INTRODUCTION
Before the Alec and Lydia Act became law on June 22, 2026, the burden in a domestic violence case in Arizona family court fell heavily on the abused parent. They had to prove that the abusive parent was dangerous. They had to prove their children were at risk. They had to overcome a system that gave judges broad discretion to find domestic violence and still award the abusive parent equal time with the children and joint decision making.
The Alec and Lydia Act changed that. It created a mandatory presumption that an award of legal decision-making or parenting time to the parent who committed domestic violence is contrary to the child’s best interests. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(F). Once the court finds that domestic violence has occurred by a preponderance of the evidence, the burden shifts. The abusive parent now has to prove they are safe. The court has specific standards to hold them accountable and specific requirements that they must meet. This article explains what the court can require of the abusive parent, what the court analyzes when the abusive parent attempts to rebut the presumption and what evidence the abused parent can gather, and what the court must ignore entirely because it is irrelevant. Last, the court must write their findings in the minute entry which becomes your record if you need to file an appeal.
Section 1: What the Court Can Order the Abusive Parent to Do
When the court finds domestic violence and restricts the abusive parent's legal decision-making authority or parenting time, it has specific standards to hold that parent accountable going forward. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(H) gives the court the authority to order any of the following on the abusive parent.
The Intervention Program
The court can order the abusive parent to attend and complete an assessment or a program of intervention for perpetrators of domestic violence. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(H)(2)(f). This is not anger management. This is not a general therapy referral. It is a specific court-ordered program designed for people who have committed domestic violence.
The Alec and Lydia Act does not itself set the standards for a qualifying treatment program. It directs the court to consider the criteria in the Arizona Administrative Code that governs treatment for misdemeanor domestic violence offenders. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(G)(5). Two points matter. First, the court must consider those criteria, but the Act does not require the court to disqualify a program merely because it falls short of any particular program in the AAC. Second, the criteria are specific, and they come from the Administrative Code, A.A.C. R9-20-208, not from the Alec and Lydia Act. Under that Code, treatment must be conducted by a behavioral health professional who has at least six months of full-time experience with domestic violence or other criminal offenders, or who is supervised by someone with that experience. The required number of sessions depends on the offender’s history: at least 26 sessions for a first offense, 36 for a second offense, and 52 for a third or subsequent offense. Individual sessions must run at least 50 minutes and group sessions must be between 90 and 180 minutes long. The treatment must emphasize personal responsibility and identify domestic violence as a means of asserting power and control over another person, and it may not consist disproportionately of anger management, conflict resolution, couples counseling, or general education about domestic violence.
Measured against those criteria, a certificate from a generic anger management program should carry little weight, because the Code says treatment may not consist disproportionately of anger management. A handful of sessions with a general therapist falls short of the required number of sessions and provider qualifications. When the abusive parent claims they completed a program, you can demand documentation of the specific program, the provider’s credentials and experience with domestic violence offenders, the number and length of sessions completed, and the written report submitted to the court. Many programs that abusive parents present as compliance may not measure up to the Code. It is important that you gather this information or cross examine the abuser on these requirements upon cross examination in any hearing.
Additional Counseling
Separate from the intervention program, the court can order any other counseling it determines is appropriate. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(H)(2)(f). This is at the court's discretion and does not carry the same specific requirements as the intervention program. The court can tailor this counseling to the specific circumstances of your case. It is also something that you can urge the court to do and set forth the requirements that you believe will be helpful for them to rehabilitate. I always like the idea of giving the court solutions and this is one that you can request because you probably know the abuser the best.
One thing the statute makes absolutely clear: the court may not order the victim parent, or your child, to join the abusive parent in any inpatient or outpatient treatment program, counseling program, or forensic assessment, whether telephonic, virtual, or in person. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(I). No joint counseling. The law prohibits it. If anyone in your case suggests joint counseling with the person who abused you, that suggestion is contrary to the statute. This just makes sense. Often in the past, the courts confused the abused victim as being 50% at fault for the abuse. It is not a co-parenting conflict, it is a domestic violence abuser who keeps the co-parenting from working. It must be argued to the court that co-parenting with the abuser is against the Alec and Lydia Act.
Drug and Alcohol Testing
If the court finds that the abusive parent has also abused alcohol, other intoxicants, or controlled substances, the court may order that parent to abstain from possessing or consuming them. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(H)(2)(g). This is discretionary; the statute uses the word may. The abstinence order is not limited to parenting time, it applies generally. The statute authorizes the abstinence order itself, and random testing is the practical tool courts use to verify compliance. Clients often ask us how we make the argument about the other parent abusing drugs or alcohol. Sometimes you can ask for a drug or alcohol evaluation to be conducted by an outside agency. Oftentimes the abuser admits the drug or alcohol abuse because they do not see it as a problem. Other times, the abused parent can testify about incidents with alcohol that are hard to rebut: throwing chairs in the pool while drunk at a party, falling down and hurting themselves while intoxicated, calling you names while drunk in front of others…most abused victims have dozens of these stories and they are evidence of the abuse without the need for photos or police reports.
Testing can include urine screens for recent use, hair follicle testing which can detect drug use over a longer period of time, and ETG alcohol testing which can detect alcohol consumption within approximately the past 80 hours. Testing is typically conducted through a third-party monitoring service on a random basis. If the abusive parent refuses to submit to testing or misses a test date, that refusal can be treated as a positive result. If they test positive, that result works directly against any claim to rebut the presumption. A positive test can have immediate results of missing parenting time or changing to supervised parenting time. A learned judge will write such an order for what to do with a positive or missed test.
A Bond for the Child's Safe Return
The court can require the abusive parent to post a bond to secure the child's safe return from parenting time. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(H)(2)(h). This is a financial guarantee that the abusive parent will return the child as ordered. If the child is not returned, the bond is forfeited. This is particularly relevant when there is a history of threats to take the children or to flee with them, especially to another country.
Section 2: What the Court Analyzes When the Abusive Parent Claims They Have Rebutted the Presumption
When the abusive parent asks the court to lift restrictions on their legal decision-making authority or parenting time, they have to rebut the mandatory presumption. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(G) governs the rebuttal determination, and G(1) directs the court to review and apply the findings it made under subsection D. Those subsection D findings are what the court weighs. Here is what the court is required to consider:
How Severe and How Frequent Was the Violence?
The court must assess the severity and frequency of the domestic violence against any person. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(D). The statute specifically identifies factors that aggravate the severity of the violence: physical injury or emotional trauma, use or threatened use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, strangulation as defined in A.R.S. § 13-1204, and multiple forms of coercive control used together.
Strangulation is specifically mentioned because the research on lethality in domestic violence cases consistently identifies strangulation as one of the highest predictors of future serious harm or death. A parent who has strangled the other parent is in a different category and the statute recognizes that. If strangulation was part of your history, you need to know that you are at high risk. You must seek assistance immediately.
Did The Abusive Parent Deny, Minimize, or Deflect the Abusive Conduct?
The court must consider the extent to which the abusive parent denied, deflected, or minimized the domestic violence during treatment, forensic assessment, mandatory disclosure, formal discovery, or courtroom proceedings. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(D)(9).
This factor is important because it looks at how the abusive parent behaved across every context in the case, not just in court. Did they tell their treatment provider they had a communication problem rather than a domestic violence problem? Did they describe the abuse as mutual? Did they blame the victim in their discovery responses? Did they minimize what happened in their deposition? All of it counts. An abusive parent who minimizes the abuse is not an abuser who has been healed. And they will abuse again because nothing has changed in their mind.
Does the Passage of Time Mitigate the Abuse?
The court must consider whether the domestic violence was committed with sufficient severity or frequency that the passage of time alone is not a mitigating factor. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(D)(10).
The statute draws the line based on severity. For some isolated incidents, time may carry weight. For others, particularly those involving strangulation, serious physical injury, weapons, or prolonged coercive control the legislature has mandated that the courts cannot simply treat the passage of time as evidence of change. The severity of what happened is relevant to whether the passage of time helps rebut the presumption. Some actions are so severe that it can be argued that time does not diminish the violence.
4. Did They Complete a Qualifying Domestic Violence Treatment Program
The court must consider the abusive parent's attendance at a domestic violence treatment program. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(G)(4). But the statute is explicit: a certificate of completion alone is not proof of rehabilitation. This matches the program requirements that the court can order.
The certificate must be accompanied by all of the following:
- First, a waiver of the statutory privilege or other confidentiality necessary to release that person's treatment records to the court and to you.
- Second, proof that the treatment program was both relevant and proportionate to the act or acts of domestic violence for which the parent was adjudicated. In evaluating this, the court considers the criteria in the Arizona Administrative Code for the treatment of misdemeanor domestic violence offenders, A.A.C. R9-20-208.
- Third, a demonstrated understanding of how the parent's domestic violence harmed the child and the other parent.
- Fourth, proof that the treatment program addressed and helped reduce any tendency to minimize or rationalize the parent's domestic violence.
If any of those four requirements are not met, the certificate is not sufficient. You can challenge any one of these four requirements. The abused parent has the right to all of these records and the abusive parent must agree to provide them and sign a HIPAA release.
Section 3: What Evidence Must Be Disclosed and Can Be Admissible?
The Alec and Lydia Act opens significant doors for evidence gathering that did not exist before. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(C) specifies the types of evidence the court shall consider when determining whether domestic violence occurred.
1. Treatment and Counseling Records
Because the abusive parent must waive their statutory privilege and confidentiality as part of the treatment program certificate, you are entitled to their treatment records. This means the actual records from the program, not just the certificate. Those records will show what the provider observed, whether the abusive parent engaged honestly in treatment, whether they minimized or denied the abuse during sessions, and whether the provider believed rehabilitation had actually occurred. You will want the intake sheet, intake notes, all the session notes, any testing, any evaluations, any diagnosis, and attendance records.
The same principle applies to any additional counseling ordered by the court. If the abusive parent attempts to use counseling records as evidence of rehabilitation, they must allow full disclosure of those records to the court and to you. They cannot selectively present only the parts that help them. The best way to get the complete records is a HIPAA release signed by the abusive parent. You want to be cautious just getting records that go through the other side, you might be missing some important documents if you don’t request them yourself.
2. Drug and Alcohol Testing Records
All testing results ordered by the court are part of your evidentiary record. This includes any positive results, any refusals to test, any missed tests, and the full history of compliance or non-compliance with the testing protocol. A pattern of missed tests or refusals is itself evidence.
3. Evidence of Further Acts of Domestic Violence
The statute requires the court to consider other acts of domestic violence against any person that tend to prove the existence of coercive control, even if those other acts have been decided, predate the last decree, or could have been litigated at another time or place. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(C)(6) and (E). This means the history of what happened in your relationship — including everything that was never presented to any court is admissible. Every threatening text since the finding. Every violation of a court order. Every motion filed to harass and exhaust you. Document all of it. Draft your timeline.
Medical and Behavioral Health Records
The court shall consider the alleged victim's medical or behavioral health records if the victim decides to waive the associated privilege. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(C)(3). This is your choice. If your medical records or mental health records document the impact of the abuse you can choose to waive privilege and present them. If you seek treatment for injuries, document everything even if you do not initially disclose the cause. This is an important decision. Often, it is not a risk worth taking if the abuser will take advantage of this disclosure and cause more harm by doing something like sharing with friends and family. We try to get a strict non-disclosure that the records can only be used in this litigation. But you might not trust the abuser. One way to get around this is for your therapist to write a summary for you of whatever you ask them. For instance, you might ask for a summary of the distress you have suffered from the abuse or the stories you have told your therapist (telling someone of the abuse at the time it happened can bolster your testimony).
Your Testimony Alone Is Sufficient
The Alec and Lydia Act says explicitly that a domestic violence claim shall be established by a preponderance of the evidence and that corroboration from exhibits or witness testimony of another person is not required. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(C). Your testimony alone can establish domestic violence. Physical evidence strengthens your case but is not required. Any evidence of contemporaneous statements to others or your therapist is also evidence and strengthens your testimony. A well written narrative with your facts and dates can carry a lot of weight. Details will matter and they help the listener understand what happened to you.
Section 4: What Evidence the Court Must Ignore as Irrelevant
The Alec and Lydia Act specifically identifies three things the court shall disregard as irrelevant to the mandatory presumption. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(G)(3). These are not factors the court weighs against other evidence. They are irrelevant. Period.
- The child was not present when the domestic violence occurred.
- The child was unaware that domestic violence occurred.
- The child prefers to spend time with, maintain contact with, or increase contact with the abusive parent.
It has been a common misconception that children who didn’t witness the abuse or who were not the subject of the abuse were safe. That is just false and the legislature rejected that argument entirely.
The third is equally important. Abusive parents frequently work hard to be the fun parent with gifts, no rules, undermining the other parent's authority, and cultivating the child's affection performatively. A child's stated preference to be with the abusive parent is not evidence of safety. It is not evidence of rehabilitation by the abusive parent. The statute requires courts to ignore it entirely when analyzing the mandatory presumption.
Section 5: The Court’s Written Findings Are Your Legal Record
Under the Alec and Lydia Act the court must make specific written findings on the record before entering any order for legal decision-making or parenting time whenever domestic violence is alleged. A.R.S. § 25-403.03(B). This applies at temporary orders hearings and at final trial. (in the past, judges did not provide written findings in temporary orders hearings).
The written findings must include a thorough description of the evidence that justified or rejected a finding that domestic violence occurred, a thorough explanation of why the abusive parent did or did not rebut the mandatory presumption after considering each factor in the statute, and a thorough explanation of why the court's choice of precautions is in the child's best interests.
The legislature requires the courts to make thorough written findings. If the court simply states a conclusion without explaining its analysis, that is a basis to challenge the order on appeal. Those written findings are your legal record. They are what you argue if you must take your case to the Ct. of Appeals
What This Means for You
The Alec and Lydia Act gives courts mandatory requirements to hold abusive parents accountable. It also mandated what the court must do. Written findings have to be thorough and they cannot just be conclusions. The Alec and Lydia Act is a game changer. It is written to protect children and the abused parent. It is important to understand it and argue it when you are in court. There is hope and you are not alone.
Tali Best Collins handles every new client consultation personally at Best Law Firm. If domestic violence is part of your case, understanding what the abusive parent must prove, and what evidence you can gather to challenge it, can change everything for your children. Talk to Tali.
