Tuscon Arizona Family Law Blog

The end of the year is a time for celebrating the past 12 months and looking ahead to the future. A lot of people in Arizona use this time to think about their goals for 2020 or which resolutions they should try out this year. Some, however, are planning something a little more significant. As New Year's Day brings in a brand new year, a significant number of people will be filing for divorce.

This is because there is another season that follows soon after the end-of-year holidays -- the divorce season. Every January, the number of divorce filings shoots up around 33%. This is likely in part because some people want to wait until after family celebrations to make such a big move, but there is also more to it than that. For couples who are already unhappy, the holidays can be the one thing that makes it impossible to avoid big issues.

Decades ago, when you walked down the aisle, the thought that you could end up divorcing after age 50 probably never crossed your mind. You felt as many people did back then -- that you would spend the rest of your life with your new spouse.

Now that the kids are adults and living their own lives, things may have changed. Divorce doesn't have the stigma attached to it as it used to. People live longer thanks to medical advancements, but that means you could have decades left with your spouse, and that thought scares you. For whatever reason, you no longer want to be married to your spouse, but you fear the financial implications of divorce.

When children are involved, the decision to divorce can become even more complicated. The responsible Arizona parent wants what is best for the children; however, the individual parents may not agree on the specific details here. One important detail that must be taken into consideration during the divorce process is how child custody will be handled.

Depending upon the age and maturity level of the children, the judge may take the children's preferences into consideration. In addition, the past history regarding who performed which responsibilities related to child care will likely be taken into consideration. For example, if one parent traditionally made sure that the children attended school, doctors' appointments, religious services and even extracurricular activities, this may play a part in the court's custody decision.

Some kids are struggling to keep their heads above water. Arizona family law rules are in existence to protect children and to do what is in their best interests, but many kids have been and are being traumatized by situations in which they should not be involved: physical, emotional and sexual abuse, substance abuse by their parents, and other egregious wrongdoings by the adults in their lives who should be looking after them. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), more than two-thirds of children in the country reported at least one traumatic event by the time they reached 16 years of age.

The numbers are even worse regarding kids in Arizona where 27% have had two or more adverse events in their lives by age 16. These incidents can also include neglect, domestic violence, mental illness, divorce or separation of their parents or parents being incarcerated. Children who have two or more traumatic experiences in their young lives are more likely to need to repeat a grade or more in school, miss more days of school and are more likely to be overweight or obese.