questions & answers

Question: I need to modify the visitation for my 12 year old daughter as she claims her dad drinks & drives with her during his visitation. She still loves him and wants to see him, but not stay as she does not feel safe. Can I file in a different venue? How easy is it to get a venue change?

Answer:

A.R.S. § 25-502 deals with the issue of jurisidction in Family Support Duties. Section C of that statute states, "A person or the department or its agent must file a petition to establish or modify a child support order in the superior court in the county of the last order issued under this title if an order exists in this state. If a person wishes the case transferred to the county of this state where the child resides or, if the child resides out of state, the county of this state where the party requesting the transfer resides, the person must file a request for transfer with the clerk of the superior court that issued the last order." You may want to look at the statutes around this statute to get a good feel for the way the laws interact with one another.

For additional informaiton on Child Support, check out our Child Support section of this website.