Practice Areas

Family law touches some of the most important decisions of your life, including your children, your finances, your future. I handle the full range of family law matters in Arizona, exclusively. Every client I work with gets my full focus and a strategy built around their specific situation. If you're dealing with any of the issues below and you're not sure where to start, reach out.

Divorce

Divorce in Arizona is the legal process of ending a marriage and resolving the issues that come with it: property division, spousal maintenance, parenting arrangements, and more. Arizona is a no-fault state, which means neither spouse has to prove wrongdoing to file. You do need to have lived in Arizona for at least 90 days before filing.

Legal-Decision Making

Legal decision-making — the right to make major decisions about your child's education, healthcare, and religious upbringing. Courts can award sole or joint legal decision-making, and the outcome depends on a careful analysis of the best interests of the child.

This is often the most emotionally charged part of a divorce, and it's where having the right advocate matters most. I work with clients to build a realistic, well-supported position from the start

Parenting Time

Parenting time is the actual schedule regarding which parent the children are with and when. It's a separate legal determination from legal decision-making, and Arizona courts approach it with one standard in mind: what arrangement best serves the child.

There's no default formula in Arizona. Schedules are built around the specific circumstances of each family like the parents' work schedules, the children's ages and activities, proximity to schools, and more. I help clients think through what they actually want and need, and advocate for an arrangement that works in the real world, not just on paper.

Child Support

Child support in Arizona is calculated using both parents' gross incomes and the parenting time each parent has. The formula also accounts for health insurance costs, childcare expenses, and any special needs. The goal is to make sure children are supported at a level consistent with what they would have had if the family stayed together.

Support orders can be modified if circumstances change significantly, like a meaningful shift in income or parenting time, for example. I help clients both establish initial orders and pursue modifications when the existing order no longer reflects reality.

Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance is financial support paid by one spouse to the other after divorce. Arizona courts don't award it automatically. They look at factors like the length of the marriage, each spouse's earning capacity, whether one spouse left the workforce during the marriage, and the standard of living the couple maintained.

In 2023, Arizona adopted new spousal maintenance guidelines that introduced a more structured framework for calculating both the amount and duration of support. Understanding how those guidelines apply to your specific situation and where there's room to argue for deviation is a meaningful part of what I do in cases where maintenance is on the table.

Property Division

Arizona is a community property state, which means assets and debts acquired during the marriage are generally divided equally at divorce. But "equal" doesn't always mean simple. Identifying what's community property versus separate property, valuing complex assets, and tracing funds that have been commingled over years of marriage can all require careful analysis.

I help clients understand what they're actually entitled to, protect legitimate separate property claims, and negotiate or litigate a division that reflects the full picture, not just what's easy to see on the surface.

Business Valuations

When one or both spouses own a business, divorce gets more complex. The business may be community property, separate property, or some combination of both depending on when it was started, how it was funded, and how it grew during the marriage. Determining its value for purposes of division often requires a forensic accountant or business valuation expert.

I work with clients and qualified experts to make sure business interests are properly characterized and fairly valued, whether the goal is to buy out the other spouse's interest, divide the business, or negotiate an offset against other assets.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

A prenuptial agreement is one of the most practical legal tools available to people entering a marriage. It establishes in advance how assets and debts will be handled if the marriage ends, protecting separate property, clarifying financial expectations, and reducing uncertainty for both parties.

Postnuptial agreements serve a similar purpose but are entered into after the marriage has already begun. Both require careful drafting to be enforceable under Arizona law. I help clients on both sides of these agreements.

Mediation

Most family law cases in Arizona are resolved at mediation rather than at trial, and for good reason. Mediation is private, confidential, and gives both parties more control over the outcome than handing the decision to a judge.

I prepare every client for mediation the same way I'd prepare for trial, with a full understanding of the facts, the law, and the likely range of outcomes. That preparation is what makes negotiated agreements durable. Clients who walk into mediation knowing their position and understanding the alternatives almost always get better results.

Modification and Enforcement of Orders

Life changes after divorce, and sometimes existing orders need to change with it. Arizona law allows modification of custody, parenting time, and support orders when there has been a substantial and continuing change in circumstances, though legal decision-making and parenting time orders generally cannot be modified until at least one year after the last order was entered.

Enforcement is the other side of the coin. When a court order isn't being followed like missed support payments, denied parenting time, violations of a decree, there are legal remedies available. I help clients both pursue modifications that reflect their current reality and enforce orders when the other party isn't complying.