Timeline in Arizona

The 60-Day Wait: Two Different Start Dates

Arizona's 60-day floor comes from two separate statutes that measure the clock differently. A.R.S. § 25-329 governs the standard track. The court cannot hold a hearing or trial on the petition until 60 days after the respondent was served or accepted service of process. A.R.S. § 25-314.01(F) governs the Summary Consent Decree track, available only when both spouses reach a comprehensive settlement of every issue before either one files. There the 60 days runs from the filing date instead, because formal service is waived entirely. A couple that files jointly under the summary track can reach the earliest possible decree date noticeably sooner than a couple where one spouse files first and has to complete service before the clock starts.

Residency: 90 Days of Domicile, Not Just Presence

A.R.S. § 25-312(A)(1) requires that at least one spouse have been domiciled in Arizona, or stationed there while on active military service, for the 90 days immediately before the petition is filed. Domicile is a legal home with intent to stay, which is a higher bar than simply having been physically present in the state. There's no separate county-level residency period; the 90-day requirement is statewide.

The Summary Consent Decree Path

Arizona doesn't have a separate simplified track based on marriage length or asset value the way some states do. What it has instead is the Summary Consent Decree process under A.R.S. § 25-314.01, open to spouses who agree on everything before either one files a petition. They file a single combined petition and response together, waive formal service, and pay a reduced fee. But the court still cannot enter the decree earlier than 60 days after filing.

Either spouse can withdraw from the agreement before the decree is entered, which converts the case into a standard dissolution with the standard fees and the service-triggered 60-day clock. This process isn't available for paternity, maternity, or third-party matters. Arizona's official self-help forms system also doesn't publish a standardized statewide summary-decree petition for covenant marriages.

What Slows a Case Down

The most common delay on the standard track is difficulty completing service on the respondent, since the 60-day clock doesn't start until service is done or accepted. Once served, disagreement over property, custody, or support turns the case contested and moves it onto the regular hearing calendar. That adds time beyond the 60-day floor. A separate, smaller group of Arizona couples married under a covenant marriage. They must instead prove one of several fault or lengthy separation grounds under A.R.S. § 25-903, a genuinely harder and slower path since Arizona's self-help system has no standardized statewide petition for that track.