CATEGORIES

CATEGORIES

HB2214

Effective Date
General

DOMESTIC RELATIONS; SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS
Rep. Hershberger

Removes the requirement to include social security numbers from pleadings, petitions and other documents related to child support.  The party must file the social security numbers of each party and the affected children in the records of the proceeding through a sensitive data sheet.  The court must include this information in the state case registry, complying with Arizona Rules of Family Law relating to sensitive data.  Allows redaction of social security numbers for filed petitions related to child support enforcement from another state.  Orders of assignment would require the social security numbers of the obligated person.

Statute(s) Impacted:  25-314, 25-501, 25-502, 25-504, 25-806, 25-812, 25-1251, 25-1302

Court Impact:  Courts will need to make a sensitive data sheet (Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, Form 3) available to parties in family law proceedings to enter social security numbers.  Courts will need to maintain these sheets separately.  Courts are responsible for entering the social security numbers in the state case registry.  Courts may choose to redact social security numbers from the following documents:

• Petitions and any accompanying documents seeking to establish a support order.

• Petitions to establish paternity and maternity.

• Petitions to register or modify a support order of another state.

• Support orders from another state.

• Income withholding orders from another state.

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Chapter 42

HB2211

Effective Date
General

CHILDREN; TEMPORARY COURT ORDERS
Rep. Hershberger

Permits the courts to issue a temporary order regarding custody and parenting time, pending judicial determination of paternity.  Courts may later revoke or modify the temporary order when the final order is entered or the petition dismissed.

Statute(s) Impacted: 25-817

Court Impact:  May require additional steps in hearing and processing a temporary order in paternity proceedings.

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Chapter 72

HB2212

Effective Date
Delayed
01/01/2008

SIBLING INFORMATION EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Rep. Hershberger

Establishes a sibling information exchange program to facilitate contact between former dependent children and their siblings.  Former dependent children at least 18 years old, parents of former dependent children under eighteen and siblings of former dependent children may participate in the program or file an affidavit to opt out of contact.  Defines a former dependent child as “a person who was adjudicated a dependent child in a dependency proceeding pursuant to this chapter that has been dismissed by order of the juvenile court”.  Notification of the program is required at the conclusion of an adoption proceeding and at the conclusion of a dependency proceeding when the court finds the child is no longer a dependent child.  Notification of the program may be given to the former dependant child specific to the hearing or to an individual with legal custody of the former dependent child.  The Supreme Court may establish rules necessary to implement the program.

Statute(s) Impacted:  8-116, 8-135, 8-501, 8-847, 8-872

Statute(s) Created:  8-543

Court Impact:  The court will need to provide information about the Sibling Information Exchange Program to the appropriate persons during the stated proceedings.  The court must provide written notice of the Sibling Information Exchange Program before dismissing a dependency proceeding if the court finds that a child is no longer dependent.  The court may begin to see affidavits regarding contact by siblings filed and withdrawn by former dependent children, since a former dependent child who does not want to be contacted by their sibling(s) may file an affidavit with the court in order to prevent contact (through a confidential intermediary) by a sibling.  The affidavit may be withdrawn, in writing.

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Chapter 73

HB2250

Effective Date
General

DOMESTIC RELATIONS; CHILD SUPPORT; COMMITTEES
Rep. Hershberger

Authorizes the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts and an administrative officer of the Supreme Court who is appointed by the Chief Justice to appoint a designee to sit on the Domestic Relations Committee.  Continues the Child Support Committee through December 31, 2017.

Statute(s) Impacted:  25-323.01, 25-323.02

Court Impact:  Informational.

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Chapter 87

HB2215

Effective Date
General

RETIREMENT PLANS; DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDERS
Rep. McClure

Clarifies procedures and responsibilities regarding domestic relations orders (DRO) in PSPRS, CORP and EORP.  Allows a court to issue a DRO making a portion of a participant’s retirement benefits from EORP payable to a spouse or former spouse.

Statute(s) Impacted:  38-801, 38-842, 38-881

Statute(s) Created:  38-822, 38-860, 38-910

Court Impact:  To qualify as a plan approved domestic relations order, a domestic relations order must comply with any policies or procedures adopted by the plan and must also meet the requirements of A.R.S. 38-822(B)1-7.

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Chapter 100

SB1227

Effective Date
General

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; LEASE TERMINATION
Sen. Bee

In pertinent part, permits a tenant to terminate a rental agreement for being a victim of domestic violence if written notice is provided within 30 days to a landlord and a request is made to be released from the rental agreement.  The victim must provide the landlord with either a copy of any protective order or a copy of a written departmental report from a law enforcement agency that states that the tenant notified the law enforcement agency that the tenant was a victim of domestic violence.  The landlord may request a receipt or signed statement that an order of protection has been submitted to an authorized officer of the court for service as well as the name and address of the person named if known by the victim.  A person named in the departmental report or the order of protection who provokes an early lease termination is deemed to have interfered with the residential rental agreement between the landlord and tenant, and may be civilly liable for all economic losses incurred by a landlord, including unpaid rent, early lease termination fees, costs to repair damage to the premises and any reductions or waivers of rent for the domestic violence early lease termination.  An emergency order of protection or protective order issued to a resident of a rental property automatically applies to the entire residential rental property in which the tenant has a rental agreement.

Statute(s) Impacted:  33-1361

Statute(s) Created:  33-1318

Court Impact:  Courts should be aware of the effect of this bill on landlord/tenant issues when issuing a protective order, including that a protective order or emergency protective order applies to the entire residential rental property in which the tenant has a rental agreement. The factual situations contemplated by this bill likely will be raised as an argument in some landlord-tenant proceedings, so courts should be familiar with the rights and obligations of all parties.  Courts may begin to see separate civil proceedings for damages filed under the provisions of this bill.

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Chapter 126

HB2393

Effective Date
General

SPECIAL EDUCATION; SURROGATE PARENTS
Rep. Crandall

Allows the Department of Education, in addition to a court with the appropriate jurisdiction, to appoint a surrogate parent for a child in need of special education.  As allowed by state and federal law, the Department must notify the court if a surrogate parent is appointed.

Statute(s) Impacted:  15-791, 15-763.01

Court Impact:  Courts will see fewer requests for the appointment of surrogate parents.  Generally, the ADE will now need to notify the court if the ADE appoints a surrogate parent for a ward of the state as it relates to a child with a disability.

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 SB1158 

Effective Date
General

CPS; INVESTIGATIONS; OTHER JURISDICTIONS
Sen. Leff

In an action to terminate parental rights, preliminary protective hearing, dependency or permanency hearing the court is required to consider any substantiated allegations of abuse or neglect committed in another jurisdiction.  If a Child Protective Services worker conducting an investigation is made aware of an allegation of abuse or neglect made in another state, the worker must attempt to determine the outcome of any investigation.

Statute(s) Impacted:  8-533, 8-802, 8-825, 8-844, 8-862

Court Impact:  Alters the evidentiary considerations in parent-child termination proceedings at preliminary protective hearings, dependency adjudication hearings, and permanency hearings.

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Chapter 166

SB1357

Effective Date
General

DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE; ATTORNEY FEES
Sen. McCune-Davis

Requires the court to outline the specific findings relating to fees awarded in child support and dissolution of marriage hearings.

Statute(s) Impacted:  25-324

Court Impact:  Requires the court, in dissolution of marriage proceedings and child custody and visitation proceedings, to make specific findings concerning the portion of any award of fees and expenses that is based on consideration of financial resources and that is based on consideration of reasonableness of positions

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Chapter 181

 HB2594

Effective Date
General

DOMESTIC RELATIONS; SUPPORT JUDGMENTS; INTEREST
Rep. Hershberger

Excludes past child support ordered by the court from accruing interest for any period of time prior to the initial support order.

Statute(s) Created:  25-515

Court Impact:  Interest may not be assessed on any portion of a judgment for past support that accrued prior to the time an order for support was issued.

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Chapter 194

SB1247

Effective Date
General

SUPPORT; MAINTENANCE; HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION
Sen. Johnson

Exempts liens for child support or spousal maintenance arrearages from the homestead exemption protection.  Specifies that in a contempt proceeding to enforce the payment of child support or spousal maintenance, the court can consider the amount covered by the homestead exemption as a resource from which the obligor has the ability to pay.

Statute(s) Impacted:  33-964, 33-1103

Court Impact:  An award of court-ordered support qualifies as a lien if either the arrearage has been reduced to judgment, a lien has been filed by the Department of Economic Security because the obligor is at least two months in arrears, or the court orders a specific security interest in the property for support.  Courts will need to be aware of the effect of a judgment for child support or spousal maintenance arrearages upon the obligor’s interest in real property as well as the evidentiary standard pertaining to a homestead exemption claim in a contempt proceeding.

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Chapter 202

HB2635

Effective Date
General

CUSTODIAL RIGHTS; DEPLOYED MILITARY
Rep. Hershberger

Requires 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 to specifically reference the deployment.  The decree or order must 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 and the court must hold a hearing or conference on the petition within 30 days after the petition is filed.  If Arizona is the home state of a child at the time of the military deployment of that child's custodial parent outside of the United States and the child is relocated outside of the United States during the deployment, Arizona remains the home state of the child until the deployment ends.

Statute(s) Impacted:  25-411

Statute(s) Created:  25-1013

Court Impact:  Codifies certain standards and requirements for child custody orders pertaining to military deployment.

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Chapter 211

SB1205

Effective Date
General

BIRTH CERTIFICATES; DELAYED REGISTRATION
Sen. Allen

Allows a person, or parent or guardian of a minor, who was refused a delayed birth certificate, to petition the Superior or Tribal Court for an order establishing a record of that person’s date of birth, place of birth and parentage.  Prohibits the state registrar from creating a delayed birth certificate if the information and evidentiary documents submitted to support a delayed birth certificate are inaccurate, incomplete or do not support the request.  The person requesting the delayed birth certificate must be notified by the registrar of any reason for refusal and be advised of the right to petition for a court order.  The petitioner must provide the court copies of the information and evidentiary documents originally submitted in the request for a delayed birth certificate, and a copy of the refusal notification.  The court must set a date, time and place for a hearing of the petition, and notify the petitioner and the state registrar at least twenty days in advance of the hearing, at which the state registrar may appear and testify.  Permits the court to issue an order for the creation and registration of a delayed birth certificate if the evidence presented supports the delayed birth certificate and requires that the order be forwarded to the state registrar no later than the tenth day of the calendar month following the month in which it was issued.  The state registrar then must create and register a delayed birth certificate based on information contained in the court order.

Statute(s) Impacted:  36-333.02

Statute(s) Created:  36-333.03

Court Impact:  Courts will need to be aware of the statutory procedures for creation and registration of a delayed birth certificate that has been denied by the state registrar.  If the court finds that the evidence presented for the petitioner supports the creation and registration of a delayed birth certificate, the court must establish the facts of birth, including parentage and any other findings that may be required, and shall issue an order to create and register a delayed birth certificate on a form provided by the state registrar.  The clerk of court must forward the order to the state registrar no later than the tenth day of the calendar month following the month in which the court order was issued.

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Chapter 246

HB2249

Effective Date
General

CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT
Rep. Hershberger

Authorizes a Title IV-D agency (would normally be the Department of Economic Security) involved in a child support case to suspend a professional or occupational license issued by any state agency to a child support obligor if the obligor is more than six month in arrears.  The court is required to order the suspension of a person’s driver or recreational license if the person is six months, instead of two months, in arrears in child support.  If a Title IV-D agency is listed as a lien holder on a child support lien and the judgment is satisfied the agency can under certain circumstances release the lien.

Statute(s) Impacted:  25-517, 25-518, 33-964

Court Impact:  Court involvement in proceedings to suspend a driver's license for non-payment of child support will now be limited to cases in which the obligor is at least six months in arrears instead of two months, as currently.  Removes the requirement that the court send a certificate of noncompliance to the board or agency ordering the suspension or denial of a driver's license or recreational license if the court finds from the evidence presented at a hearing to enforce a child support order that the obligor failed without reasonable cause to comply with a child support subpoena or arrest warrant.  The court will no longer have a direct role in proceedings to suspend a professional or occupational license for non-payment of child support.

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