although divorce is usually sad, with mediation it isn’t financially and emotionally devastating.
Today same-sex married couples have the same legal rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples. This means that Arizona’s community property laws apply to same-sex divorce – for dividing property, allocating responsibility for debts, devising a parenting plan for minor children, and determining any spousal maintenance (“alimony”) support and/or child support amounts.
Once the decision to divorce has been made, same-sex couples must decide how to go about it. Do they hire separate lawyers? Can they afford the substantial fees charged by lawyers? Do they have the fortitude to battle things out for months if not years? Can they cope with the hostility and stress generated by adversarial court-based tactics and procedures? If there are any minor children, what way to divorce is in their best interest?