If domestic violence is part of your Aarizona custody case, the rules have changed. The Alec and Lydia Act, also known as HB 2995, changed how courts decide parenting time and legal decision-making when abuse is involved, by amending Arizona Revised Statutes §§ 25-403.03, 25-404, and 25-411. As of this writing, the Arizona Court of Appeals has not published a decision explaining it, and Superior Court judges are not all reading it the same way.
That means your result can depend on your judge and how that judge reads the new law. We have read the Alec and Lydia rulings we could find from Arizona Superior Courts.
Does the Alec and Lydia Act Apply to Cases Already Filed?
Because the bill carried an emergency clause, the law took effect June 22, 2026, the day the governor signed it. That raised an immediate question for family law attorneys: does it apply to cases already in progress?
At first, many attorneys assumed the filing date would be the dividing line. A case filed before June 22, 2026 would fall under the old law, and a case filed after would fall under the new one. Courts are moving away from that idea, and the bill’s sponsor has said the law applies to active cases no matter when they were filed.
More judges are looking at the date of the alleged conduct instead of the date the petition was filed. If the abuse happened before the law took effect, some judges apply the old legal standard to that conduct, even when the case is being decided today. No published appellate decision has settled this yet.
The date matters because it changes which evidence carries weight and what the judge believes they can consider. The law also reaches custody modification requests: a parent asking to change an existing order can now present domestic violence that happened before that order was entered.
Substantive vs. Procedural: Why Judges Disagree
The Alec and Lydia Act has parts that some judges call substantive. These parts create new rights or change the legal standard. Other parts are called procedural. These parts control how the court handles a case without changing the standard itself.
The difference matters because of a basic rule. Courts generally cannot apply substantive changes to conduct that happened before the law passed. They usually can apply procedural changes. So the label a judge picks decides whether a certain part of the law reaches your case.
Right now, judges do not agree on which parts belong in which group. Take the rebuttable presumption against parenting time for an abusive parent. One judge may call it substantive, which means it only applies to conduct after the law took effect. Another judge may read the same provision a different way.
Until the Arizona Court of Appeals rules, the same facts can lead to different results in different courtrooms.
Here is where courts stand on each issue:
| Issue | What courts are doing | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Which date controls | More judges look at the date of the alleged conduct, not the filing date | Unsettled, with no published appellate ruling |
| Written findings | Treated as procedural, so they apply to every case | Judges agree |
| Rebuttable presumption against an abusive parent | Some judges call it substantive and apply it only to later conduct. Others read it differently | Judges split |
The One Point Every Judge Agrees On: Written Findings
There is one area where Arizona Superior Court judges agree. Written findings are procedural, so they apply in every case. It does not matter when the conduct happened or when the petition was filed.
Under the Alec and Lydia Act, a judge who rules on parenting time or legal decision-making in a domestic violence case must put the reasons in writing. A written order creates a record that can be reviewed, challenged, and appealed. Before the law, courts did not always do this.
Say the judge issues a ruling, especially on temporary orders, and the order does not explain the reasons. That may give you grounds for a motion to reconsider or an appeal, so raise it with your attorney right away.
Written findings also make the judge’s thinking visible. If a judge applies the law wrong, the written order is how you prove it. Without one, you are arguing about what someone said in a hearing, and that is much harder to challenge.
Temporary Orders and the Presumption Against an Abusive Parent
One of the biggest changes in the Alec and Lydia Act is a rebuttable presumption against custody for an abusive parent. If the court finds a parent committed domestic violence, the law presumes that giving that parent parenting time or legal decision-making is not in the child’s best interests. The burden then shifts to that parent to overcome the presumption.
Courts are now being asked to apply this presumption at the temporary orders stage, not only at final trial. Judges are also writing findings at temporary orders hearings, which did not happen consistently before.
Temporary orders used to work as a placeholder that gave the family something to follow until trial. Judges now give these hearings far more weight, and early rulings often shape the whole case.
If you are a survivor with a pending custody case, the temporary orders hearing matters a great deal. What you document, what you present, and how your attorney frames it can decide whether the presumption applies and whether the other parent can overcome it.
Before the hearing:
- Write down every incident with the date, time, and specific details, not just a summary.
- Save text messages, voicemails, emails, and other messages that show a pattern.
- Collect police reports, protective orders, medical records, and any third-party records.
- Ask your attorney how your judge is applying the Alec and Lydia Act to temporary orders.
- Find out if your judge has already issued pre-trial rulings on how the law will apply to your case.
Coercive Control Now Counts as Domestic Violence
The Alec and Lydia Act widened Arizona’s definition of domestic violence to include coercive control. This covers patterns of behavior meant to isolate, watch, manipulate, or dominate a partner. Physical violence does not have to be part of it.
This matters most for survivors whose abuse never left a mark. A partner who controls the money, checks your phone, cuts you off from family and friends, or decides where you go and who you see may be using coercive control, and a court can now weigh those patterns in a custody case.
We have worked with clients who spent years minimizing what happened because it was not physical. Under the Alec and Lydia Act, that kind of conduct counts as domestic violence. A court still needs proof, and the proof has to be presented well, but the legal framework is now in place.
Evidence of coercive control looks different from evidence of a single assault. You need to show the court a steady course of conduct over time, so dates, messages, bank records, and screenshots matter more than any one event. Your attorney should know how to build a case around that.
These examples show how each pattern can be proved:
| Pattern | What it can look like | Evidence that helps |
|---|---|---|
| Financial control | Limiting your access to money or accounts | Bank statements and messages about money |
| Monitoring | Checking your phone or tracking your location | Screenshots and messages that show the monitoring |
| Isolation | Cutting you off from family and friends | Messages and statements from relatives or friends |
| Controlling movement | Deciding where you go and who you see | Dated written accounts and texts |
| Threats | Threats tied to leaving or to custody | Voicemails, texts, and police reports |
Pre-Trial Rulings and the Path to Appeal
Judges are issuing more pre-trial rulings that explain how they plan to apply the Alec and Lydia Act in a specific case. That can feel like a setback, but it gives your attorney a chance to respond early.
When a judge tells you the interpretation before trial, your attorney can argue against it or preserve the issue for appeal. Arizona appellate courts review questions of law de novo, which means they look at the legal question fresh and do not defer to the trial judge. If a judge gets the law wrong, that is a real path to correction.
These rulings are piling up across Arizona, and they may form the base for the first published Arizona Court of Appeals decisions.
If your judge has issued a pre-trial ruling, do not treat it as the final word. Ask your attorney whether the ruling is legally sound, whether it matches what other courts are doing, and whether to challenge it now or preserve it for appeal.
What to Do Next
If you have a child custody case in Arizona that involves domestic violence, take one step this week. Talk to an Arizona family law attorney who is tracking Alec and Lydia Act rulings in Arizona courts, and ask a direct question: how is our judge applying this law, and what does that mean for our next hearing?
Modern Law helps Arizona parents with custody cases that involve domestic violence. To talk through your situation, contact Modern Law or call (480) 571-0346.
