What the Petition Must Include
Filing for divorce in Arizona is not as simple as filling out a one-page form. The verified petition must contain specific details about both spouses, the marriage, and any children.
It must also include any agreements the parties have reached. The superior court requires this level of detail from the start.
The verified petition in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, annulment or legal separation shall allege that the marriage is irretrievably broken or void, that one or both of the parties desire to live separate and apart, and shall set forth: 1. The birth date, occupation and address of each party and the length of domicile in this state.
A.R.S. § 25-314(A)The petition must also list the date and place of the marriage and whether it is a covenant marriage. It must include the names, birth dates, and addresses of all children.
If the spouses already agree on child support, custody, or spousal support, those details go in the petition too. The other party generally has 20 days to file a response.
Limited Defenses and Domestic Violence Protections
Arizona limits what defenses a party can raise in response. For a standard divorce, the only defense is that the marriage is not irretrievably broken.
For a covenant marriage, the defense is that none of the required grounds exist. For annulment, the defense is that the marriage is not void.
The statute also protects domestic violence victims. A victim or a person in a shelter does not have to share their physical address.
For example, a post office box or an attorney's address can satisfy the requirement.
Organized estate documents help identify community and separate property from the start. Filing a petition also triggers the automatic preliminary injunction under A.R.S. 25-315. As a result, both parties face limits on what they can do with shared assets.