Pima County Divorce Process: Filing, Waiting Period, and Decree

The Pima County divorce process starts with a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage filed in Superior Court, requires at least one spouse to have lived in Arizona for 90 continuous days, and cannot be finalized by any judge until 60 days have passed from the date your spouse is served.¹² Arizona is a no-fault state, so the only legal ground you have to state is that the marriage is irretrievably broken. The rest of the case is the court sorting out property, debts, support, and parenting.

Who Can File in Pima County

At least one spouse must have been domiciled in Arizona, or stationed here on active military duty, for 90 continuous days before filing. If neither of you meets that threshold, the court will dismiss the case. Where you got married does not matter.¹

Custody is governed by a separate rule. For Arizona to make an initial custody or parenting-time order, the state must be the child’s “home state” under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, meaning the child lived here with a parent for at least six consecutive months before you filed.³ Without home-state jurisdiction, the Pima County court can still dissolve the marriage but cannot enter binding custody orders.

What You File and What It Costs

The filing fee for a dissolution petition in Pima County is $261, which includes a $65 conciliation court surcharge.⁴ You can file electronically through the state’s e-filing portal or in person at the clerk’s office. If you receive federal Supplemental Security Income, a full fee waiver is generally available. TANF, food stamps, or legal aid representation usually qualify you for a deferral, and the court may set up a payment plan when your household income falls between 150% and 225% of the federal poverty level.⁵

Your initial packet includes:

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, laying out what you want the court to decide on property, debts, support, and children.
Summons, which is formal notice to your spouse that a case has been opened.
Sensitive Data Sheet containing social security numbers and other identifiers the court keeps under seal.
Notice of Right to Convert Health Insurance.
If you have minor children: a proposed Parenting Plan and an Affidavit of Minor Children.

The petition itself needs to list every piece of separate and community property (real estate, bank and retirement accounts, vehicles) and every debt (mortgage, auto loans, credit cards). If you plan to ask for spousal maintenance, address income history, earning capacity, and the length of the marriage up front. Gathering these numbers before you file prevents delays later.

Filing triggers an automatic preliminary injunction. It applies to the petitioner the moment the petition is filed and to the respondent the moment they are served, and it stays in force for the whole case. Neither spouse may transfer, hide, or waste marital assets outside normal daily spending. Neither parent may take the children out of Arizona without the other spouse’s written consent or a court order. Neither side may cancel or change existing insurance coverage.⁶ You do not have to ask for this order; it attaches automatically.

Serving Your Spouse

After filing, your spouse has to be formally notified. Most people hire a private process server or the sheriff to hand-deliver the documents, which costs roughly $50 to $150. If your spouse is cooperative, the cheaper route is an Acceptance of Service form signed in front of a notary. Either way, proof of service must be filed with the clerk before the case moves forward.

Once served, the respondent has 20 days to file a response if they are in Arizona, or 30 days if served out of state.⁷ Missing that deadline lets the petitioner seek a default judgment.

The 60-Day Wait and Financial Disclosure

Arizona imposes a mandatory 60-day cooling-off period that starts on the date the respondent is served or accepts service, whichever comes first. No judge can sign a decree before those 60 days expire, even in a fully agreed case.² This is a floor, not a target. Contested cases routinely run longer.

The 60 days are not idle time. Within 40 days after the first responsive pleading is filed, both spouses must exchange detailed financial information under Arizona Rule of Family Law Procedure 49. It happens automatically; neither side has to request it.⁸ You must produce:

A sworn Affidavit of Financial Information covering income, expenses, assets, and debts, with tax returns, W-2s, and 1099s attached.
Documentation for every piece of real estate, bank account, retirement account, vehicle, and debt.
In cases with custody or parenting time at issue, records of protective orders, mental health or substance abuse treatment, criminal history, and any Department of Child Safety investigations within the past ten years.
Names and expected testimony of any witnesses, including experts. Witnesses not disclosed at least 60 days before trial generally cannot testify.

Disclosure is a continuing duty. New information discovered after the initial exchange must be supplemented within 30 days.⁸ Hiding assets or income is where cases go badly; the court can sanction a spouse who conceals and tilt the property split against them.

Temporary Orders While the Case Is Pending

Divorces take time, and bills, parenting, and housing cannot wait for the decree. Either spouse can file a verified motion asking the court for temporary orders on child support, spousal maintenance, parenting time, or exclusive use of the house or a vehicle.⁹

The court usually schedules a resolution management conference within 30 days to see if the parties can agree. If they cannot, an evidentiary hearing follows. For custody and parenting-time disputes, that hearing must happen within 60 days of the motion filing unless both sides waive the deadline. The parties must meet and confer at least three days before the hearing and exchange proposed exhibits and witness lists.⁹

How Property, Debts, and Support Get Decided

Arizona is a community property state. Property and debts acquired by either spouse during the marriage belong to both equally. The exceptions are gifts, inheritances, and anything acquired after the dissolution petition is served, all of which stay separate.¹⁰ The judge assigns separate property to the owning spouse, then divides community property and joint debts equitably. That does not have to mean an exact 50/50 split.¹¹

The court can account for debts tied to specific property, taxes that would come due on a sale, and evidence that one spouse hid, destroyed, or wasted assets. Marital misconduct does not affect the division unless it produced a criminal conviction where the other spouse or a child was the victim.¹¹ Retirement accounts earned during the marriage are community property, but dividing a 401(k) or pension generally takes a Qualified Domestic Relations Order on top of the decree; without one, the plan administrator will not transfer funds. Social Security benefits cannot be divided in a divorce.

Spousal maintenance is not automatic. The requesting spouse has to meet one of the statutory thresholds: lacking property to cover reasonable needs, being unable to become self-supporting, having contributed to the other spouse’s education, or being in a long marriage at an age that makes adequate employment unlikely. If the threshold is met, the court weighs the marital standard of living, each spouse’s age and health, length of the marriage, earning ability, sacrificed career opportunities, and the cost of replacement health insurance.

For any divorce finalized after December 31, 2018, spousal maintenance is neither deductible by the payer nor taxable to the recipient.¹² That rule, from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, still applies in 2026, and it changes negotiation math: a dollar paid is a dollar received, with no federal tax offset on either side.¹³

Extra Steps When Children Are Involved

If you have minor children with your spouse, two requirements stack on top of the standard process in Pima County.

Parent Education

Both parents must complete a court-approved parent education course on the impact of divorce on children before participating in mediation.¹⁴ The course is offered online in self-paced and live virtual formats and typically costs around $50. If you qualify for a court fee waiver or deferral, the course cost can often be covered too.

Mediation

When custody or parenting time is in dispute, Pima County requires the parties to attend mediation through the Family and Conciliation Court Center before a contested hearing. The assigned mediator screens each parent separately beforehand to assess domestic violence, power imbalances, and whether mediation is appropriate. If domestic violence is identified, the court can arrange separate waiting rooms or separate sessions.¹⁵ A party can ask the assigned judge to waive mediation, but waivers are not guaranteed.

How the Case Ends

Every Pima County divorce finishes in one of three ways.

Consent Decree

When both spouses agree on every issue, they submit a consent decree for the judge’s signature after the 60-day waiting period expires. This is the fastest and cheapest outcome. The judge confirms the agreement is fair and that any child-related provisions serve the children’s best interests, then signs.¹⁶

Default Judgment

If your spouse was properly served and never files a response within the 20 or 30 days allowed, you can move for a default decree. The motion needs affidavits confirming jurisdiction and supporting the specific relief you want. A default decree cannot grant anything beyond what the petition originally asked for, and if the respondent was served only by publication, the court cannot enter the decree without a hearing.¹⁷

Contested Trial

When the parties cannot resolve one or more issues through negotiation or mediation, the case goes to trial. A judge hears evidence and testimony and then rules on property division, support, custody, and anything else still open. Contested trials cost significantly more and take considerably longer than the other two routes. The case ends when the judge signs the Decree of Dissolution.

A Note on Covenant Marriages

Arizona is one of the few states that recognizes covenant marriages, and the no-fault “irretrievably broken” ground is not available if you entered one. To dissolve a covenant marriage, the petitioner must prove a specific ground: adultery, a felony conviction carrying death or imprisonment, abandonment for at least one year, physical or sexual abuse or domestic violence against the spouse, a child, or a household member, living apart continuously for at least two years, living apart for at least one year after a decree of legal separation, habitual drug or alcohol abuse, or mutual agreement that the marriage is irretrievably broken.¹⁸ Each ground requires actual proof. Beyond those additional requirements, the Pima County filing process looks the same.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-312 – Dissolution of Marriage; Findings Necessary
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-329 – Waiting Period
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-1031 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction
4
Arizona Judicial Branch. Superior Court Filing Fees
5
Arizona Judicial Branch. Fee Waivers and Deferrals
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-315 – Preliminary Injunction; Effect
7
AZ Court Help. I Just Got Served with Divorce Papers. What Do I Do?
8
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Rule 49 – Disclosure
9
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Rule 47 – Motions for Temporary Orders
10
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-211 – Community Property
11
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-318 – Disposition of Property
12
IRS. Divorce or Separation May Have an Effect on Taxes
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 61 – Gross Income Defined
14
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Rule 3.9 – Parent Education Course
15
Arizona Superior Court in Pima County. Mediation
16
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Rule 45 – Consent Decree, Judgment, or Order
17
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Rule 44.1 – Default Decree or Judgment by Motion and Without a Hearing
18
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-903 – Dissolution of a Covenant Marriage; Grounds