Jessica M. Cotter Law Firm's Tips: New Year, New Law

Jessica M. Cotter Law Firm's Tips: New Year, New Law: By: Jessica M. Cotter, Esq. There have been some significant revisions to the laws regarding dissolution cases involving children and ...

New Year, New Law

By: Jessica M. Cotter, Esq.

There have been some significant revisions to the laws regarding dissolution cases involving children and in paternity cases. The Court will no longer determine who has custody of the children, as that term has been replaced by the concept of “legal decision making”.  The court will now determine who the “legal parent” is and whether as a couple will they make “legal decisions” jointly or that one parent will make the “legal decisions”.  The “legal decisions” that the Court is focusing on are non-emergency decisions for education, health care, religious training and personal care decisions. At this time the definition of “personal care decisions” is unclear as the law is so new and no definition of “personal care decisions” is included.

The statute also defines the parents’ responsibility during their “parenting time”.  During the time that they exercise “parenting time” parents are responsible for providing food, shelter, clothing and making routine decisions concerning the child’s care.

 The new law will not affect custody and parenting time orders that were entered prior to January 1, 2013, the effective date of the change, however, modifications to existing orders will be subject to the new language and definitions set forth in the new law.

 Arizona Revised Statute §25-401 which contains these new definitions  is set forth below:

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "In loco parentis" means a person who has been treated as a parent by a child and who has formed a meaningful parental relationship with a child for a substantial period of time.

2. "Joint legal decision-making" means both parents share decision-making and neither parent's rights or responsibilities are superior except with respect to specified decisions as set forth by the court or the parents in the final judgment or order.

3. "Legal decision-making" means the legal right and responsibility to make all nonemergency legal decisions for a child including those regarding education, health care, religious training and personal care decisions. For the purposes of interpreting or applying any international treaty, federal law, a uniform code or the statutes of other jurisdictions of the United States, legal decision-making means legal custody.

4. "Legal parent" means a biological or adoptive parent whose parental rights have not been terminated. Legal parent does not include a person whose paternity has not been established pursuant to section §25-812 or §25-814.

5. "Parenting time" means the schedule of time during which each parent has access to a child at specified times. Each parent during their scheduled parenting time is responsible for providing the child with food, clothing and shelter and may make routine decisions concerning the child's care.

6. "Sole legal decision-making" means one parent has the legal right and responsibility to make major decisions for a child.

7. "Visitation" means a schedule of time that occurs with a child by someone other than a legal parent.

     Also see the statute at the following link

          http://www.azleg.gov/formatdocument.asp?indoc=/ars/25/00401.htm&title=25&doctype=ARS

This is not intended to be legal advice. Please consult an attorney for legal  advice for your situation and in your state. This information is only valid for the State of Arizona. 

Contact Information:

The Law Firm of Jessica M. Cotter

18301 North 79th Ave

Suite F-168

Peoria, Arizona 85308

jmcotterlaw.com

jmcotterlaw@gmail.com

602-843-3004

Maintain your records

In most Family Law matters at some point you will need to prepare an Affidavit of Financial Information.  This is essentially a snap shot of your financial status at that point in time, providing your monthly living expenses, your monthly income, and your debts.

You must also include a copy of your last several paycheck stubs, showing your gross and net income, and deductions.  Often the information must be deciphered, to identify what a particular deduction is for, i.e., health insurance, life insurance, short or long term disability, 401(K) or other retirement, etc.

You must also attach copies of your prior three years tax returns.  My suggestion would be to include your W-2's, especially if any of the returns were joint returns, so your annual income can be more readily identified.

Maintaining your personal records in an orderly manner will assist you when you have to prepare an Affidavit of Financial Information.

Beware of Delay

Many clients wind up being unsuccesful in obtaining the relief that they desire from the legal system due to their delay in initiating action.

Statutes of limitation are laws which impose a deadline by which you must take action.  Unfortunately it can also happen that a ruling from one of the two divisions of the Arizona Court of Appeals establishes a precedent that the plain reading of a particular statute, or the facts and circumstances of a different fact pattern, would seem to cry out for a different result.

Family Court judges take an oath to follow the law in their rulings, even though their personal beliefs as to the result from a particular matter or fact pattern may differ from the rulings of an appellate court.  The only relief would be an appeal to a court of appeals, hoping for a change in the law.

The lesson is to not sit on your rights, or causes of action, as delay may result in an unfavorable result.

Take care of thiose who depend on you

Unfortunately many of us put off preparing our wills, or other estate planning tools until it is too late.

A young couple, especially one with children, should at the very least have prepared wills, and the supporting power of attorney documents, to protect one another and their families in the event of an accident that incapacitates them.

Young parents should reflect upon who they wish to care for their children in the event of a common accident.  They should also determine who would best protect the financial resources of the children.  This might be the same person, but then it might not be, and it is imperative that a couple discuss these important issues.

If you are in a common accident, your medical powers of attorney should reflect whom you would want to make medical decisions on your behalf.  Think these things through and talk about them between yourselves.

We all think that accidents will only happen to "the other guy".  Planning ahead can only make the circumstance better for your children, and extended family.  It is important to let your wishes be known, in writing.  That's what a will can do for parents of children under 18.

When you want to call or meet with your attorney

It happens to all of us.  We finally have the opportunity to speak to someone so we can have our questions answered.  Then the burning questions, the information we have been so anxious for, simply flies from our minds.

Do yourself a favor, and write those questions down.  Then not only will you have your answers, but you will get them in an orderly fashion, without having to search your memory.  And by the way, this little tip can save you fees, expediting your time with your attorney, or his or her staff!

Coming changes to the language of cases involving children

The State legislature has made some important changes to the words we use when the parties to a dissolution have common minor children.

Effective January 1, 2013 we will be talking about "legal decision making", "joint legal decision making", "sole legal decision making" rather than a designation of "custody", and much of the language we have used in family law matters will be changing.

We attorneys will be studying the changes to prepare for the future, and how to best represent our clients.