Susan Pickard, Staff
(602) 542.3252
[email protected]
On behalf of
Greg Sakall, Chair
Family Court Improvement Committee
(520) 724-8301

This petition is respectfully filed to offer a resolution to comments received from the family law bench and bar about the applicability of Rule 2 of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure. Rule 2(a) provides that if timely invoked by a party, the Arizona Rules of Evidence apply at a hearing or trial. There is a debate about whether once invoked, the Rules of Evidence apply to all later proceedings, including subsequent post-decree proceedings, or whether the Rules of Evidence only apply to the present proceeding and have to be reinvoked in subsequent proceedings.

Filed: November 22, 2023

Would amend Rule 2(a) of the Rules of Family Law Procedure to provide that a notice requiring compliance with the Arizona Rules of Evidence applies only to the family law proceeding in which the notice was filed.

Comments must be submitted by no later than Wednesday, May 1, 2024, and any reply by a petitioner must be submitted no later than Monday, June 3, 2024.