Tucson, AZ Custody Attorneys

Overview

Tucson parents sometimes assume a Phoenix firm will treat their case as an afterthought. That is a fair thing to check for, and you should ask us about it directly.

What we can tell you is that the statutes are the same, the arguments are the same, and the preparation is the same. Our Tucson custody attorneys keep caseloads low so your case gets the hours it needs. Call for a free consultation and we will be straight with you about what your case looks like.

Arizona custody law

How Arizona Decides Legal Decision-Making and Parenting Time

Arizona divides custody into legal decision-making, which is authority over school, medical care and religious upbringing, and parenting time, which is the schedule.

Under A.R.S. § 25-403, the court decides both according to the child’s best interests, weighing 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.

This is state law, so it applies identically in Pima County and Maricopa County. What differs is the court you are in front of.

Pima County, not Maricopa

A Tucson Custody Case Is Heard in Pima County Superior Court

The Arizona Superior Court in Pima County hears criminal, civil, family law, juvenile and probate matters, with the family bench led by its own presiding judge. The Clerk of the Superior Court is at 110 W. Congress Street in Tucson.

One current practical detail. As of July 2026 the court advised that eight Pima County Family Court judges are located at the Consolidated Justice Court at 240 N. Stone Avenue, and told parties to check with the judge on their case to confirm location. If you have an older order or an old set of directions, do not rely on them. Confirm before you drive.

Pima County also runs the Family Center of the Conciliation Court, established by Arizona law in 1963 and operating under the Superior Court. Its staff hold advanced degrees in the behavioural sciences with postgraduate experience in marriage and family therapy, mediation and court-ordered evaluations. Services are available to any Pima County resident, in English and Spanish, with no fee other than the mandatory parent education class. For a parent watching legal costs, that is a real resource and it is worth using.

Distance is the issue here

For Tucson Parents, a Move to Phoenix Is a Relocation Case

Under A.R.S. § 25-408, where 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.

That 100 mile line matters more in Tucson than almost anywhere else we practise. In the Phoenix metro a parent can move across several cities and never approach it. From Tucson, a job in the Phoenix area is the kind of move that engages the statute, and Tucson parents move to Phoenix for work regularly.

The other parent has 30 days from notice to petition the court to prevent the move. After that window a petition succeeds only on a showing of good cause. The burden of showing the move serves the child sits with the parent proposing it, and the court weighs the A.R.S. § 25-403 factors along with the relocation factors in the statute, including good faith and whether the move still leaves both parents a realistic opportunity for parenting time.

If you are considering a move north, or you have just been served with notice of one, speak to us before the clock runs. Both sides of this have deadlines and neither deadline is generous.