The first step is to contact our office at 1-800-677-1010. You will be asked to fill out a domestic relations questionnaire, including a child support work sheet, if you have children, so that we can provide the necessary information to assist in the preparation of your case. Once we obtain the information, we will file and serve the divorce petition. If you can persuade your spouse to accept service of the divorce papers, this will reduce your out-of-pocket costs on the case. It usually takes approximately two weeks to file and serve the divorce papers from the date of retention.

We represent clients in domestic relations cases on an hourly fee basis. We require an advance fee (which may be nonrefundable in whole or in part) and you will receive periodic billings throughout the course of the representation, concerning the status of your retainer, and any billings after the retainer is exhausted. Your final bill cannot be predicted, because it depends in part upon how your spouse, and your spouse's attorney, handle the defense of the case. However, every reasonable effort will be made to conserve attorney's fees and costs on your behalf.

At the inception of representation, a decision will be made as to whether to seek temporary orders in your case, which are also sometimes called pendente lite orders. If you need temporary spousal maintenance, temporary child support, temporary possession of your residence, or temporary access to community funds, it may be necessary to seek these orders. Generally, it takes one to two months for the hearing on temporary orders to occur. It will also add attorney's fees to your case and, therefore, if these issues can be worked out without formal proceedings, it may be in your best interests. We will discuss with you, at an appropriate time, whether seeking temporary order(s) is in your best interests.

There are certain time periods, concerning divorces and custody matters, about which you should be aware. There is a 90 day residency period to file for divorce in Arizona. There is a 60 day "cooling off" period, between the time that we serve your spouse with the divorce petition, and the first available date to finalize the divorce. As a practical matter, however, it may be three or four months before a hearing can be scheduled in your divorce, even in the simplest of cases. As previously discussed, if we seek temporary orders, this usually takes one to two months to obtain a hearing.

If you have children, the child must have resided with you in Arizona, for six months, prior to Arizona obtaining jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. You are entitled to child support from the date of the filing of the petition. We can obtain a temporary child support order for you through temporary orders, or the judge can order retroactively, from the date of the petition, at the final hearing. Child support, in Arizona, is determined according to state guidelines, and we will require you to fill out a child support worksheet to assist us in the calculation of appropriate child support.

Arizona is a community property state. Assets acquired during marriage, with either your earnings, or your spouse's earnings, are community assets. Assets acquired before marriage are sole and separate, but you must not co-mingle your sole and separate assets with your spouse's assets, or you run the risk of those assets being characterized as community property. In particular, if you have put your spouse's name on your residence, purchased with your sole and separate funds, this may cause the residence to be characterized as a community asset, even if you purchased it with your sole and separate property.

Community debts are equitably divided, which is, presumptively, equally, but the court can make equitable modifications, if it deems it appropriate. All of these issues will be discussed in more detail with the attorney who will be handling your case.

When you retain the firm, there will be an associate attorney and a paralegal assigned to your domestic relations case. You will be given their names and voicemail extensions, and you can contact either one of them about the status of your case during the course of the representation. If they are out of the office, you can leave a voicemail and they should call you back by the end of the next business day after you call, at the latest.

If they do not promptly return your call, then please contact the firm's Legal Administrator, Diana Stanley, at extension 111, so that she can assist you in resolving the situation. If you need to speak with Mr. Knochel directly, but have difficulty contacting him during business hours, you are welcome to call him at home. Please do not call him at home if you can resolve your difficulties during business hours, but if you cannot, he definitely wants to hear from you.

The court has a mediation center, which attempts to assist divorcing spouses in resolving their divorce case out of court, through informal negotiations. The mediation center does not force you to settle your case, but attempts to assist you, through negotiations, in resolving your case informally. We encourage all divorce clients to attempt negotiations, if possible, prior to proceeding to court. The mediation center has an excellent record of assisting couples in resolving their divorce cases informally. Attorneys are not permitted at the mediation sessions, but a court appointed mediator will be present to assist you in the negotiations. The court may also order a settlement conference in front of the judge to assist in the settlement of the case before it proceeds to trial. The judges are also trained mediators, and many cases can be resolved in this fashion. If your case cannot be resolved, either through medication or at the settlement conference, then the case can be tried, but this will add substantial attorney's fees and stress to the outcome, which makes it in your best interest to resolve the case informally.

If the case is expensively litigated, it can take one, to one and a half, years to resolve your divorce case after the petition is filed. We will attempt to resolve the case as expeditiously as possible, and encourage alternative dispute resolution, as previously discussed, to attempt to resolve the case as expeditiously as possible. We like to speak with our clients at least once every month to six weeks, even in a protracted litigated case. If you have not heard from us approximately every six weeks during the course of the case, we would encourage you to give us a call so we can update you about the status of your case. Divorce cases are difficult cases, and patience and a spirit of compromise are frequently the best way to resolve the case, if possible. However, if it is in your best interests, the firm will not hesitate to aggressively litigate the case.