Arizona is one of three states in the country that allows covenant marriages. A covenant marriage limits the ability of the spouses to seek a divorce in Arizona. A covenant marriage is entered into by the parties declaring their intent to enter into a covenant marriage on their application for a marriage license. The marriage license will then contain language indicating that the marriage is to be a covenant marriage, and the clerk of the court files notice of the intent of the parties to enter into a covenant marriage.
The intent to enter into the covenant marriage should state the following: "We solemnly declare that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman who agree to live together as husband and wife for as long as they both live. We have chosen each other carefully and have received premarital counseling on the nature, purposes, and responsibilities of marriage. We understand that a covenant marriage is for life. If we experience marital difficulties, we commit ourselves to take all reasonable efforts to preserve our marriage, including marital counseling." A.R.S. 25-901.
Additionally, the parties must file with the court an affidavit stating that they have received premarital counseling from a marital counselor or a member of the clergy. The premarital counseling must encompass "a discussion of the seriousness of covenant marriage, communication of the fact that a covenant marriage is a commitment for life, a discussion of the obligation to seek marital counseling in times of marital difficulties, and a discussion of the exclusive grounds for legally terminating a covenant marriage by dissolution of marriage or legal separation." A.R.S. 25-901. The parties's signatures also must be witnessed by a clerk of the court, and the parties must file a notarized attestation signed by the marital counselor confirming that the parties have in fact participated in marital counseling.
The grounds for divorce or legal separation in Arizona are limited by entering into a covenant marriage. Generally in Arizona, either spouse may request a divorce for any reason, and the Court will not inquire into that reason. The law applied to covenant marriages in Arizona is different. A party requesting a divorce must be able to demonstrate one of the grounds for ending a covenant marriage before a divorce will be granted. Those grounds are enumerated in A.R.S. 25-903 and are as follows:
1. The respondent spouse has committed adultery; 2. the respondent spouse has committed a felony and is sentenced to death or imprisonment; 3. the respondent spouse has abandoned the marital residence for at least one year before the petitioner files for divorce and refuses to return to the residence; 4. the respondent spouse has physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking the divorce, a child, a relative of either spouse living in the marital residence, or has committed domestic violence or emotional abuse; 5. the spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for at least two years; 6. the spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for at least one year after a legal separation is entered; 7. the respondent spouse has habitually abused drugs or alcohol; and 8. the parties agree to end the marriage.
If a spouse seeks to terminate a covenant marriage under the third or fifth grounds, that spouse may file the Petition for Dissolution prior to meeting the required time period to obtain the divorce. When this occurs, the court stays the matter until the requisite amount of time has passed, except that the court may enter temporary orders during this time.
The grounds for obtaining a legal separation of a covenant marriage are similar to the grounds required for divorce. However, the grounds for a legal separation do not include an agreement between the parties to enter into a legal separation. See A.R.S. 25-904. Another difference is that there is an additional ground that allows a legal separation of a covenant marriage rather than a divorce. The additional ground is "the respondent spouse's habitual intemperance or ill-treatment of the other spouse is of such a nature as to render their living together insupportable."
Comments