Arizona Family Law Blog

Parents and children in Arizona normally enjoy a healthy mix of enjoyment and anxiety during the holidays due to the bustle of activity characteristic of this time of the year. However, families dealing with the added dynamics of divorce and the logistics of two households often face added dilemmas. Tension between exes can further complicate matters, which is why the recommendations discussed below are often made to help parents still experience the joy of spending the holidays with their children without added stress.

Keeping the focus on children requires an effort by both parents to put aside feelings of anger and resentment. If this proves to be a difficult task, counseling or support from friends may be helpful. Putting children's well-being first means that parents are advised to avoid purposely preventing the other one from seeing kids during scheduled visitations. Coordination and clarity are equally important. Developing a mutually acceptable plan during the holidays, for instance, can involve predetermining how, when, and where picking up and dropping off will occur.

Arizona parents who are unable to co-parent effectively because there is too much conflict between them might consider an approach known as parallel parenting. These parents usually agree on major issues such as religion but are unable to be in regular communication. Children suffer most during and after a divorce by witnessing conflict between their parents, so the best approach for parents who cannot resolve this may be avoiding contact as much as possible while still maintaining a relationship with their children.

Parallel parenting requires a more detailed plan than co-parenting because of the parents' need to avoid this communication. They might agree to share calendars or communicate using email or in other limited ways as necessary regarding the children, but a good plan will help them keep this to a minimum. Parallel parents may want to have no direct communication at all. While co-parenting requires that each parent respects the other, parallel parenting means parents must give up efforts to control one another.

When people in Arizona decide to divorce, one of the most fraught issues can be how the marital home is dealt with. In some cases, both parties want to keep the home; in other cases, finances mean that it must be sold. There are a number of issues for people to consider when they decide how to handle the family home during a divorce. One of the first things to understand about the home is whether the couple has a large amount of equity already or only a small amount because it can help both parties determine their potential future legal and financial obligations.

In all cases, it's important to keep in mind that the documents setting out ownership and obligation for the mortgage loan are often separate, so it is critical to deal with both during the divorce. When the house is jointly owned by both spouses, ownership can be transferred by one spouse signing a quit claim deed to the other. However, this will not affect the underlying mortgage; both parties will still be responsible.

It can be difficult to maintain a marriage, even when you and your spouse are highly compatible, but hard work and true love cannot save every relationship. There are some surprising risk factors that make it more likely for couples to call it quits. 

These contributors to divorce do not guarantee a marriage is going to fail, but they do raise the odds. Here are some scenarios that may mean your marriage is more likely to end in a divorce.