questions & answers

Question: My exhusband has just been charged with a DUI while my son was in his car. I have a domestic violence conviction against him 3 years ago. He was recently kicked off our son's baseball team as their coach for hitting another child. I have shared (50/50) parenting time and custody. I want to get full custody. I don't know if the courts will give it to me. I don't have the money to spend on full fledged attorney. What are your thoughts....

Answer:

Decisions about child custody are determined by the court based on the facts before the court and what is in the best interest of the child. This website cannot determine what a specific court will decide.

Depending on where you live in Arizona, there are various services available to assist individuals who cannot afford an attorney. If you go to the family and children section of this site and select your county from the Find Legal Help drop down menu, you will see some of the services that are available in your county. You can also view an alphabetical list of legal service providers through the legal assistance portion of this website. In addition, you can review the article on this site titled, Where to Find an Attorney for Specific Legal Advice."

Some of the family courts provide self service centers or lists of attorneys who can assist a person with completing forms. Other courts, such as Maricopa County and Pima County as well as Coconino County Law Library have forms and informational packets available online.

The following is general information on child custody in Arizona: Title 25 of the Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) contains laws dealing with domestic and marital relations. Chapter 4, Article 1 contains laws dealing with child custody (beginning with A.R.S. § 25-401). A.R.S. § 25-403 contains factors that the court considers when looking at what is in the best interest of the child. A.R.S. § 25-411 discusses modification of a custody decree for individuals who have already had custody determined and would like to change that custody arrangement. There are additional statutes in this section that you may want to review as well.