How shared parenting became law in Arizona

In January 2013 the US state of Arizona reformed its law and approach to sharing of parenting after divorce or separation: “consistent with the child’s best interests . . . the court shall adopt a parenting plan that maximizes [both parents’] respective parenting time”.

It did not impose equal time in all cases but created a new starting point for settling arrangements that encourage “as much shared parent-child time as possible for the positive development of the child.”

This was a radical change to previous practice and presumptions among judges, lawyers and professionals. How did such a transformation happen?

In the second of our interviews Professor William Fabricius of Arizona State University explains how the change was the culmination of years of awareness-raising and cooperation among all stakeholders with an interest in the best interests of the child, including domestic abuse campaigners.

Shared Parenting Scotland National Manager, Ian Maxwell, says, “The lesson Scotland should draw from the Arizona experience is the benefits that follow a move away from an adversarial system where parents win time with their children by undermining each other. The Arizona courts are now helping parents to devise strategies to support equal parenting rather than umpire as they damage each other. We believe it is a scandal that so much time and money are spent – and emotional distress caused – in our outdated Scottish approach to resolving issues about parenting when there are examples from around the world of how other jurisdictions do it better.”

For further details see this research paper.

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