A stepparent adoption can be a beautiful and loving way to show a child how much they matter to the adults in their life. The stepparent who has begun fulfilling a parental role might decide that they would prefer to remove the prefix from their title. A stepparent...
Experience.
Compassion.
Integrity.
When do power of attorney documents lose their authority?
An Arizona estate plan typically includes documents that dictate a person’s wishes for distribution of their property after their death, such as a Last Will and Testament or Living Trust. However, the most thorough and useful estate plans typically also include...
3 options for funding an Arizona special needs trust
Caring for a loved one with special needs may be a lifetime responsibility. Parents and other family members may need to continue to provide daily guidance and financial support for someone with special needs even after they become an adult. Individuals with disabling...
Challenges of shared decision-making authority after divorce
When couples with children get divorced, they must determine what most people refer to as "custody" arrangements. Their parenting time arrangements define the schedule for when each parent is responsible for caretaking and where the children live accordingly. In most...
Why do many divorcing Arizona couples agree to mediation?
There are two well-known approaches to divorce in Arizona: traditional litigation and mediation. A traditional or "contested" divorce process may be appropriate in situations when spouses have disagreements about their children, their property division or child...
How debt affects property division in Arizona divorces
The process of separating finances can be one of the biggest hurdles for couples preparing for divorce in Arizona. The longer the marriage has lasted, the more intertwined the finances of the spouses will have become. Not only will they share property with each other,...
Why do people choose to include trusts in their estate plans?
Each estate plan is as unique as the individual who is putting together their documents. People often talk about their family relationships and the distribution of their assets. They may try to convey something about their personal values to their beneficiaries and/or...
3 reasons a grandparent may want to formally adopt a grandchild
Grandparents in Arizona may find themselves serving in a parental role for a whole host of different reasons. Sometimes, a parent gets diagnosed with an illness or gets injured in an accident and is no longer physically capable of meeting the needs of their children...
Who needs to approve of an Arizona stepparent adoption?
Stepparents often grow very close to the children of their spouses and in some cases, may play a very similar role to that of a parent. Yet, however close a stepparent becomes with their stepchild, the relationship between them has limited legal protections. Family...
Protecting your business with a prenuptial agreement
Business owners dedicate countless hours to building their empire and accumulating wealth. If a marriage is on the horizon, a prenuptial agreement with a soon-to-spouse may be a valuable tool for protecting a business entity in the event of divorce. Below are some key...
