Experienced Phoenix family lawyer Quacy Smith explains grounds for divorce and whether you need to prove anything in order to file for divorce in Arizona.
Unlike many other areas of law that we practice in, divorce has this very special fabric to it. That is because when you’re dealing with issues involving the family, emotions are high. Sometimes there’s been infidelity and hurt and things have been said and money mismanaged and children involved. People are wondering how they’re going to move on with the rest of their lives.
They come in with all of this information, which is needful at some time but they come in feeling like they need to prove a bunch of things like abuse or infidelity. None of those things really, in the State of Arizona, are necessarily relevant to warrant getting a divorce. In Arizona, it’s a no-fault state. Two people that have entered into a marriage can go your separate ways. That’s the benefit of living in a no-fault state.
While all of those things will be, and could be, necessary in dealing with matters as it relates to the divorce, like custody, alimony, fitness to be a parent, and decision-making responsibility with the children, all of those things could weigh in at some other time. Broadly, to get a divorce, you don’t have to prove that a person cheated on you or that they mismanaged the money or that they abused you because it is a no-fault state. There’s a very fine line for covenant marriages but most people don’t fit into that category. After speaking with one of our lawyers regarding it, we’d clear up that pathway, so that you understand that just like it was your right to enter into a marriage, it’s your right to get out of it. We would discover that with any of our clients early on in the process.
If you are considering divorce and have questions about the grounds for divorce in Arizona, please contact our office to arrange a free consultation with a dedicated Phoenix divorce lawyer.
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