When people hear “domestic violence,” they usually picture a punch or a shove. But a lot of abuse leaves no marks. It looks like threats, rules about money, and a partner who decides who you get to see. Until this year, Arizona family courts had no clear place for that in custody cases.
Arizona HB 2995 changed that. It is called the Alec and Lydia Act, after two young children who were killed by their father in 2024 during a court-ordered visit. Governor Katie Hobbs signed it on June 22, 2026, and it took effect right away. This post explains what the law means by coercive control and how it can play out in a custody case. It is general information, not legal advice.
What Is Arizona HB 2995?
HB 2995 rewrites A.R.S. § 25-403.03, the statute judges use when domestic violence comes up in a family case. It applies when a court decides legal decision-making and parenting time. In Arizona, those terms replaced the old word “custody.” Legal decision-making is who makes the big choices, like school and health care. Parenting time is the schedule. Together they make up what most people still call child custody.
The law says domestic violence is against a child’s best interests. Judges must put the safety of the child and the victim first. If a judge finds that a parent committed domestic violence, a mandatory presumption applies. It says giving that parent decision-making or parenting time is not in the child’s best interests. The parent can try to overcome it, but the work falls on them. And coercive control now counts as domestic violence, so a judge can make that finding without any physical violence.
What Does Coercive Control Mean Under the Law?
The statute defines coercive control as a pattern of violent, threatening, coercive, or emotionally abusive conduct by one parent against the other. It happens without consent and without a good reason. The word “pattern” matters. One bad argument is unlikely to meet the test. The law does not say how many acts make a pattern, so judges will sort that out case by case.
Domestic violence in this statute now has two parts. It covers acts that are crimes under Arizona’s criminal domestic violence law, A.R.S. § 13-3601. It also covers coercive control. Both count when one parent does them to the other parent, or to a child living in either parent’s home. One thing to keep straight: this change sits in the custody statute. It does not create a new crime.
The 15 Behaviors the Law Lists
The statute names 15 kinds of conduct that can make up coercive control. In plain words:
- Sexual or other physical assault
- Threats to kill or hurt someone, including oneself or a pet
- Showing or handling a weapon in a way that suggests it may be used
- Locking someone in or blocking their movement or normal activities
- Cutting a person off from friends and family
- Watching or controlling money, resources, or access to services
- Stalking or harassment
- Words or actions meant to demean or humiliate
- Threatening to publish private or sexual information
- Threatening to report the other parent to the police
- Using or threatening court cases to force the other parent to fight a false or frivolous claim
- Damaging the other parent’s property or a relative’s
- Putting the other parent’s or a relative’s immigration status at risk
- Forcing the other parent to commit a crime against their wishes
- Using tracking or surveillance tools to support any of the above
Many of these involve no physical contact. That is the point of the list.
Key Rules at a Glance
| Issue | What HB 2995 says |
|---|---|
| Standard of proof | More likely than not (preponderance of the evidence) |
| Corroboration | Exhibits or another person's testimony are not required |
| Mutual violence | Called "mutual" only if both parents lacked justification and caused similar injury |
| Child's wishes | A child's preference for contact is ignored when applying the presumption |
| Joint counseling | A court cannot order a victim into a program or assessment with the abuser |
Overcoming the Presumption
A parent found to have committed domestic violence is not shut out forever. But the judge must weigh several things before letting the presumption go.
- How severe and how frequent the violence was, against anyone
- Whether there was a weapon, strangulation, injury, or several forms of coercive control
- Whether the parent denied or played down what happened
- Whether the child has copied any of the behavior
- Treatment attendance, where a certificate alone is not enough
The proof standard depends on what the parent wants. For decision-making or unsupervised parenting time, the parent needs clear and convincing evidence. That is a high bar. For supervised time, the bar is lower. If the parent fails, the presumption carries over to any later request to modify custody.
Safety Steps Judges Can Order
The court must also set up protections for the child and the other parent. The options include:
- Exchanges at a safe, protected location
- Limits on parenting time, including no overnights
- Supervised visits paid for by the parent who committed the violence, with someone other than the victim as supervisor
- A domestic violence program or assessment
- A bond to help make sure the child comes back
When Court Cases Become Control
One item on the list surprises many people. Court cases themselves can be a tool of control. Threatening or starting civil cases can count, including family court and order of protection cases. But only when the goal is to force the other parent to fight a false or frivolous claim, or to limit their lawful activity.
This does not stop anyone from going to court. A real request about parenting time is fine. The hard part is telling an honest filing from one meant to wear someone down. Judges will make that call, and nobody knows yet exactly how they will draw the line.
What Coercive Control Is Not
The law has two limits. Self-defense and defense of another person are not domestic violence under this definition. And there has to be a pattern. A single heated moment is unlikely to count.
This also matters when both parents say the other was abusive. A judge cannot call it mutual unless both lacked justification and caused similar injury. Otherwise the presumption lands on the parent whose conduct and motivation were more serious. What looks like two people fighting may be one person controlling and the other trying to stay safe.
What Evidence Can Matter
Coercive control often leaves no bruises and no police report. The law lets a victim’s own testimony carry weight, since no outside corroboration is required. Still, records help. If you want more detail on proving domestic violence, that is a topic of its own. Courts must consider things like:
- Findings from other courts
- Police and child safety agency reports
- Medical records or shelter records, with the victim’s consent
- Other acts against anyone that point to coercive control, even old ones
- Witness testimony
Texts, bank records, and dated notes often fill in the story. If you are the parent being accused, know that something like tracking shared spending could be read as monitoring finances. Talk with a lawyer before a judge makes a finding, not after.
What This Means for Families Right Now
HB 2995 gives judges words for abuse that never leaves a bruise. It also puts a child’s safety ahead of the schedule. At the same time, the law is only a few months old. Terms like “pattern” and “frivolous” have not been tested much, and results may differ from one judge to the next.
If you lived this, start writing things down and talk to someone early. If you are the parent facing a claim, the advice is the same. Learn how the law fits your facts before the hearing. Have questions about your own case? The attorneys at Modern Law can go over your facts with you. You can reach the team at info@mymodernlaw.com.
