Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona
I have a question about my custody situation. My daughter's father is a recovering drug addict. Last October I was granted sole custody and he was allowed supervised visitations. He wanted me to allow him unsupervised visitations and I declined; so, he has recently filed a petition to modify visitations. He emailed me wanting me to waive service. I don't want to make it easy for him to take this back to court (even though I'm going to try to get it dismissed), but want to know if it'll look bad if I say no, I won't waive service. I definitely work hard to be reasonable and accommodating, especially in the eyes of the court, but with him have been dealing with relapse after relapse and just want some peace. So far I've just avoided his email, but want to know if it'll look bad for me to respond to it with a "no, I will not waive service". Is that unreasonable? Will that look bad?
thanks in advance. I'm really really stressed out.
2 Answers from Attorneys
If he has filed an action, he is going to have you served one way or the other - the only question is whether you will agree to accept service or whether he's going to have to hire a process server to deliver the papers to you. You certainly don't want to dodge service (because that would not look good to the court), and although you are not required to accept service, it could make things procedurally more smoothly if you can get your hands on the paperwork and begin preparing to defend against his action.
The only reaspn to NOT waive service is if you KNOW for a fact that he will choose not to serve you. If you are probably going to be served anyways, it is better to accept than to have to explain why you would not.
We can certainly help you consider and then pursue your options in the modification matter.
One of our attorneys can explain the issues and procedures better in person. As you can imagine, there is too much to cover via email. We offer free 1/2 hour consultations, in which we can discuss your matter in detail.
Please call us directly to discuss the specifics of your matter, or contact my assistant Gloria or my paralegal Jennifer to schedule your free 1/2 hour consultation
/s/ Rich J. Peters
RJ PETERS & ASSOC., P.C.
1422 North 2nd Street, Suite 100
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
602-254-7251
facsimile 602-254-1229
see our website at www.familylawaz.com
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