Divorce in Arizona: How It Works, Step by Step (2026 Guide)

Arizona calls divorce dissolution of marriage, and it is a no-fault state for almost everyone. One spouse must have lived in Arizona for 90 days before filing. After that, the only thing you must prove is that the marriage is irretrievably broken. The court can't grant the decree until 60 days after your spouse is served (or accepts service). Cases are heard in the superior court of the county where one of you lives.

The law is in Title 25 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. Procedure follows the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, not the general civil rules. Couples who chose a covenant marriage when they married play by stricter rules, explained below.

Arizona divorce at a glance

Who can file

Section 25-312 sets the residency rule. The court must find:

That one of the parties, at the time the action was commenced, was domiciled in this state or was stationed in this state while a member of the armed services and that in either case the domicile or military presence has been maintained for ninety days before filing the petition for dissolution of marriage.

Only one of you has to qualify, and the 90 days must be complete before you file. The court's self-help pages add a separate rule for children: to decide custody issues, a child usually must have lived in Arizona for six months. That comes from the child custody jurisdiction act, which makes Arizona the child's "home state" after six consecutive months here (§ 25-1002, § 25-1031).

You file in the superior court of the county where either spouse lives. A legal separation needs no 90-day period; if your spouse objects to a separation and one of you meets the 90 days, the court has the petition amended to ask for a divorce instead (§ 25-313).

The ground: irretrievable breakdown

You don't have to prove anyone did anything wrong. If you both say under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or one of you says so and the other doesn't deny it, the court makes the finding. If your spouse denies it, the judge holds a hearing on the prospect of reconciliation and can continue the case for up to 60 days, with a conciliation conference if either of you asks. The only defense to a petition is that the marriage isn't irretrievably broken (§ 25-314(C)).

Either spouse can also ask the conciliation court to try to save the marriage. Filing a petition for conciliation stops anyone from filing for divorce, and pauses a pending case, for 60 days (§ 25-381.18).

Covenant marriage

A covenant marriage is one the couple chose on the marriage license, after premarital counseling and a signed declaration (§ 25-901). For these couples, "irretrievably broken" isn't enough. Section 25-903 allows a divorce only on one of eight grounds: adultery; a felony with a sentence of death or imprisonment; abandonment of the home for at least a year; physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence or emotional abuse; living apart continuously for two years; living apart for a year after a decree of legal separation; habitual drug or alcohol abuse; or both spouses agreeing to the divorce.

The last ground matters most. If you both agree, a covenant marriage can end much like any other. The statewide self-help forms are written for non-covenant marriages, so ask your court's self-help center which forms to use.

Four ways an Arizona divorce ends

1. Summary consent decree. You settle everything before either of you files, then file one combined petition and response. No formal service. The court can sign the decree 60 days after filing (§ 25-314.01, ARFLP 45.1).
2. Consent decree. One of you files and serves the petition, and you then settle. You both sign the decree before a notary (or in front of the clerk) and lodge it. No hearing is needed (ARFLP 45).
3. Default decree. Your spouse is served and doesn't respond. You apply for default; it takes effect 10 days later unless your spouse responds. The court can then enter the decree on your motion and affidavit, often without a hearing (ARFLP 44, 44.1).
4. Trial. Whatever you can't settle, a judge decides at trial, after both of you have made the financial disclosures the rules require.

Every route shares the 60-day minimum in § 25-329. See uncontested divorce and how long it takes.

What happens to property, support and children

• Property. Arizona is a community property state. What either spouse earns or acquires during the marriage is community property, with exceptions for gifts and inheritances; the court divides it equitably and gives each spouse his or her separate property. See property division.
• Spousal maintenance. A spouse must first be eligible under one of five reasons in § 25-319(A). Then the Supreme Court's guidelines set an amount range and a duration range. See spousal maintenance.
• Child support. Set under the Arizona Child Support Guidelines, an income-shares formula, with the court's official calculator. See child support.
• Children. Arizona doesn't use the word custody. Courts decide legal decision-making and parenting time. See legal decision-making and parenting time.

The preliminary injunction

When a divorce is filed, the clerk issues a preliminary injunction that binds both spouses (§ 25-315). Until the case ends, neither of you may sell, hide or give away community property outside the usual course of business and the necessities of life; harass the other spouse or the children; take a child out of Arizona without written consent or a court order; or drop the other spouse or the children from insurance. It binds the petitioner when the petition is filed and the other spouse on service or actual notice, whichever comes first, and it lasts until the decree is filed or the case is dismissed.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• Spousal Maintenance Guidelines, 2025 edition. The Supreme Court's spousal maintenance page lists the 2025 guidelines as effective September 1, 2025, adopted by Administrative Order 2025-101.
• Neutral exchange locations. Laws 2025, chapter 82 (H.B. 2432) added § 25-403.10 and amended § 25-403.02 on safe places to exchange children under a parenting plan.
• Domestic violence and parenting. Laws 2026, chapter 263 (H.B. 2995), an emergency measure signed June 22, 2026, rewrote § 25-403.03 and amended §§ 25-404 and 25-411. A parent found to have committed domestic violence now faces a mandatory rebuttable presumption against legal decision-making and parenting time.
• Postnuptial agreements. Laws 2026, chapter 26 (H.B. 2861) added § 25-202.01 and amended §§ 25-201 and 25-203 to 25-205 on marital agreements, effective September 12, 2026, the general effective date for 2026 laws.
• Address confidentiality. Laws 2026, chapter 101 (H.B. 2594) and new Family Law Rule 7.1 protect participants in the Address Confidentiality Program in family cases.
• Rule changes. Amendments to Family Law Rules 47, 47.1, 47.2, 48 and 91.5 on temporary orders took effect September 12, 2026. From January 1, 2027, an order dated August 25, 2026 changes the summary consent rules and adds Rule 45.2, a summary consent process for unmarried parents.
• Child support. The court's review subcommittee released draft revised Child Support Guidelines for public comment from October 21 to November 21, 2026. They are proposals; the 2022 Guidelines still apply.

Where these sections live

• A.R.S. § 25-312 — Findings for a decree; residency
• A.R.S. § 25-314.01 — Summary consent decree
• A.R.S. § 25-329 — Waiting period
• A.R.S. § 25-903 — Covenant marriage grounds
• Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure
• Arizona Supreme Court: child support and family law