Rule 47.Motions for Temporary Orders

Rule 47 is the busiest rule in Part VI. It covers temporary orders for legal decision-making, parenting time, placement, visitation, child support, spousal maintenance, property, debt and attorney fees, sought after or at the same time as the initial petition.

A separate verified motion, with its papers

The motion must be separate and verified, and must state its legal and jurisdictional basis and the specific relief sought. What must accompany it depends on what is asked:

• Legal decision-making or parenting time: the court's authority under A.R.S. section 25-402, and a proposed parenting plan stating the arrangement for both parties.
• Child support: a completed Child Support Worksheet under the current Guidelines, plus an Affidavit of Financial Information (Form 2, Rule 97).
• Spousal maintenance: the specific duration and amounts requested, plus an Affidavit of Financial Information.
• Property, debt and attorney fees: the specific relief, the proposed division of property, each party's responsibility for debts and expenses, and the income and assets each would have if the motion were granted. A fee request must state a specific amount and include an Affidavit of Financial Information.

The resolution management conference comes first

On receiving the motion the court must schedule a resolution management conference -- not later than 30 days after filing. No evidence is taken there unless the parties agree, and the court may not resolve disputed issues of fact without their agreement. The purpose is agreement that lets temporary orders be entered at the end of the conference. If issues remain, the court must set an evidentiary hearing within 30 days of the conference. Where a conference would not serve efficiency, the court may go straight to an evidentiary hearing. Good cause extends these.

The 60-day guarantee

For a pre-decree motion requesting legal decision-making or parenting time, the court must hold an evidentiary hearing not later than 60 days after filing -- unless the moving party waives it, a temporary order is established at a conference or hearing inside those 60 days, or extraordinary circumstances prevent it and the court makes a finding on the record about the cause of the delay. Delay must be explained on the record, not simply absorbed by the calendar.

Service, response, and preparation

Service is under Rule 40(f)(1) or Rule 41, and must be completed within 5 days after receiving the issued order to appear and not later than 14 days before the date set. A served party is not required to respond -- but any response must be verified, a child support request draws a completed Worksheet, and copies of all filed documents go to the judicial officer and the moving party 3 days before.

At least 3 days before any conference or hearing the parties and counsel must meet and confer, and file a resolution statement where a conference is set. Where there is a current no-contact order or a history of domestic violence, the parties need not personally meet, confer or contact each other -- but represented parties' counsel must still take reasonable steps to resolve what they can.

Ruling, and how long orders last

The court must rule no later than 21 days after the hearing concludes. Temporary orders signed and filed are enforceable as final orders, but they terminate on dismissal or on entry of a final decree unless that decree provides otherwise. Orders of Protection and Injunctions Against Harassment are not subject to this rule. If a dismissed matter is reinstated, the reinstatement order must say whether the temporary orders return to force.