Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

That might be difficult without Moms consent. How long has GF been involved in your daughter's life?

Arizona has some (relatively new) statutes which pertain to deployment. I hope this is not too much information:

* The court shall not consider a parent's absence caused by deployment or mobilization or the potential for future deployment or mobilization as the sole factor supporting a real, substantial and unanticipated change in circumstances pursuant to this section.

* On motion of a deploying or nondeploying, mobilizing or absent military parent, the court, after a hearing, shall enter a temporary order modifying parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact during the period of deployment or mobilization if:

* A military parent who has custody or parenting time pursuant to an existing court order has received notice from military leadership that the military parent will deploy or mobilize in the near future.

* The deployment or mobilization would have a material effect on the military parent's ability to exercise parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child contact.

* On motion of a deploying parent, if reasonable advance notice is given and good cause is shown, the court shall allow that parent to present testimony and evidence by electronic means with respect to parenting time or parent-child contact matters instituted pursuant to this section if the deployment of that parent has a material effect on that parent's ability to appear in person at a regularly scheduled hearing. For the purposes of this subsection, "electronic means" includes communication by telephone or video teleconference.

* The court shall hear motions for modification because of deployment as expeditiously as possible.

* If a military parent receives military temporary duty, deployment, activation or mobilization orders that involve moving a substantial distance away from the military parent's residence or that otherwise have a material effect on the military parent's ability to exercise parenting time, at the request of the military parent, for the duration of the military parent's absence the court may delegate the military parent's parenting time, or a portion of that time, to a child's family member, including a stepparent, or to another person who is not the child's parent but who has a close and substantial relationship to the minor child, if the court determines that is in the child's best interest. The court shall not allow the delegation of parenting time to a person who would be subject to limitations on parenting time. The parties shall attempt to resolve disputes regarding delegation of parenting time through the dispute resolution process specified in their parenting plan, unless excused by the court for good cause shown. A court order pursuant to this subsection does not establish separate rights to parenting time for a person other than a parent.

* All temporary modification orders pursuant to this section shall include a specific transition schedule to facilitate a return to the predeployment order within ten days after the deployment ends, taking into consideration the child's best interests.

* A custody decree or order that a court enters in contemplation of or during the military deployment of a custodial parent outside of the continental United States shall specifically reference the deployment and include provisions governing the custody of the minor child after the deployment ends. Either parent may file a petition with the court after the deployment ends to modify the decree or order, in compliance with subsection L of this section. The court shall hold a hearing or conference on the petition within thirty days after the petition is filed.

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We can certainly help you consider and then pursue your options. This is obviously a very important matter, and you should not go in alone.

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 Alicia or my paralegal Jennifer to schedule your free 1/2 hour consultation.

/s/ Rich J. Peters

R.J. 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