With rising student loan debt and diminishing income and job opportunities for college graduates, many people with student loan debt are seeking discharge of their student loan debt. Discharging your student loan debt in bankruptcy is difficult, and I have heard many people, including attorneys, that you cannot discharge student loans in bankruptcy. However, an exception exists and the 9 Circuit Court of Appeals (Arizona is in the 9 Circuit) has issued a decision in recent years laying out what a debtor needs to do to discharge his or her student loans in bankruptcy. I have also heard from various sources that debtors successfully discharge their student loans about 40% of the time when they try. This may not sound…

Most divorcing couples in Arizona only have a vague understanding about spousal maintenance (also known as alimony). Most people think that spousal maintenance means that the former husband must continue to support the former wife indefinitely. That is the result sometimes, but there are many different results and variations in a spousal maintenance case. The State of Arizona has enacted specific statutes to guide judges and divorcing couples regarding spousal maintenance. Arizona’s Spousal Maintenance Statutes The court must first determine whether a spouse seeking spousal maintenance is entitled to an award of spousal maintenance. In making this determination, the court will examine whether the spouse seeking spousal maintenance meets the following factors: 1. Lacks sufficient property, including property apportioned to…

What happens to jointly-held property, specifically real estate, when a married couple divorces in Arizona? It depends on what the divorce decree says, but first, let’s look at different ways couples hold joint property. They can hold property in joint tenancy, which means that each spouse holds an undivided one-half interest in the property and that, if one spouse dies, the other spouse owns the property: the deceased spouse cannot leave the property to someone else in a will. A married couple can also hold property as community property, which means that the marital community owns the property and if one spouse dies, the other spouse owns the property, like in a joint tenancy. Finally, a married couple can own…

What is the difference between guardianship and adoption? There are two key differences that have far-reaching consequences. First, adoption is permanent and guardianship is not quite permanent (even when called "permanent"). Second, in an adoption the birth parents become legal strangers to the child while the adoptive parents become the legal parents as if they had given birth to the child. In a guardianship, the birth parents still have parental rights and the guardian or guardians are not considered the child’s parents. Legal Status and Decision Making In an adoption, the birth parents have no rights or responsibilities. The adoptive parents have all rights and responsibilities that once belonged to the birth parents. For example, if the adoptive parents divorce,…