What to Include in Your Marital Separation Agreement Arizona

Posted by mark taylor on May 16th, 2021

Marriage is a legal contract. If you consider separating from your spouse, it is important to have an attorney help draft your marital separation agreement in Arizona. A prenuptial agreement can also be helpful if you want to protect assets that you acquired before marriage or gifts given after marriage. These agreements should include provisions on how much spousal support will be paid and for how long, who gets custody of the children if there are any, what happens with joint property and liabilities, among other things.

Separation agreements in Arizona should include terms about whether alimony payments are required and when they end. It also has child custody arrangements, visitation rights for parents, family homeownership during separation negotiations (if applicable), division of assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate, payment of debt incurred during the marriage such as a mortgage or car loan. The agreement should also state what happens to marital property after death if one spouse dies before separation negotiations are complete.

What are the advantages of possessing a marital separation agreement?

• You have a legally binding contract that you can enforce in the court.
• Your rights will spell out clearly, and you know exactly what to expect from your spouse.
• Divorce is more uncomplicated because the marital agreement defines custody, property distribution and spousal support. There's less fighting over these issues.

What should I include in my marital separation agreement?

• The legal name of both spouses or domestic partner(s) - date of marriage
• Name, address and phone number for an employer (if employed) - monthly income as defined by IRS guidelines with source documentation such as W-IIR form, tax return forms etc., if available. If not self-employed, provide an estimate based on last year's earnings/profit and provide documentation to support
• Assets (include the marital home, other real estate and vehicles)
• Liabilities - outstanding loans with the balance owed. If there are children from this marriage, list all necessary expenses such as childcare if you have a child under age 18: daycare or after school care for older kids
• Retirement plans/pensions; company pensions may require written verification of retirement eligibility before releasing information that will expedite by transferring funds into an IRA account in your name.
• If the couple has any minor children, they should include their custody arrangement, including where each parent is living and what days etc. The agreement can also stipulate that one spouse will pay towards college tuition for these children during high school years.
• Division of property, and
• Any marital debts. The agreement should also include how to divide the debt between both parties.

The first thing you need to do before signing any document when going through a divorce in Arizona is working out your marital separation agreement with an attorney who specializes in this area of law to simplify the problems later down the road. Marital dissolution agreements are binding contracts that only can get changed in court.

Form.Legal provides an Arizona separation agreement form, which can be downloaded from the site or requested by email for free. We believe that you discover this article informative and that it helps in your quest to learn more about protecting yourself as a parent during a divorce. If there are any questions we may help answer, please do not hesitate to reach out!