questions & answers

Question: My daughter's father and I have child support and visitation established, the court has left the visitation under our discussion, he and I decided on ones week him and one week for myself. I have enrolled our 4 year old in a preschool and I pay the full amount for our child to attend. Before I enrolled her I asked him if he would be willing to take her and pick her up from school. He agreed and now her wants me to take her out of school because he states it is not convenient for him to drive her back and forth to school, what are my legal rights and can he force me to pull her out of school?

Answer: You do not say which parent has legal decision-making authority as it is defined by Arizona Revised Statutes, Section 25-401.  The statute says:  "3.  Legal decision-making means the legal right and responsibility to make all nonemergency legal decisions for a child including those regarding education, health care . . . . . "  While you tell us you have child support and visitation established, legal decision-making is another issue.  Under the statute, if you have joint legal-decision making, neither parent has superior authority to dictate things like preschool.  If you have it under the court order, then you get to make the call.  If you cannot come to an agreement, you should talk to a lawyer.  There are 3 programs in Arizona that you can use to get some inexpensive legal advice and guidance.  One is the Modest Means Program.  If you are financially qualified for the program, for a $75 fee, Modest Means offers a one hour consult with an experienced attorney.  If you need additional help and the attorney agrees to take your case, the fee charged will not exceed $75 per hour.  The telephone number is (866)637-5341.  Both the Maricopa and Pima County Bar Associations have lawyer referral programs that offer a 30 minute consult with an experienced attorney.  Maricopa County's Lawyer Referral Service offers a 30 minute consult for a fee of $40.  The telephone number is (602) 257-4434.  Pima County's Lawyer Referral Service offers a 30 minute consultation for a fee of $35.  The telephone number is (520) 623-4625. If you do  not have sufficient money to pay for a reduced fee consult, you can go elsewhere on this website and apply to see if you qualify for a free lawyer.  Go to http://www.azlawhelp.org/accesstojustice.cfm