 factors and the relocation factors in the statute.
You Can Trust Our Maricopa County Custody Attorneys
We handle custody matters at all four Maricopa County family court locations, and we would rather resolve a case in mediation than litigate it. Most of ours settle on terms the client is willing to live with for years, which is the real test.
When the other side is not negotiating in good faith, we try the case. Book a free consultation and we will tell you which situation you are in.
