The Pipeline: Your Case Was Filed Before June 22, 2026: What the Alec and Lydia Act Means for You Now

By Cynthia L. Best | Founder, Best Law Firm | Last reviewed: July 2026

That is the bill’s sponsor confirming legislative intent directly. We agree with her. The analysis that follows explains why we believe the law and the public policy of Arizona support that position.

We believe that when any parenting matter comes before a court after June 22, 2026, the Alec and Lydia Act is the law that governs that proceeding regardless of when your case was filed, regardless of what prior orders exist, regardless of what happened before the law changed. This article explains what we believe is available to families in your situation and what those options might look like for you.

Further, during a phone call with Representative Fink on July 15, she advised me:

The Arizona Judiciary Was Trained to Apply the Alec and Lydia Act Immediately. That Tells Us Something

Representative Fink advised me that Liana Garcia, the liaison between the Arizona judiciary and the legislature, requested that the Alec and Lydia Act’s signing be delayed to allow time for judicial training so it could be implemented immediately. The legislature honored that request, the training was held, and Governor Katie Hobbs signed the Act with an emergency clause making it effective immediately.

That sequence tells us something important. The Arizona judiciary knew this law was coming. Judges were trained about the Act before it took effect. The legislature and the judiciary worked together to ensure courts were ready to implement it from the moment it was signed. That is not the picture of a law intended only for future cases. That is the picture of a law the entire family law system prepared to apply immediately to any case that came before it after June 22, 2026.

Think about what that means. The courts did not treat this as a law for the future someday. They asked for time to get ready and then they got ready. Judges were trained to apply it before a single case was heard under it. A judiciary that prepares to apply a law immediately is a judiciary preparing to apply it to the cases already in front of it, cases in the pipeline.

Scenario #1 Your Case Has “Final” Orders

Your divorce or paternity case has final orders. The decree or paternity action was entered before June 22, 2026. The court may have found domestic violence. It may have acknowledged the evidence. And the final order still gave the abusive parent joint legal decision making and equal parenting time. That order was entered under a legal framework that no longer exists.

Under the Alec and Lydia Act as it reads today, that outcome would be extraordinarily different. The mandatory presumption would apply. The court would have to make written findings and determine whether the abusive parent rebutted the presumption. None of that existed when your order was entered.

The Alec and Lydia Act does not reach back and give you a “do over”. It is not retroactive. But a final order in a family law case with children is never truly “final.” Parenting orders in Arizona have always been modifiable. The question is how to get back before a court where the Alec and Lydia Act governs what happens next.

There are two possible vehicles, a contempt petition and petition for modification. They are different vehicles and they require different analysis. But once you get through the courtroom door, we believe that the law on the day of that hearing is the Alec and Lydia Act.

Vehicle #1: Petition for Contempt

A contempt petition is one vehicle that requires the court to take some kind of action. To file it, there must be some prior order that is not being followed by the other parent.

For instance, review your existing orders carefully. Does it require the abusive parent to complete a domestic violence treatment program? Has that program been completed? If it was not completed, that might be a very valid argument to bring a contempt petition. Is there a prior order require counseling? Was an alcohol or drug evaluation ordered? Restrictions on who may be present during parenting time? Rules about substance use? Any condition at all that the other parent has not followed? Is he violating parenting time orders?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, these violations may allow you to file a contempt petition. Contempt proceedings in family court are governed by A.R.S. § 25-414 and Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 91. To bring a contempt petition you file a verified petition with the court under the same case number as your original case.

The petition must be in writing, signed under oath, and must specifically identify the order that was violated, the date or dates of the violation, and what the other parent failed to do. You must serve the other party with the petition and a summons requiring them to appear. Service must be made personally, not by mail, because contempt proceedings carry potential consequences including fines and jail time. The court will then set a hearing.

At the hearing you must prove the violation by clear and convincing evidence. The burden then shifts to the other parent to show compliance or a legally sufficient reason for noncompliance. If contempt is found the court has broad remedies available including ordering immediate compliance, awarding attorney fees, and modifying the underlying order. That modification brought about through contempt is where the Alec and Lydia Act enters the courtroom.

That petition might get you back into court where you can then argue to the court to follow the Alec and Lydia Act. Once the contempt petition brings your case back before a court, that hearing takes place after June 22, 2026. The law that governs that hearing is the Alec and Lydia Act. And under A.R.S. § 25-403.03(E), evidence of domestic violence is admissible in that hearing regardless of when it occurred, regardless of whether it was previously presented to a court, and regardless of whether it was ever raised before.

Such as the strangulation that no one mentioned at the first hearing. The financial control that was never defined as domestic violence. The coercive control that went on for years before anyone called it that. The history of the relationship that no court has ever heard. All of it comes in through the contempt proceeding. And with that evidence before the court the mandatory presumption under A.R.S. § 25-403.03(F) applies. The written findings requirement applies. The court is ruling on a parenting matter today, under the law as it exists today.

Vehicle #2: Petition for Modification

A Petition for Modification can be filed to modify a parenting order in Arizona. You must allege a “substantial and continuing change of circumstances” that makes modification in the child’s best interests. A.R.S. § 25-411(A). That threshold must be met before the petition can be heard.

There are important timing rules that govern when you can file a petition for modification. Under A.R.S. § 25-411(A), you generally cannot file a petition to modify legal decision-making or parenting time within one year of the prior order being entered. If you attempt to modify before that one-year mark the court will likely dismiss the petition. There are exceptions. If the child's present environment may seriously endanger the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional health you may file before the one-year mark. A.R.S. § 25-411(A). Additionally, if there is evidence that domestic violence, spousal abuse or child abuse occurred since the entry of the joint legal decision-making order, you may petition the court for modification at any time there is no waiting period for domestic violence. A.R.S. § 25-411(L).

If the other parent is not complying with the existing order, you may file for modification of legal decision-making six months after the order was entered. A.R.S. § 25-411(L). The petition must be filed in the court that issued the original order. It must be a verified petition signed under oath setting forth detailed facts supporting the requested modification. The other parent must be served and given the opportunity to respond. The court will then determine whether adequate cause exists to set a hearing. If the petition does not establish adequate cause on its face the court may deny it without a hearing.

We do not believe that the Alec and Lydia Act alone (the fact that the law changed) is sufficient for a change of circumstances to meet that threshold without additional facts. These cases are very fact dependent. But in nearly every case involving domestic violence there are additional facts. Here is what experienced family law attorneys look for.

New domestic violence including coercive control since the previous “final” order.

This is the clearest and most powerful changed circumstance. New acts of domestic violence including coercive control after the final order was entered such as physical violence, financial control, threats, surveillance, and weaponizing the court system. They are new facts. They happened after the order. And under A.R.S. § 25-411(L), domestic violence allegations are a primary factor in any modification proceeding.

Using the court system as a weapon such as filing repeated motions, making false allegations, using litigation to control and exhaust the other parent can be considered a form of coercive control under the Act’s broad definition. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(L)(1). If the other parent has been doing this since the final order was entered, those filings are not just harassment. They are domestic violence. And they are changed circumstances.

Your child’s changed circumstances.

A parenting plan written when your child was a toddler describes a different family than the one that exists when your child is in school. Arizona courts have recognized that a parenting order represents a snapshot in time, a baseline from which future courts assess whether a material change has occurred. Pridgeon v. Superior Court,134 Ariz. 177, 179 (1982). A child’s changed developmental needs, school situation, activities, friendships, and medical requirements are all recognized changed circumstances in Arizona. A.R.S. § 25-403(A)(3) specifically identifies the child’s adjustment to home, school, and community as a factor courts must consider. A parenting arrangement that seemed manageable at one stage of your child’s life may not be adequate at another. Changed circumstances of your child’s life requires a showing that the child’s situation has materially changed in a way that makes the existing parenting arrangement contrary to the child’s best interests.

New Facts

A new partner in the home with a history of domestic violence or some other detrimental issue would be a change of circumstance. Other new facts would include a parent moved a long distance away, a DUI, an arrest, a drug abuse issue, or incident of child abuse.

Vehicle #3. Defending a Motion Filed by the Abusive Parent

This is sometimes the most practical path of all. The moment the other parent files any motion or petition that brings you back before a court, we believe that the Alec and Lydia Act applies to that proceeding immediately and completely. You do not need to show changed circumstances when responding to a filing. The mandatory presumption applies. The written findings requirement applies. The prior domestic violence, any new domestic violence and any domestic violence not in the record is before the court and the current law requires it to be addressed and consider the child’s best interests.

Scenario #2 Your Case Was Filed Before June 22, 2026 And You Had a Temporary Orders Hearing Prior to June 22, 2026

Your case is not over. Your judge did not apply the Alec and Lydia Act and analyze the domestic violence presumption because it was not the law. You are still in the middle of the legal proceedings and will have a final trial date. At that final trial we believe the court must apply the Alec and Lydia Act. But in the meantime, your children are not safe. Is there anything you can do now with this temporary order that did not protect your children? Waiting for a final trial seems too long to keep going while the abuser has access to the children. What can you do?

Vehicle #1 Petition for Contempt

This is similar to the case with “final” orders. One issue to consider is whether there are any orders that are not being currently followed. You might be able to get back into court by filing a petition for contempt. Once you are in court on a contempt petition, the court will be mandated to follow the Alec and Lydia Act and hear evidence of domestic violence. The court will have to make written findings. The outcome of such a hearing could drastically change what the parent abuser must do to have a chance of joint legal decision making and physical access to the children.

Before you wait for trial, look at the existing temporary order. Does it require the other parent to complete a domestic violence treatment program, attend counseling, submit to an evaluation, or follow any other condition? If any of those requirements have not been met, a contempt petition may be available right now. A contempt petition does not require showing a change of circumstances, it requires showing the existing order was not followed. Once a contempt hearing is before the court after June 22, 2026, the Alec and Lydia Act governs that proceeding and the full history of domestic violence in the relationship is admissible regardless of when it occurred. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(E).

Vehicle #2 Second Temporary Orders Hearing

A second temporary orders hearing might be available in a pending case before final trial. Temporary orders are not final orders. They are provisional arrangements meant to provide stability while the case works toward resolution. Because they are temporary, they can be modified or revisited before the final decree is entered. A.R.S. § 25-404. The vehicle is a motion for temporary orders under Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 47. The motion must be verified, signed under oath, and must set forth the specific relief you are requesting and the specific new facts that support the request. Filing a Rule 47 motion triggers the court to schedule a Resolution Management Conference, typically within 30 days. If the parties cannot resolve the temporary orders issues at that conference an evidentiary hearing must be set, generally within 60 days of the conference. Rule 47(c), Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure.

In a case where the original temporary orders were entered before June 22, 2026, the new facts supporting a second temporary orders motion might include the change in law itself but most likely something more is required. Whether a second temporary orders motion is the right move in your specific case depends on what the existing temporary order says, what the domestic violence finding was based on, what has happened since the hearing, how far away trial is, and what your children are experiencing right now. This is a case-by-case analysis that starts with a conversation.

Final Trial

If none of these options apply or will work with your facts, your case is still not over since you have a final trial coming up and everything is on the table. You are not restricted by the temporary orders. The case starts new at the final trial. The temporary orders do not carry over. You can bring into evidence all the domestic violence whenever it happened in your relationship. You can ask for medical and counseling records from the abusive parent. You need to invoke the Alec and Lydia Act in your pre-trial statement, know how to make your case, and know what you want to ask the court for to protect your children.

Scenario #3 You filed for divorce or paternity prior to June 22, 2026 and you may have filed for temporary orders or don’t know if you should file for temporary orders but the final hearing has not been held

If your case is filed and pending but no orders have been entered you should prepare your domestic violence case to be governed by the Alec and Lydia Act. Once you make allegations of domestic violence, both the court and the abusive parent have certain mandatory actions that they must take. So when the temporary orders are heard in your case they will be governed by the Alec and Lydia Act. There will be written findings by the court, presumptions made and safeguards added for parenting time restrictions. If you have not filed for temporary orders you might want to consider it.

The mandatory presumption applies from the first moment domestic violence is alleged in the court. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(F). The written findings requirement applies at every stage including temporary orders. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(B). The expanded definition of domestic violence including coercive control applies. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(L). The full history of domestic violence in your relationship, everything that happened before the case was filed. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(E).

If your children are at risk right now, before any orders have been entered, you can file for temporary orders. If the circumstances are an emergency, you can file for emergency temporary orders if there is an immediate safety concern. Either way, getting into court with a temporary orders petition might be advisable in a domestic violence case.

What This Means for Your Family

There are competing opinions about what should happen if your case was filed before June 22, 2026 so if you are wondering whether this law means anything for your children the answer is, it depends. It depends on how the court applies the law, where your case stands and what the facts are. If your case is still pending, we believe that the Alec and Lydia Act should govern your hearing. Every ruling from this point forward should be governed by current law. If your children are at risk under a temporary order right now, there may be a path to court before your final trial. That analysis starts with what your temporary order says and what has happened since it was entered.

If your case has final orders and your children are living under an arrangement that this law would never permit today you might need a vehicle to get back before a court. Look at your existing order. Look at what the other parent has and has not done since it was entered. Look at what has changed in your child’s life and in the other parent’s household. Look at whether the other parent has filed anything. A vehicle do get back to court might exist.

What is possible for your family cannot be answered in general. It requires knowing your story. Your court orders. Your history. What has happened since the decree or the temporary order was entered. What your children are experiencing right now. And we have no guarantee on what any particular judge will do with any particular set of facts.

Tali Best Collins handles every new client consultation personally. She has been practicing family law in Arizona for nineteen years. She understands what the Alec and Lydia Act means in a courtroom and how to find the path back into court if one exists. You do not need to have it figured out before you call. You need your story. That is where we start.