Read the full stored bill text
HB2995 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
House Bill
domestic relations;
domestic violence
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2995
AN
ACT
amending sections 25-403.03, 25-404
and 25-411, arizona revised statutes; relating to
family
law
.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 25-403.03, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
25-403.03.
Domestic violence and child abuse; court considerations;
definitions
A. Notwithstanding subsection D of
this section, joint legal decision-making shall not be awarded if the
court makes a finding of the existence of significant domestic violence
pursuant to section 13-3601 or if the court finds by a preponderance of
the evidence that there has been a significant history of domestic violence.
B. The court shall consider evidence
of domestic violence as being contrary to the best interests of the child. The
court shall consider the safety and well-being of the child and of the
victim of the act of domestic violence to be of primary
importance. The court shall consider a perpetrator's history of
causing or threatening to cause physical harm to another person.
C. To determine if a person has
committed an act of domestic violence the court, subject to the rules of evidence,
shall consider all relevant factors including the following:
1. Findings from another court of
competent jurisdiction.
2. Police reports.
3. Medical reports.
4. Records of the department of child
safety.
5. Domestic violence shelter records.
6. School records.
7. Witness testimony.
D. If the court determines that a
parent who is seeking sole or joint legal decision-making has committed an act
of domestic violence against the other parent, there is a rebuttable
presumption that an award of sole or joint legal decision-making to the parent
who committed the act of domestic violence is contrary to the child's best
interests. This presumption does not apply if both parents have committed an
act of domestic violence. For the purposes of this subsection, a person commits
an act of domestic violence if that person does any of the following:
1. Intentionally, knowingly or
recklessly causes or attempts to cause sexual assault or serious physical
injury.
2. Places a person in reasonable
apprehension of imminent serious physical injury to any person.
3. Engages in a pattern of behavior
for which a court may issue an ex parte order to protect the other parent who
is seeking child custody or to protect the child and the child's siblings.
E. To determine if the parent has
rebutted the presumption the court shall consider all of the following:
1. Whether the parent has demonstrated
that being awarded sole or joint legal decision-making or substantially equal
parenting time is in the child's best interests.
2. Whether the parent has successfully
completed a batterer's prevention program.
3. Whether the parent has successfully
completed a program of alcohol or drug abuse counseling, if the court
determines that counseling is appropriate.
4. Whether the parent has successfully
completed a parenting class, if the court determines that a parenting class is
appropriate.
5. If the parent is on probation,
parole or community supervision, whether the parent is restrained by a
protective order that was granted after a hearing.
6. Whether the parent has committed
any further acts of domestic violence.
F. If the court finds that a parent
has committed an act of domestic violence, that parent has the burden of
proving to the court's satisfaction that parenting time will not endanger the
child or significantly impair the child's emotional development. If
the parent meets this burden to the court's satisfaction, the court shall place
conditions on parenting time that best protect the child and the other parent
from further harm. The court may:
1. Order that an exchange of the child
must occur in a protected setting as specified by the court.
2. Order that an agency specified by
the court must supervise parenting time. If the court allows a
family or household member to supervise parenting time, the court shall
establish conditions that this person must follow during parenting time.
3. Order the parent who committed the
act of domestic violence to attend and complete, to the court's satisfaction, a
program of intervention for perpetrators of domestic violence and any other
counseling the court orders.
4. Order the parent who committed the
act of domestic violence to abstain from possessing or consuming alcohol or
controlled substances during parenting time and for twenty-four hours
before parenting time.
5. Order the parent who committed the
act of domestic violence to pay a fee for the costs of supervised parenting
time.
6. Prohibit overnight parenting time.
7. Require a bond from the parent who
committed the act of domestic violence for the child's safe return.
8. Order that the address of the child
and the other parent remain confidential.
9. Impose any other condition that the
court determines is necessary to protect the child, the other parent and any
other family or household member.
G. The court shall not order joint
counseling between a victim and the perpetrator of domestic
violence. The court may provide a victim with written information
about available community resources related to domestic violence.
A. As a declared public policy of
this state and notwithstanding section 25-103, subsection B, The court
shall consider domestic violence, including child abuse, as contrary to a
child's best interests. �In any legal decision-making and parenting time
matter, the court shall assign the highest priority to the personal safety and
physical, mental and emotional well-being of both the child and domestic
violence victim.
B. Before entering an order for legal
decision-making or parenting time, The court shall resolve any domestic
violence allegation by making specific written findings on the record about
each of the following considerations for which evidence was
admitted at a trial or other evidentiary hearing:
1. A thorough
description
of the EVIDENCE that justified or prevented a finding under
subsection C of this section that
domestic
violence occurred.
2. After considering each factor
prescribed in subsection E of this section,
A thorough
explanation for
why a parent who committed
domestic violence
did or did not rebut the mandatory
presumption that is imposed
by subsection D
of this section.
3. a thorough
explanation
for
why the court's choice of precautions
prescribed in subsection H of this section is in the child's best
interests.
C. A domestic violence claim shall be
established by a preponderance of the evidence. corroboration from
exhibits or witness testimony of another person is not required. �Subject to
the evidentiary standard in effect for that proceeding, the court shall
consider all of the following:
1. Factual determinations related to
domestic violence from a court of competent jurisdiction.
2. Evidence that is collected and
reports THAT are prepared by a law enforcement agency, the department of child
safety and any other government agency.
3. The alleged victim's medical or
behavioral health records, if the victim waives the associated privilege and
any separate right to confidentiality under state or federal law.
4. Records from a shelter for victims
of domestic violence as defined in section 36-3001, if the victim
provides informed written consent.
5. Educational and school records.
6. other acts of domestic violence
against any person THAT tend to prove the existence of coercive control, even
if those other acts have been decided, predate the last decree or could have
been litigated at another time or place.
7. Witness testimony.
D. If the court determines that a
parent has committed domestic violence, There is a mandatory rebuttable
presumption that an award of legal decision-making or parenting time to
that parent is contrary to the child's best interests. �The court may not do
either of the following:
1. Require the victim to prove that
the domestic violence was severe or frequent enough to justify restricting the
legal decision-making or parenting time of the parent who committed
domestic violence.
2. Describe the parents' domestic
violence as mutual or apply the presumption of this subsection to both parents,
unless both parents lacked justification for their domestic violence to a
similar degree and inflicted similar injury. �The court shall otherwise apply
the presumption only to the parent whose conduct and motivation were more
serious under the definition of domestic violence.
e. If a parent who committed domestic
violence seeks to rebut the mandatory presumption imposed by subsection D of
this section, the court shall consider all of the following:
1. The severity and frequency of the
parent's domestic violence against any person, including an assessment of
whether that violence was aggravated by any of the following:
(
a
) Physical
injury or emotional trauma.
(
b
) Use or
threatened use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon.
(
c
) Strangulation
as described in section 13-1204, subsection B, paragraph 1.
(
d
) Multiple
forms of coercive control.
2. The extent to which the parent
denied, deflected or minimized the domestic violence during treatment, forensic
assessment, mandatory disclosure, formal discovery or courtroom proceedings.
3. Whether the parent committed
domestic violence with sufficient severity or frequency that the passage of
time is not a mitigating factor.
4. Whether the child has imitated any
aspect of the parent's domestic violence behaviors.
5. the parent's attendance at a
domestic violence treatment program. The court may not consider a
certificate of completion alone as proof of rehabilitation. A
certificate of completion must be accompanied by all of the following:
(
a
) A waiver of
the statutory privilege or other confidentiality necessary to release that
person's treatment records to the court and the victim.
(
b
) Proof that
the treatment program was both relevant and proportionate to any domestic
violence for which credible evidence is presented, taking into account the
criteria that are outlined in the arizona administrative code for the treatment
of misdemeanor domestic violence offenders.
(
c
) a
demonstrated understanding of how the parent's domestic violence harmed the
child and other parent.
(
d
) proof that
the treatment program addressed and helped reduce any tendency to minimize or
rationalize the parent's domestic violence.
F. The court shall disregard all of
the following factors as IRRELEVANT to the mandatory presumption imposed by
subsection D of this section:
1. The child's absence from the scene
of any domestic violence.
2. the child's unawareness that
domestic violence occurred.
3. The child's preference for
reinstating, maintaining or increasing contact with the parent who committed
domestic violence.
g. The court may not grant any of the
following to a parent who is restricted by the mandatory presumption imposed by
subsection d of this section:
1. Sole legal decision-making
or joint legal decision-making, unless the parent overcomes the
presumption by clear and convincing evidence.
2. unsupervised parenting time,
unless the parent overcomes the presumption by clear and convincing evidence.
3. supervised parenting time, unless
the parent overcomes the presumption by a preponderance of the evidence.
H. for a parent who has committed
domestic violence, the court shall adopt precautions that prioritize the
personal safety and physical, mental and emotional well-being of the
child and other parent. �these precautions may do all of the following:
1. require that an exchange of the
child occur in a protected location or a safe exchange location as prescribed
in section 25-403.10 that is specified by the court.
2. Limit parenting time, including a
prohibition on overnight parenting time with the child.
3. Designate a professional agency or
one or more laypeople to supervise parenting time. �The court may not appoint
the victim of domestic violence to serve as the supervisor, whether alone or
with another person. The court may not appoint a layperson to
supervise parenting time unless the parent being supervised affirms that the parent
will ensure that the appointed supervisor will do all of the following:
(
a
) Receive and
read the court's order.
(
b
) Provide a
reliable telephone number, email address and residential address to both
parents.
(
c
) Intervene
and contact an appropriate law enforcement agency, the department of child
safety and the other parent if the supervised parent's behavior endangers the
child or becomes psychologically or physically abusive.
(
d
) Appear for
future court proceedings and testify regarding the supervision.
4. require the parent who committed
domestic violence to pay a fee for the costs of supervised parenting time.
5. Suspend access to the child, in
any form, until the parent who committed domestic violence can petition to
modify legal decision-making or parenting time pursuant to section 25-411.
6. require the parent who committed
domestic violence to attend and complete an assessment or a program of
intervention for perpetrators of domestic violence and any other counseling.
7. If the court finds that the parent
who committed domestic violence has also abused any substance, including
alcohol, require that parent to abstain from possessing or consuming that
substance and order random testing to ensure compliance.
8. Require a bond for the child's
safe return from the parent who committed domestic violence.
9. require that the address of the
child and other parent remain confidential.
10. Impose any other condition that
the court determines is necessary to protect the child, the other parent and
any other family or household member.
I. The court may not order a victim
of domestic violence, whether the child or a parent, to join the parent who
committed domestic violence in any inpatient or outpatient treatment program,
counseling program or forensic assessment, whether telephonic, virtual or in
person.
J.
If a parent
who has committed
domestic violence fails to overcome the
mandatory presumption imposed by
subsection D
of this section, the presumption shall continue to apply in any
subsequent modification proceeding commenced under
section 25-411.
H.
K.
The
court may request or order the services of the department of child safety if
the court believes that a child may be the victim of child abuse or neglect as
defined in section 8-201.
I.
L.
In
determining whether the absence or relocation of a parent shall be weighed
against that parent in determining legal decision-making or parenting time, the
court may consider whether the absence or relocation was caused by an act of
domestic violence by the other parent.
M. For the purposes of this section:
1. "coercive control" Means
a pattern of violent, threatening, coercive or emotionally abusive conduct by
one parent against the other, without consent or justification, including any
of the following:
(
a
) sexual or
other physical assault.
(
b
) threatening
to kill or injure a person, including oneself, or a household pet.
(
c
) displaying,
accessing, assembling or cleaning a firearm or other dangerous weapon in the
other parent's presence, if the circumstances imply that weapon's threatened
use in violation of state or federal law.
(
d
) confinement
or other restraining words or actions to restrict the other parent's freedom of
movement or lawful activity.
(
e
) isolation
from friends and family.
(
f
) monitoring
or regulating financial activity, economic resources or access to services.
(
g
) stalking or
harassment.
(
h
) demeaning,
degrading or humiliating words or actions.
(
i
) threatening
to publish sensitive information, including sexually explicit material, of the
other parent or member of the other parent's family.
(
j
) threatening
to make reports to law enforcement.
(
k
) threatening,
initiating or using civil litigation, including proceedings under this title or
section 13-3602, to do either of the following:
(
i
) force the
other parent to defend against a legal claim that is false or frivolous.
(
ii
) regulate
or restrict the other parent's lawful or constitutionally protected activity.
(
l
) damaging
property owned or lawfully possessed by the other parent or member of the other
parent's family.
(
m
) by act or
conscious omission, jeopardizing the immigration status of the other parent or
a member of the other parent's family.
(
n
) forcing the
other parent to commit a crime against the other parent's stated wishes.
(
o
) using
surveillance or tracking technology to facilitate or aggravate any of the
behaviors listed in this paragraph.
2. "domestic violence":
(
a
) means, when
perpetrated by one parent against the other parent or against a minor child
living in either parent's household, an act or acts consisting of either of the
following:
(
i
) any act or offense
prescribed in section 13-3601, subsection A.
(
ii
) coercive
control.
(
b
) Does not
include either of the following:
(
i
) Defense of
oneself as described in section 13-404.
(
ii
) Defense of
another person as described in section 13-406.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 25-404, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
25-404.
Temporary orders
A. A party to a legal decision-making and parenting
time proceeding may move for a temporary order. This motion must be
supported by pleadings as provided in section 25-411. The
court may award temporary legal decision-making and parenting time under
the standards of section 25-403 after a hearing, or, if there is no
objection, solely on the basis of the pleadings.
B. If a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or
legal separation is dismissed, any temporary legal decision-making or parenting
time order is vacated unless a parent or the child's custodian moves that the
proceeding continue as a legal decision-making or parenting time proceeding and
the court finds, after a hearing, that the circumstances of the parents and the
best interest of the child require that a legal decision-making or parenting
time plan decree be issued.
C. If a legal decision-making or parenting time
proceeding commenced in the absence of a petition for dissolution of marriage
or legal separation is dismissed, any temporary
custody
legal decision-making or parenting time
order thereby is
vacated.
D. If any party to a proceeding for
temporary legal decision-making or parenting time alleges domestic
violence as defined in section 25-403.03, the court shall make written
findings that are consistent with section 25-403.03, subsection B. These
findings may be confined to evidence that is admitted at a temporary orders
hearing.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Section 25-411, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
25-411.
Modification of legal decision-making or parenting time;
affidavit; contents; military families; acts of domestic violence
A. A person shall not make a motion to modify a
legal decision-making or parenting time decree earlier than one year
after its date, unless the court
permits
allows
it to be made on the basis of affidavits that there is reason to believe
the child's present environment may seriously endanger the child's physical,
mental, moral or emotional health. At any time after a joint legal
decision-making order is entered, a parent may petition the court for
modification of the order on the basis of evidence that domestic violence
involving a violation of section 13-1201 or 13-1204, spousal abuse
or child abuse occurred since the entry of the joint legal decision-making
order. Six months after a joint legal decision-making order is
entered, a parent may petition the court for modification of the order based on
the failure of the other parent to comply with the provisions of the
order. A motion or petition to modify an order shall meet the
requirements of this section. �Except as otherwise provided in this section, if
a parent is a member of the United States armed forces, the court shall
consider the terms of that parent's military family care plan to determine what
is in the child's best interest during that parent's military deployment.
B. If the parent with whom the parent's child
resides a majority of the time receives temporary duty, deployment, activation
or mobilization orders from the United States military that involve moving a
substantial distance away from the parent's residence
,
a
court shall not enter a final order modifying parental rights and
responsibilities and parent-child contact in an existing order until ninety
days after the deployment ends, unless a modification is agreed to by the
deploying parent.
C. The court shall not consider a parent's absence
caused by deployment or mobilization or the potential for future deployment or
mobilization as the sole factor supporting a real, substantial and
unanticipated change in circumstances pursuant to this section.
D. On motion of a deploying or nondeploying,
mobilizing or absent military parent, the court, after a hearing, shall enter a
temporary order modifying parental rights and responsibilities or parent-child
contact during the period of deployment or mobilization if:
1. A military parent who has legal decision-making
or parenting time pursuant to an existing court order has received notice from
military leadership that the military parent will deploy or mobilize in the
near future.
2. The deployment or mobilization would have a
material effect on the military parent's ability to exercise parental rights
and responsibilities or parent-child contact.
E. On motion of a deploying parent, if reasonable
advance notice is given and good cause is shown, the court shall allow that
parent to present testimony and evidence by electronic means with respect to
parenting time or parent-child contact matters instituted pursuant to this
section if the deployment of that parent has a material effect on that parent's
ability to appear in person at a regularly scheduled hearing. �For the purposes
of this subsection, "electronic means" includes communication by
telephone or video teleconference.
F. The court shall hear motions for modification
because of deployment as expeditiously as possible.
G. If a military parent receives military temporary
duty, deployment, activation or mobilization orders that involve moving a
substantial distance away from the military parent's residence or that
otherwise have a material effect on the military parent's ability to exercise
parenting time, at the request of the military parent, for the duration of the
military parent's absence the court may delegate the military parent's
parenting time, or a portion of that time, to a child's family member, including
a stepparent, or to another person who is not the child's parent but who has a
close and substantial relationship to the minor child, if the court determines
that is in the child's best interest. The court shall not allow the delegation
of parenting time to a person who would be subject to limitations on parenting
time. The parties shall attempt to resolve disputes regarding
delegation of parenting time through the dispute resolution process specified
in their parenting plan, unless excused by the court for good cause shown. A
court order pursuant to this subsection does not establish separate rights to
parenting time for a person other than a parent.
H. All temporary modification orders pursuant to
this section shall include a specific transition schedule to facilitate a
return to the predeployment order within ten days after the deployment ends,
taking into consideration the child's best interests.
I. A decree or order that a court enters in
contemplation of or during the military deployment of a parent outside of the
continental United States shall specifically reference the deployment and
include provisions governing the legal decision-making or parenting time
arrangements, or both, of the minor child after the deployment ends. Either
parent may file a petition with the court after the deployment ends to modify
the decree or order, in compliance with subsection
L
M
of this section. The court shall hold a
hearing or conference on the petition within thirty days after the petition is
filed.
J. The court may modify an order granting or denying
parenting time rights whenever modification would serve the best interest of
the child, but the court shall not restrict a parent's parenting time rights
unless it finds that the parenting time would endanger seriously the child's
physical, mental, moral or emotional health.
K. If after a legal decision-making or parenting
time order is in effect one of the parents is charged with a dangerous crime
against children as defined in section 13-705, child molestation as
defined in section 13-1410 or an act of domestic violence as prescribed
in section 13-3601 in which the victim is a minor, the other parent may
petition the court for an expedited hearing. Pending the expedited
hearing, the court may suspend parenting time or change legal decision-making
ex parte.
L. A parent who has committed
domestic violence as defined in section 25-403.03
and who previously failed to rebut the mandatory presumption imposed
by
section 25-403.03, subsection D
remains subject to the same presumption in any modification proceeding
that is brought pursuant to this section, regardless of the allegations
made in the new
pleadings. The
question of whether evidence now exists to overcome the mandatory presumption
imposed by
section 25-403.03, subsection d
shall be resolved, as a preliminary matter, when the court decides
whether a sufficient change of circumstances has occurred to allow a
modification of a legal decision-making or parenting time order.
L.
M.
To
modify any type of legal decision-making or parenting time order a person shall
submit an affidavit or verified petition setting forth detailed facts
supporting the requested modification and shall give notice, together with a
copy of the affidavit or verified petition, to other parties to the proceeding,
who may file opposing affidavits. �The court shall deny the motion unless it
finds that adequate cause for hearing the motion is established by the
pleadings, in which case it shall set a date for hearing on why the requested
modification should not be granted.
M.
n.
The
court shall assess attorney fees and costs against a party seeking modification
if the court finds that the modification action is vexatious and constitutes
harassment.
N.
O.
Subsection
L
M
of this section does not
apply if the requested relief is for the modification or clarification of
parenting time and not for a change of legal decision-making.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 4.
Emergency
This act is an emergency measure that
is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative
immediately as provided by law.
Sec. 5.
Short title
This act may be cited as the
"Alec and Lydia Act".