A default divorce in Arizona lets you end your marriage when your spouse refuses to respond or cannot be found. You file the petition, serve your spouse, wait out two separate clocks, and then ask a judge to sign a decree based on the terms you proposed. If the judge signs it, your spouse is bound by every term, even though they never participated.
The process is procedural, not adversarial, but the procedure is unforgiving. Miss a deadline, skip a required affidavit, or forget to list an asset in your petition, and you can end up with a decree that resolves less than you thought or gets set aside months later.
The Two Clocks That Control Timing
Two separate waiting periods run at the same time, and both must expire before you can ask for a default decree.
The first is your spouse’s deadline to file an answer. A respondent served inside Arizona has 20 days to respond; a respondent served outside Arizona has 30 days.1Arizona Judicial Branch. Case Processing Standards Analysis Family Law – Dissolution The clock starts when service is complete, and the exact count can shift depending on whether service was by process server, sheriff, acceptance of service, or signature confirmation.2Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Default Decree of Dissolution of Marriage in Arizona
The second is Arizona’s mandatory 60-day waiting period. The court cannot hold a hearing or accept a motion for a default decree until at least 60 days after service of process is complete.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-329 – Waiting Period This cooling-off period runs regardless of how quickly the response deadline passes. In almost every default case, 60 days from service is the longer wait, and that is the date you need to mark.
Filing the Application for Entry of Default
Once both clocks have expired, you file an Application and Affidavit for Entry of Default with the Superior Court. The current filing fee for the initial petition is $261.4Arizona Judicial Branch. Superior Court Filing Fees The application is a sworn statement confirming the date service was completed, that the response period has expired, and that your spouse never answered or appeared.
You then mail a date-stamped copy of the application to your spouse’s last known address. Hand delivery is not permitted. The default becomes effective ten business days after filing, excluding weekends and holidays. If your spouse files an answer or otherwise defends during that ten-day window, the default does not take effect and the case switches to a contested track.5Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Application and Affidavit for Entry of Default
The Military Status Affidavit
Before any U.S. court enters a default judgment, federal law requires an affidavit about the respondent’s military status. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, you must state whether your spouse is in military service, or say under oath that you cannot determine their status. If the court cannot determine the respondent’s status from your affidavit, it may require you to post a bond before entering the decree.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
If your spouse is on active duty, the court must appoint an attorney to represent them and cannot enter a default judgment until that happens. The court must also grant a stay of at least 90 days if military duties prevent the servicemember from appearing and a defense to the case may exist.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments An active-duty respondent who wants the case to move forward anyway can sign a notarized SCRA waiver voluntarily giving up the right to a stay.7Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Instructions and Procedures for a Default Decree by Motion Without a Hearing
Getting the Decree Signed: Motion or Hearing
Arizona offers two paths to a signed default decree, and which one you use depends on how you served your spouse and what you are asking the court to order.
Default Decree by Motion, With No Hearing
You can get the decree entirely on paper if three things are true: service was completed by a method other than publication, your spouse never responded or appeared, and the terms in your proposed decree match what you asked for in the original petition. You submit a Motion and Affidavit for Default Decree Without a Hearing along with the proposed decree and supporting documents. A judge reviews the file and either signs the decree or returns your paperwork with notes on what needs fixing.7Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Instructions and Procedures for a Default Decree by Motion Without a Hearing
Default Hearing (Prove-Up)
A hearing is required when service was by publication, when your spouse is incapacitated, or when your proposed decree asks for something different from what the original petition requested. At the hearing you testify under oath to establish that you or your spouse have been domiciled in Arizona for at least 90 days before the petition was filed8Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-312 – Dissolution of Marriage Findings Necessary and that the marriage is irretrievably broken. You also need supporting documentation for every order you are requesting.
If children are involved, bring a completed parenting plan, a child support worksheet with wage information for both parents, and documentation of childcare costs and medical insurance premiums.9Mohave County Superior Court. Instructions for Attending Your Default Hearing For spousal maintenance, bring current employer information. The judge will ask you to describe the community property and debts and explain how your proposed decree divides them.
Ask For It in the Petition or Lose It
Under either path, the judge will not grant anything beyond what the original petition specifically requested. A judge cannot award you something your spouse was never put on notice about, and generic catch-all language does not count. If you forgot to ask for a specific asset, a specific support amount, or a specific parenting arrangement in the petition, the default decree cannot include it.
The consequence for property is particularly expensive. Any community property, joint tenancy, or other shared property that the decree does not address automatically converts to a tenancy in common on the date the decree is entered, with each spouse holding an undivided one-half interest.10Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-318 – Disposition of Property The asset does not disappear, but neither of you owns it outright, and dividing it later requires a separate court action. Bank accounts, retirement plans, and real estate are the common casualties.
When You Cannot Find Your Spouse
If your spouse cannot be located despite genuine effort, Arizona allows service by publication as a last resort. Under Rules 41 and 42 of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, the summons must be published in a newspaper at least once a week for four consecutive weeks. For service inside Arizona, publication must run in the county where the case is filed and in the county of the respondent’s last known residence if different. Service is complete 30 days after the first publication.11Arizona Judicial Branch. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure
Courts do not approve publication casually. You have to show you made a diligent effort to locate your spouse through other means. If an address is known, you must also mail the summons and petition there on or before the date of first publication.11Arizona Judicial Branch. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure
There is one serious limit. For out-of-state publication, the rules state that service by publication does not give the court jurisdiction over child support, spousal maintenance, property division, or any other issue requiring personal jurisdiction over the absent spouse.11Arizona Judicial Branch. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure The court can end the marriage, but cannot divide property or order support unless it has personal jurisdiction over your spouse. Many publication cases produce a decree that legally dissolves the marriage and resolves very little else.
If You Were the One Defaulted
A respondent who missed the deadline is not permanently out of options. Rule 85 of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure allows a party to ask the court to set aside a judgment on several grounds:
- Mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, such as never actually receiving the papers, hospitalization, or circumstances that reasonably prevented a timely answer.
- Newly discovered evidence that could not have been found earlier through reasonable effort.
- Fraud or misrepresentation by the petitioner, including hidden assets.
- The judgment is void because the court lacked jurisdiction, for example when service was never properly completed.
- The judgment has been satisfied, released, or reversed.
- Any other reason justifying relief, interpreted narrowly by the courts.
Motions based on mistake, neglect, newly discovered evidence, or fraud must be filed within six months of the decree’s entry, and that deadline cannot be extended by agreement or court order.12New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 85 – Relief from Judgment Motions arguing the judgment is void have no fixed deadline but must still be filed within a reasonable time, and courts look skeptically at long delays.
The most successful motions involve defective service: a wrong address, failure to follow the service rules, or misrepresentation to the court about where the respondent could be found. The hardest motion to win is one that essentially says the respondent received the papers and chose not to respond. Courts distinguish sharply between someone who never got notice and someone who ignored it.