What This Statute Says
Arizona's community property regime presumes that marital assets are shared equally. This section creates an exception when one spouse is convicted of a qualifying offense connected to the dissolution. The court cannot award community property to the convicted spouse and can adjust ongoing payments if the recipient is convicted.
A. In an action described in section 25-318, subsection A, the court shall not award any community property to a convicted spouse.
A.R.S. § 25-318.2When This Statute Comes Into Play
This provision applies when:
- One spouse is convicted of a qualifying offense before or during the dissolution proceeding.
- A divorce decree previously awarded installment payments to a spouse who is later convicted.
- An innocent spouse seeks to retain the full marital estate based on the other spouse's conduct.
What This Means for Arizona Families
When a marriage ends because of serious criminal conduct, the law tries to avoid rewarding the wrongdoer with a share of assets the couple built together. This section is one of Arizona's strongest tools for that purpose. The implications for estate planning are significant: beneficiary designations, joint property, and trust structures may all need to be revisited.
If you are pursuing or facing an Arizona dissolution where one spouse has been or may be convicted of a qualifying offense, this section can dramatically change the property division. Our FAQ on how divorce affects your Arizona estate plan covers the parallel estate planning concerns. An Arizona family law attorney working with an estate planning attorney can coordinate the dissolution outcome with updates to the will, the revocable living trust, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations. The innocent spouse who retains the full marital estate must still update their plan to reflect the new reality and to protect the assets going forward.