Online divorce in Arizona

Regardless of the type and circumstances of a particular case, Arizona family laws do not require the spouses to be represented by a lawyer to obtain a divorce. Thus, the responsibility for arranging the process and deciding whether or not to hire legal representatives rests entirely with the parties.

However, law experts typically warn against such a 'DIY' approach when a contested divorce is at issue or if the spouses have not yet reached an agreement concerning marital property, child-related matters, or finances, i.e. when the case is considered rather complicated.

In contrast, the spouses who do not contest the case can often handle a divorce without a lawyer, saving considerable sums.

The same rules govern a Pro Se divorce (the legal definition for a DIY divorce) as a legally-assisted proceeding. The self-represented litigant has to take the same steps attorneys typically do to manage the process.

Therefore, the parties who would like to handle a divorce without a lawyer should get the needed information and legal forms and then complete and file them following the Arizona rules of family law procedure.

There are several mandatory stages of getting a divorce in the state of Arizona:

1. The spouse initiating the case (the plaintiff) shall fill out the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and the other initial divorce forms and file them with the Superior Court’s Clerk.
2. The plaintiff must make several copies of the forms, one of which will be left with the Clerk of Court. Besides, the plaintiff must pay a court filing fee, and thus the divorce case officially starts.
3. The next stage is called service of process, i.e., giving appropriate notice of the divorce action to the other party. In Arizona, serving copies of the Petition and the Summons to the defendant can be accomplished by mail (with an attached Acceptance of Service form), with the Sheriff's Office assistance, or by hiring a private process server. As a last resort (for example, if the second spouse's whereabouts are unknown), the plaintiff may use service by publication. In any case, the plaintiff must serve the defendant with the divorce documents within 120 days of the date of filing the petition.
4. After all the required documents have been submitted to the court, Arizona family law requires a mandatory 60-day waiting period until a divorce can be finalized.

The expenses associated with any dissolution of marriage in the state of Arizona start with the court filing fee (which is about $300, slightly varying from county to county), which is mandatory for almost all plaintiffs.

All the other costs mainly depend on whether the spouses decide to handle a divorce by themselves or hire specialists, like attorneys, counselors, mediators, appraisers, coaches, and others.

An average uncontested divorce is considered more affordable than the average contested legally-assisted process. However, lawyers' fees also vary greatly, so it is hard to evaluate the potential expenses without considering the particular divorce case and its peculiarities.

The spouses must start a divorce action where they currently live, not where the marriage occurred.

Arizona laws establish the specific residency requirements the couple needs to meet to apply for divorce within the state. Under the Arizona Statutes, at least one of the spouses must be a state resident and live in Arizona for at least ninety days before filing for divorce.

Once served with the copies of divorce papers, the defendant has to file their response with the court, keeping a deadline.

In the state of Arizona, the defendant has twenty days to file a response to a petition for divorce. Filing the response allows the defendant to put forward their demands and protect their interests in a divorce proceeding. If they do not respond within the established time limit, the plaintiff may request a default judgment by the court.

Even though the spouses are not required to hire high-priced attorneys and have the right to handle their divorce without legal assistance, they still have to pay a court filing fee to start the action.

Thus, in theory, an entirely free divorce is only available for plaintiffs who not only arrange a do-it-yourself divorce but, along with it, are eligible to ask the court for a fee waiver due to financial hardship.

To apply for a fee waiver, the plaintiff needs to disclose their financial information to prove to the court their inability to pay and complete the Request to Waive Court Fees form.

The most common legal forms usually required to be filed to start an uncontested divorce in Arizona include Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, Summons, Affidavit of Service, Acceptance/Waiver of Service, Decree of Dissolution of Marriage. If the spouses have minor children, they may also need to file a Parent's Worksheet for Child Support Amount, Child Support Order, and Joint Custody Parenting Plan.