Arizona Family Law Blog

Parents across Arizona and other states file for separation and eventually divorce their former spouses because of issues ranging from cheating to financial problems. During the proceedings, the judge will look at factors and determine both a child support order and a custody agreement. This order will name one person as the custodial parent and the other individual as the noncustodial parent. People can request a modification or change in either order if they think that they need one.

A noncustodial parent losing his or her job is the most common reason why a court will modify a child support order. Judges base the size of the order on the income that the individual makes and the amount needed to raise the child. If the noncustodial parent does not work or works fewer hours than before, it's possible to change the order.

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in Arizona divorce cases. People who are planning to end their marriage may want to take some steps to separate their digital lives and to prevent problems that could arise because of their online presences.

Most married couples know each other's passwords, and some share online bank accounts and other linked accounts. People should start by opening their own individual accounts and changing all of their passwords to ones that cannot easily be guessed. Many couples also share devices. If a couple shares a laptop or tablet, it is a good idea to reset it to factory settings. This can prevent people from recovering sensitive data about their ex-spouses.

According to data from the Census Bureau's 2017 American Community Survey, Arizona has a marriage rate of 47.3 percent. This is slightly below the national average of 48.2 percent of residents aged 15 and older who are married. Population figures were gleaned using a five-year average that ended in 2017. The divorce rate nationally has fallen since 2000, but at the same time, the marriage rate has also fallen.

In 2000, 8.2 people per every 1,000 American residents were married. This was compared to just 6.9 people were married for every 1,000 people living in the country almost a decade later. In Arizona specifically, the marriage rate in 2017 was 5.8 per 1,000 individuals living there, which was the 11th lowest in the United States. Conversely, it had a divorce rate of 3.5 individuals per 1,000 state residents.

Some Arizona couples who are 50 or older may be among those whose divorce rates are increasing according to the Pew Research Center. The divorce rate for this age group is more than twice as high as it was in 1990, and Pew researchers believe this may be because there are more second or third marriages in this age range. They are more vulnerable to divorce than first marriages.

People of any age who are going through a divorce need to make a budget that will give them a sense of what their finances will look like afterwards. They should also be aware that alimony is no longer tax-deductible or treated as income for the recipient. There are other concerns that are more specific to people nearing retirement. For example, they might want to recalculate their retirement plan. The division of a retirement plan is an issue that often arises, and according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, after alimony, it causes the most conflict.