Annulments in Arizona; Practical or Not?
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In Arizona, the law related to annulments is putting it nicely convoluted. That is why I preface this blog post by saying that if you even remotely believe that you are entitled to an annulment, please meet with an experienced Arizona family law attorney versed on the specific subject matter prior to commencing action with the court.
In order to qualify for an annulment in Arizona, there must be something called an impediment that renders the marriage void. See A.R.S. § 25-301. An annulment is different from a divorce in that under the former the marriage is “void” and therefore will be considered unrecognized; whereas with the latter the marriage is considered valid and recognized and thus subject to community property marital distribution laws and principles. Thus, to avoid application of the “equitable division (50/50)” distribution that comes with every divorce action, an annulment may instead be sought.
For purpose of annulment, a void marriage is defined by A.R.S. § 25-101 as a marriage “between parents and children, including grandparents and grandchildren of every degree, between brothers and sisters of the one-half as well as the whole blood, and between uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews and between first cousins” or “between persons of the same sex.” A void marriage is a nullity. Though it has no legal validity an annulment action is necessary to establish its invalidity as a matter of record.
Although any given marriage may be “void”, that marriage nonetheless continues until one spouse exercises his or her right to have it annulled. A non exhaustive list of reasons for rendering a marriage voidable include: an undissolved prior marriage, one party being underage, a blood relationship, the absence of mental or physical capacity, intoxication, the absence of a valid license, duress, refusal of intercourse, fraud and misrepresentation as to religion.
Although many domestic relations (family law) forms can be obtained online through your local Superior Court’s website, because they are rarely used in today’s society you will have a hard time finding forms and/or petitions for Arizona annulments online. Again, this is but another reason why it is imperative that you meet with an experienced Arizona family law attorney prior to commencing an action for annulment with your local Superior Court.
It is also important to note that by statute, jurisdictional and procedural requirements for obtaining an annulment are the same as those for a divorce action. See A.R.S. § 25-302(A). Finally, if your annulment action is successful and thus renders your marriage voidable, it is worth noting that the court does possess jurisdiction to divide property and restore the same to each party as it was possessed prior to the voided marriage and may likewise determine matters related to children common to the parties such as custody, parenting time, and child support.
For more information on this or any other Arizona family law matter please contact Ryan M. Reppucci, Family Law Attorney at the Law Firm of Ariano & Reppucci, PLLC at 602-515-0841.
JURISDICTION TO MODIFY CHILD SUPPORT
Filed under: Arizona Child Support Guidelines, Arizona Family Law, Arizona Family Law Appeals, Arizona Family Law Attorney, Arizona Family Law Firm, Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, Cheap Family Law Firm, Cheap Fees, Child Support, Discount Arizona Family Firm, Discount Arizona Family Lawyer, Family Law Appeals, Family Law Attorney, General Family Law, Phoenix Family Law, Phoenix Family Law Attorney, Phoenix Family Law Firm, Post Judgment
The following decision is interesting and parties to actions which originally began and Arizona but where all the parties no longer live within the State should take the time to review the following.
State (DES) v. Tazioli, — P.3d. —, 2011 WL 239547 (Ariz. App. Div. 1)
Arizona is the issuing state of the child support order (2000). Mother and Father are each now permanently and separately residing in other states. Child resides with Mother. Father filed in Arizona a motion to modify child support because he does not know where Mother and child reside (she has a protected address). Mother refused to appear at the hearing and “submit to the jurisdiction of Arizona.” The lower court determined that it had continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the modification of child support issue.
Because Mother and Father are no longer residents of Arizona, does Arizona have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the issue of child support modification?
No. Pursuant to A.R.S. Section 25-1225, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to modify the child support order because “neither party currently resides in Arizona and Mother refuses to consent to jurisdiction in Arizona.”
Arizona has no (and has not had for some years) sufficient nexus with the parties or child to assert its jurisdiction.
If your situation is similar to the above case or if you are not exactly sure whether it is or not, please contact the experienced Arizona family law firm of Ariano & Reppucci, PLLC today for your free consultation and discounted legal representation.
Can Overtime Be Factored Into Gross Income For Arizona Child Support Calculations?
Filed under: Arizona Child Support Guidelines, Arizona Family Law, Arizona Family Law Attorney, Arizona Family Law Firm, Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, Cheap Family Law Firm, Cheap Fees, Child Support, Discount Arizona Family Firm, Discount Arizona Family Lawyer, Family Law Attorney, Family Law Documents, General Family Law, Maricopa County, Phoenix Family Law, Phoenix Family Law Attorney, Phoenix Family Law Firm
In Arizona, child support amount(s) are determined by the Arizona Child Support Guidelines (“Guidelines”), effective January 1, 2005. The purpose of the guidelines “are to establish a standard of support for children consistent with the reasonable needs of children and the ability of parents to pay.” See Guidelines ¶ 1.
In factoring child support, among other considerations, the Guidelines look to each parties gross income coupled with the amount of court awarded parenting time. ¶ 5 of the Guidelines lays out a rather lengthy definition and calculation for determining “Gross Income.” Parties often want to know, in addition to the standard definition for Gross Income, can income from overtime and/or a second job be added to a parties Gross Income total?
In answer to this question, the Guidelines make clear that “[g]enerally, the court should not attribute income greater than what would have been earned from full-time employment.” The idea seems to be then that each parent should have the choice of working additional hours through overtime or at a second job without increasing the child support award. However, as explained below, sometimes this is not the case.
A clever and somewhat promising argument for attributing overtime and second job income into a parties gross total is that if that or those overtime and/or second job income is or has been historically earned from a regular schedule and is anticipated to continue much the same in the future, then the court may consider those amounts as actual income earned even though the adjusted amount would be greater than would have been earned by standard full time employment.
If you find yourself in a child support case in Arizona and overtime and/or second job income is apparent, it is strongly suggested that you meet with an experienced family law attorney. By meeting with an experienced family law attorney versed on the subject you may be able to better present reasons to the court why a standard income figure should be increased to include monies received from overtime and/or a second job.
For more information on this or any other Arizona Family Law matter, contact Ryan M. Reppucci at the discount Family Law Firm of Ariano & Reppucci, PLLC at 602-515-0841.