People seeking to resolve their complex, high net worth divorces in the Family Law Division of the Maricopa County Superior Court in the State of Arizona can find themselves trapped in a system that is not well suited to meet their needs. Despite the best efforts of well-intentioned judicial officers and administrators, the fundamental problem is that there are simply too many cases and insufficient resources. In the 12 months ending in June 2023 the Family Law Division was responsible for more than 18,600 active pending cases. During that time there were 42,616 new family law court filings, of which 15,313 were dissolution actions. As many as 70% of all litigants in these Family Court proceedings were self-represented.
There are only 29 Judges and 12 Commissioners in the Family Law Division. Typically, a judge assigned to a Family Law Division serves a 24-month term. Inevitably, the only way for these hard-working judicial officers to manage this staggering caseload has been to only permit the parties a very short time to present their crucial information in the courtroom.
The overwhelming number of cases family law judges are exposed to are those in which the parties have no lawyers. Consequently, it is rare for a judge in a family law assignment to experience cases where the parties own a significant business or professional practice or have complex financial assets or issues. Judges are provided a limited amount of training before taking on the assignment and rarely do they have experience in family law litigation before becoming a judge.
Temporary Orders
During the transition period between filing the divorce proceeding and the conclusion of it, there needs to be a structure put into place so that, for example, separate residences can be maintained, funds are available to both parties to meet their necessary expenses, debts are kept current, and appropriate access to the children is facilitated. This is accomplished by obtaining “temporary orders.” These are court orders that remain in effect while the divorce action is pending. In complex cases these orders are critical as they could be in effect for well over a year. Temporary orders can address exclusive use and possession of a home, control of funds in accounts, legal decision-making (custody), parenting time, spousal maintenance (alimony), the payment of debts, expenses, and attorney fees, as well as child support. Even though these orders might be of vital importance to you, judges routinely allow only 45 to 60 minutes for temporary orders hearings. Those minutes are split equally between the two parties giving them each only 22 to 30 minutes to present all the evidence that each of them may have on all these subjects and to refute the evidence presented by the other party. The time is strictly kept. As you can imagine, in any case where there are substantial issues to address, it is impossible to provide the court with all the relevant and material information within that limited time.
Family Law Trials
The situation is no less difficult when it comes to trials. At trial evidence is presented on such issues as the value of a business or professional practice, value of real property and other significant assets owned by the parties, their earnings and earning capacity, the anticipated costs of living separate and apart, whether a person should be made to account for certain acts or misdeeds, and what types of provisions need to be made to serve the best interests of the child At trial, the parties are seeking final orders from the court. These orders will include the ultimate valuation and disposition of all the community assets, allocation of the responsibility to pay each of the outstanding community debts, recognition of sole and separate property claims, spousal maintenance, legal decision-making with respect to the children, parenting time and child support. These are often life-altering decisions, but unless your case is designated as complex, judges typically allocate no more than three hours for a trial that could encompass all these issues. Again, the time is divided equally between the parties and strictly kept. Many judges have chess clocks behind the bench, and the lawyers or the parties are allocated no more than 90 minutes to present all their evidence, question and cross-examine all of the witnesses, and make all of their arguments. Even when there are complicated financial issues or investments, a closely held business, or complex custody issues, we battle with judges to receive any more than three hours of court time for trial, and frequently, requests for more time are rejected. Ninety minutes is a short amount of time when the decision can and will have a life-long impact on parents and their children.
Opt-Out
As you can now well appreciate, because of the caseload in the Family Law Division and the lack of time made available and the limited amount of training and experience of most of the judicial officers in complex and multi-faceted cases, we often counsel our clients to choose a process that allows them to “opt out” of the judicial system. Often opting out is the strategy which maximizes the probability that each of our clients obtains a favorable outcome in his or her family law proceeding given their individual circumstances.
There are a number of ways we help our clients navigate their high-stakes, financially complex family law matters outside the judicial litigation process.
These include:
- Negotiated settlements.
- Mediation
- Arbitration
- Appointment of a family law master.
Each of these alternative dispute resolution methods is different. Some can only be engaged in if the opposing party and his or her counsel agree to participate in a process outside the system. Each deserves thoughtful consideration in the context of your unique situation before a course of action is taken.
