How is child custody decided in a divorce?

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In Arizona, what many people call "child custody" is decided as "legal decision-making" and "parenting time," and the court must determine both according to the best interests of the child .

The best-interests standard. The court must consider all factors relevant to the child's physical and emotional well-being, including: the past, present, and potential future relationship between each parent and the child; the child's interaction with parents, siblings, and others who significantly affect the child's best interest; the child's adjustment to home, school, and community; the child's own wishes if the child is of suitable age and maturity; the mental and physical health of everyone involved; which parent is more likely to allow frequent, meaningful, and continuing contact with the other parent; whether a parent intentionally misled the court; whether there has been domestic violence or child abuse; coercion or duress in obtaining an agreement; compliance with certain statutory requirements; and any conviction for false reporting of child abuse or neglect . In a contested case, the court must make specific findings on the record about all relevant factors and why its decision serves the child's best interests .

Sole vs. joint decision-making. The court may award sole or joint legal decision-making . In choosing between them, the court considers the best-interests factors plus the parents' agreement or lack of agreement on joint decision-making, whether a refusal to agree is unreasonable, the parents' ability to cooperate, and whether a joint arrangement is logistically possible . A parent not granted decision-making authority is still entitled to reasonable parenting time unless the court finds after a hearing that it would endanger the child's physical, mental, moral, or emotional health .

Parenting plans. If the parents cannot agree, each must submit a proposed parenting plan, and the court must adopt a plan providing for shared legal decision-making and maximizing each parent's parenting time, consistent with the child's best interests, without any gender preference . The plan must cover the decision-making designation, each parent's rights and responsibilities, a parenting time schedule, exchange procedures, dispute resolution, periodic review, parent communication, and acknowledgment of statutory notification requirements . Shared legal decision-making does not necessarily mean equal parenting time .

Domestic violence. Joint legal decision-making may not be awarded if the court finds significant domestic violence or a significant history of it . A parent found to have committed domestic violence against the other parent faces a rebuttable presumption that awarding them decision-making is contrary to the child's best interests, and if they receive parenting time, the court must impose protective conditions, which can include supervised exchanges or parenting time, counseling, no overnight visits, and confidentiality of addresses .

Related matters. The court must also set child support with any parenting time order, and joint decision-making or substantially equal parenting time does not reduce either parent's support obligation . If custody is contested, the court generally decides other issues (like support and maintenance) first upon a party's written request, unless the parties stipulate to hear custody first .

Note that the sources provided do not address every aspect of a custody case (for example, modification standards or relocation procedures are only referenced in passing), so for advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed Arizona family law attorney.