Title 25, Marital and Domestic Relations

A. The person to whom the spousal maintenance obligation is owed may file a request for judgment for spousal maintenance arrearages not later than three years after the date the spousal maintenance order terminates. In that proceeding there is no bar to establishing a money judgm…

A. In any action or proceeding pursuant to section 25-502, on motion of a party or on its own motion the court may issue a child support arrest warrant if the court finds that all of the following apply to the person for whom the warrant is sought: 1. The person was ordered by th…

A. A child support arrest warrant is executed by the arrest of the person named in the warrant. The warrant may be executed at any time. B. When making an arrest pursuant to a child support arrest warrant, the arresting officer shall inform the person named in the warrant that th…

A. When a person who is arrested pursuant to a child support arrest warrant is brought before the court, the judicial officer shall advise the arrested person of the nature of the proceedings and shall set a date for the next court appearance. The arrested person may be released …

A civil arrest warrant that is issued before the effective date of this section for the failure to appear in a child support enforcement proceeding under this chapter or chapter 3 of this title automatically becomes a child support arrest warrant after the effective date of this …

Child support arrest warrants shall be entered in the wanted person file of the Arizona criminal justice information system.

The superior court has original jurisdiction in proceedings to establish maternity or paternity. All such proceedings shall be civil actions.

Proceedings to establish maternity or paternity may be originated in the county of residence of the respondent or the petitioner or the child or children the subject of the action. The fact that the petitioner parent or child or both are not, or never have been, residents of Ariz…

A. Proceedings to establish the maternity or paternity of a child or children and to compel support under this article may be commenced by any of the following: 1. The mother. 2. The father. 3. The guardian, conservator or best friend of a child or children born out of wedlock. 4…

Proceedings to establish the paternity of the child may be instituted during the pregnancy of the mother or after the birth of the child. The court shall dismiss any proceeding that is barred pursuant to section 8-106, subsection J. For the purposes of establishing a duty to pay …

If after the petition is filed the petitioner dies, becomes insane, departs the state or fails to litigate the issue, the proceedings do not abate but may be continued, with the state as petitioner, as to any child in the legal custody of any state agency, or as to any child who …

A. Paternity proceedings are commenced by the filing of a verified petition that alleges that a woman is delivered of a child or children born out of lawful wedlock or pregnant with a child conceived out of wedlock and that the respondent is the father of the child or children. B…

A. Proceedings to establish maternity and paternity have precedence over other civil proceedings. The case shall be set for trial within sixty days from the filing of an answer by the respondent. B. A delay in determining paternity in an action commenced before the birth of the c…

A. In an action to establish legal decision-making and parenting time for a child who was born out of wedlock, the clerk of the court shall issue, pursuant to an order of the superior court, a preliminary injunction that is directed to each party to the action if the petitioner h…

A. Except as provided in section 25-501, subsection F, if a respondent admits parentage or if the issue is decided in the affirmative in an action instituted during the child's minority, the court shall direct, subject to applicable equitable defenses and using a retroactive appl…

A. Except as provided pursuant to section 25-501, subsection F, the parent or parents having custody or control of the putative mother or father may be joined as respondents in the action if the putative mother or father is a minor or was a minor at the time the action was commen…

A. This state or the parent of a child born out of wedlock may establish the paternity of a child by filing one of the following with the clerk of the superior court, the department of economic security or the department of health services: 1. A notarized or witnessed statement t…

In an action to establish paternity, the court shall enter an order of paternity if either: 1. The service of summons is complete and the respondent fails to appear or otherwise answer. 2. An order for genetic or blood testing has been entered and the respondent fails to appear w…

A. A man is presumed to be the father of the child if: 1. He and the mother of the child were married at any time in the ten months immediately preceding the birth or the child is born within ten months after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidi…

If paternity has been established in another state by a court or administrative order or voluntary acknowledgment, the determination of paternity has the same force and effect in this state as if the determination of paternity was granted by a court in this state.

A. On receipt of a sworn statement by the mother or the alleged father alleging paternity and setting forth the facts establishing a reasonable possibility of the requisite sexual contact between the parties, the department of economic security or its agent may order the mother, …

A. Pending a judicial determination of paternity, the court shall issue a temporary order of support, and may issue a temporary order regarding custody and parenting time, if any of the following applies: 1. Genetic testing affirms at least a ninety-five per cent probability of p…

A. The department of economic security shall maintain a paternity case registry for this state. Public and private entities that obtain or receive a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity shall promptly transmit the original signed and completed acknowledgment to the department of…

A. Persons who have the legal capacity to marry pursuant to this title may enter into a covenant marriage by declaring their intent to do so on their application for a license obtained pursuant to section 25-121 and by complying with the requirements of this chapter. The returned…

A husband and wife may enter into a covenant marriage by submitting to the clerk of the superior court or any other official designated by the clerk pursuant to section 25-126 or 25-127 the declaration prescribed in section 25-901, subsection B, paragraphs 1 and 3 and a sworn sta…

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a husband and wife have entered into a covenant marriage pursuant to this chapter the court shall not enter a decree of dissolution of marriage pursuant to chapter 3, article 2 of this title unless it finds any of the following: 1. The …

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a husband and wife have entered into a covenant marriage pursuant to this chapter the court shall not enter a decree of legal separation pursuant to chapter 3, article 2 of this title unless it finds any of the following: 1. The respond…

A husband or wife may file a petition for legal separation or a petition for dissolution of covenant marriage at any time. The court may enter temporary orders pursuant to section 25-315 at any time after a petition for legal separation or a petition for dissolution has been file…

A. The supreme court shall publish a pamphlet entitled "Covenant Marriage in Arizona". The pamphlet shall describe the requirements for entering into a covenant marriage pursuant to this chapter and the grounds necessary to obtain a decree of dissolution of marriage or a legal se…

This chapter may be cited as the uniform child custody jurisdiction and enforcement act.

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Abandoned" means left without provision for reasonable and necessary care or supervision. 2. "Child" has the same meaning prescribed in section 1-215. 3. "Child custody determination": (a) Means any judgment, decree or o…

This chapter does not govern an adoption proceeding or a proceeding pertaining to the authorization of emergency medical care for a child.

A. A child custody proceeding that pertains to an Indian child as defined in the Indian child welfare act (25 United States Code section 1903) is not subject to this chapter to the extent that it is governed by the Indian child welfare act. B. A court of this state shall treat a …

A. A court of this state shall treat a foreign country as if it were a state of the United States for the purpose of applying this article and article 2 of this chapter. B. Except as otherwise provided in subsection C, a child custody determination made in a foreign country under…

A child custody determination made by a court of this state that had jurisdiction under this chapter binds all persons who have been served in accordance with the laws of this state or notified pursuant to section 25-1008 or who have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court and…

If a question of existence or exercise of jurisdiction under this chapter is raised in a child custody proceeding, on request of a party, the question must be given priority on the calendar and handled expeditiously.

A. Notice required for the exercise of jurisdiction if a person is outside this state may be given in a manner prescribed by the law of this state for service of process or by the law of the state in which the service is made. Notice must be given in a manner reasonably calculate…

A. A party to a child custody proceeding, including a modification proceeding, or a petitioner or respondent in a proceeding to enforce or register a child custody determination, is not subject to personal jurisdiction in this state for another proceeding or purpose solely by rea…

A. A court of this state may communicate with a court in another state concerning a proceeding arising under this chapter. B. The court may allow the parties to participate in the communication. If the parties are not able to participate in the communication, they must be given t…

A. In addition to other procedures available to a party, a party to a child custody proceeding may offer testimony of witnesses who are located in another state, including testimony of the parties and the child, by deposition or other means allowable in this state for testimony t…

A. A court of this state may request the appropriate court of another state to: 1. Hold an evidentiary hearing. 2. Order a person to produce or give evidence pursuant to procedures of that state. 3. Order that an evaluation be made with respect to the custody of a child involved …

Notwithstanding section 25-1002, if this state is the home state of a child at the time of the military deployment of that child's custodial parent outside of the United States and the child is relocated outside of the United States during the deployment, this state remains the h…

A. Except as otherwise provided in section 25-1034, a court of this state has jurisdiction to make an initial child custody determination only if any of the following is true: 1. This state is the home state of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or was t…

A. Except as otherwise provided in section 25-1034, a court of this state that has made a child custody determination consistent with section 25-1031 or 25-1033 has exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the determination until either of the following is true: 1. A court of this…

Except as otherwise provided in section 25-1034, a court of this state shall not modify a child custody determination made by a court of another state unless a court of this state has jurisdiction to make an initial determination under section 25-1031, subsection A, paragraph 1 o…

A. A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state and the child has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with …