The Family Court has extensive jurisdiction over many domestic matters. It is designed to resolve disagreements arising from divorce and legal separation, 包括照顾儿童的规定.

在家事法庭为自己辩护

This brief guide gives you some very basic information to help you understand family court proceedings.  For more information, visit the Maricopa County 6686皇冠最新登陆 网站 或者咨询律师.

诉讼

诉讼 or hearings and conferences in Family Court follow the 亚利桑那州家庭法程序规则.

在离婚或亲子关系案件中, 你可能会被转介到早期决议会议, 中介, 育儿会议, or a Settlement Conference (sometimes called an Alternative Dispute Resolution or “ADR”).  These proceedings are designed to help people reach agreement on all or some of their disputes.  它们通常不是由你指定的法官完成的.

You may have to appear before your assigned judge for a pretrial hearing.  The most common pretrial hearings are a Resolution Management Conference, which helps the judge manage the case by setting deadlines and a trial date; and a Temporary Orders Hearing, at which the judge may make temporary orders to be followed until the trial.

If you do not settle all issues with 另一个人, there will be a trial.  A trial is the single hearing where the judge will hear evidence from both people and make final decisions on your disagreements.

披露与发现

Both parties have an obligation to voluntarily provide certain information. Failure to disclose as required might result in penalties called sanctions, including being prevented from talking about or showing evidence that was not disclosed on time.

如果你需要的信息还没有被提供, 你可以参与发现, such as asking for documents or requesting with a subpoena documents from people or businesses that are not parties. 

审判

A trial is when both parties present evidence on disputed issues. The judge will decide these issues based on the evidence given and talked about during the trial.  Only evidence you bring to or talk about at the trial will be considered.

审判结束后, the judge may give you a ruling right there in court or may take the case “under advisement,” which means that the judge will give you a written ruling at a later time.

The judge’s ruling may be a signed decree or judgment, which officially ends the case.  如果法官选择, the judge may decide contested issues and then require you, 另一个人, or both of you to submit a decree for the judge to sign based on what the judge decided.

庭审准备

在准备庭审时, it is very important that you read the judge’s minute entries carefully.  The minute entries tell you what the judge expects of you for the trial.  它可能包括: 

(1) Giving the judge and 另一个人 a pretrial statement that describes the issues in the case and lists your witnesses and exhibits; and 

(2) Uploading copies of your exhibits to the 6686皇冠最新登陆 Portal.

许多法官可能会在审判时要求你遵守时间限制.  It is your responsibility to make sure you give all your evidence in the time allowed.

审判期间发生了什么?

(1) The Judge will ask both parties if they have any preliminary issues to address such, and will give procedural instruction regarding how the hearing will be conducted.

(2) Both parties will have the opportunity to present an opening statement.  该声明将总结各方的立场.

(三)证据的出示.  Evidence is generally of two kinds: Testimony and Exhibits.

When you call a witness to testify, you must ask the witness questions.  证人只能回答被询问的问题.  When the person who called a witness is done with questioning, 另一个人 may cross-examine the witness by asking additional questions.

You and 另一个人 may testify as a witness on his or her own behalf.  However, while a witness is on the stand, you and 另一个人 may only ask questions. Arguing with a witness or commenting on the answers is not allowed.

在试验准备期间, 你把你的展品上传到CaseLines, 法院的6686皇冠最新登陆门户网站.  Only those exhibits will be presented during the trial unless you are given permission to present other newly discovered things.  审判期间, you will direct the Judge’s attention to the items you’ve uploaded into the digital evidence portal and ask that they be admitted into evidence, then Both parties will have the opportunity to present closing arguments. 最后, the Court will state its findings for the record and issue a ruling, or the matter might be taken under advisement for the judge to issue a written ruling within 60 days.

适当的法庭程序

虽然家庭案件往往是情绪化的, it is important that everyone act in a calm and respectful way in court.  以下是一些“注意事项”:

• 穿着要得体.  不要戴帽子、太阳镜，也不要穿破衣服.
• 要等轮到你再说话吗.  当别人说话时，不要打断或争论.
• 要尊重他人吗.  不要诅咒，做鬼脸，或从事侮辱行为.
• 在法官面前一定要诚实和坦率吗.  不要撒谎或试图隐瞒事情.
• Do make sure that friends and family who come with you sit quietly.  They are not allowed to speak unless called to the witness stand to testify.

公司

The eFileAZ application is available for electronic filing in Family Court cases. For information on the 公司 system and to register and train for its use, you can visit http://www.azcourts.gov/efilinginformation/eFileAZ