Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

Re: Selection of a Doctor for my child

You have not said why you wish to take your child without your wife's consent, but I am going to guess that you want to talk about your wife with the therapist. I will get back to this, after I answer the legal portion of your question.

Generally, your roles as parents are governed by your custody decree. If the decree says that you have the right to make decisions like which psychologist to use by yourself, then you do. If your decree says that is a joint decision, then your ex-wife has the right to share in this decision-making process. Occasionally a decree is silent on issues like this. However, joint legal custody generally means that parents will make the "big" decisions together, while the parent in whose care the child is at the moment will make the smaller, day-to-day decisions. Big decisions generally include things like which school the child will attend, and which doctor the child will see, etc. Day-to-day decisions would be things like whether your child can spend tonight with a friend, or whether the child can see a particular movie. A decision to get a child psychological counseling would generally fall into the "big decision" category.

If the reason you don't want your ex to participate is because you want to talk to the therapist about her, you can rest assured that you will have the opportunity to speak in private with the therapist. It is rare that a psychologist treating a child of divorce doesn't want to speak to both parents independently. To be sure, when you are interviewing therapists, make that one of your questions. If they say they won't talk to you independently, then use that as a reason to disqualify them.

If you and your wife cannot come to an agreement on this issue, or others, consider mediation. It is not therapy, but it is a structured communication process where a neutral third person can assist two people to resolve differences without a lawyer. You can read more about mediation at www.yesmediation.com. Good luck.