Yes, most of the abuse directed at children can be defined as domestic violence. Why does that matter? Because the new law, the Alec and Lydia Act, provides more safety for children by making a presumption that domestic violence is contrary to their best interests.
Most parents have never considered that child abuse could be considered domestic violence. Domestic violence is usually thought of as abuse against another parent. Those two descriptions do not carry the same consequences after June 22, 2026. This is not about vocabulary. It is about keeping your child safe from the abusive parent.
Prior to the Alec and Lydia Act, an allegation of child abuse was one of many best interests factors that the judge considered. A judge could hear the evidence, determine it to be credible and still enter orders giving the abusive parent equal time and shared legal decision-making. The court can no longer do that when you describe the abuse as domestic violence.
Why Call Child Abuse Domestic Violence?
As trial attorneys, we have always had the challenge to explain to a court that domestic violence created safety issues for the child. It was a difficult challenge. We retained a domestic violence expert. We argued from trauma literature. We were constantly challenged with connecting the dots of domestic violence to child abuse and child safety. And now, significantly, the Alec and Lydia Act connects those dots for you.
Domestic violence is contrary to a child’s best interests
First, the Alec and Lydia Act requires the court to consider domestic violence as contrary to the best interests of the child.
A child does not have to witness the violence
Second, the Alec and Lydia Act expressly rejects the notion that the child must know about the violence or have witnessed the violence to be at risk.
Arizona prioritizes child safety over parental access
Third, it created the public policy of Arizona of child safety over parental access.
So the Alec and Lydia Act, read in totality, expressly and impliedly tells the court that domestic violence is harmful to children and puts them at risk. That is the entire purpose of the Alec and Lydia Act. Protect children so they are kept safe. After all, let us remember that the new law is named after Alec and Lydia, who were murdered by their father. Their mother, Hope Hooten, turned her tragedy into purpose and, along with State Representative Lisa Fink and dozens of others, created this framework to mandate that the court use these safeguards to protect children.
The Child Is In the Definition of Domestic Violence
The Alec and Lydia Act defines domestic violence as conduct committed by one parent against the other parent, or against a minor child living in either parent’s household. The child is written into the definition itself.
A finding of domestic violence (by a preponderance of evidence, more likely than not) mandates the legal presumption that giving the abusive parent legal decision-making or parenting time is contrary to the child’s best interests. The safe parent is no longer required to prove the child is in danger. The safe parent is no longer tasked with connecting the dots so to speak. The abusive parent has to rebut the presumption and that is no easy task under the new law.
What Are the Safeguards in the Alec and Lydia Act for Children?
Legal decision-making may be denied
First, the Alec and Lydia Act requires the court to deny legal decision making if the abusive parent cannot rebut the presumption.
The court may impose parenting-time safeguards
Second, it requires the court to impose safeguards on parenting time if the presumption cannot be rebutted. Those safeguards can include supervised parenting time at the abusive parent’s expense, exchanges in a protected location, elimination of overnight parenting time, suspension of access to the child until that parent petitions the court, completion of a domestic violence intervention program, abstaining from alcohol and drugs, and a bond for the child’s safe return.
A class certificate alone does not rebut the presumption
Rebutting the presumption is not a formality either. A certificate showing completion of a class does not accomplish it. That parent has to release the treatment records, show the program actually addressed the abuse, demonstrate they understand the harm they caused, and prove they have stopped minimizing it. And the child cannot be ordered into counseling, therapy, or a forensic assessment with the parent who committed the abuse.
The Alec and Lydia Act was expressly written to protect children from domestic violence abusers. There are specific protections for children for the first time in Arizona legislative history. Learn how to put your story together. Make the dots. The Alec and Lydia Act will connect them for you. And the court is required to listen.
