Arizona has enacted one of the most significant changes to its family law in recent memory, and Taylor Law Group, PLLC, a Tucson-based criminal & domestic violence defense firm led by former Pima County Judge Doug Taylor, is helping Southern Arizonans understand what it means. On June 22, 2026, Governor Katie Hobbs signed House Bill 2995, known as the “Alec and Lydia Act.” Because the bill carried an emergency clause, it took effect immediately.
The law overhauls Arizona Revised Statutes section 25-403.03, the statute that governs how findings of domestic violence affect legal decision-making and parenting time in family court. It expands the legal definition of domestic violence to include coercive control, creates a mandatory presumption against awarding custody to a parent who has committed domestic violence, and requires courts to make detailed written findings whenever domestic violence is alleged.
The law is named for Alec, age seven, and Lydia, age six, two young children who were killed by their father in May 2024 while their family was involved in active court proceedings. According to reporting on the case, the court had granted equal, unsupervised parenting time despite a documented history of domestic violence. Their mother, Hope Hooton, spent nearly a year working with Arizona lawmakers to address the gaps in state law that her case exposed. The measure passed the Legislature with broad bipartisan support before being signed into law.
“In my years on the bench in Pima County, at times I dealt with the prior version of this statute, and I saw firsthand how its language left room for confusion and inconsistency,” said Doug Taylor, founding partner of Taylor Law Group, PLLC, and a former Pima County Judge. “This law gives courts clearer direction and places the safety of children and victims at the center of the analysis. For families across Arizona, that is a meaningful change in how these cases will be handled.”
Among the law’s most consequential changes is its expanded definition of domestic violence. For the first time, Arizona law formally recognizes “coercive control,” a pattern of threatening, humiliating, or intimidating behavior used to dominate or frighten another person, as a form of domestic violence in custody cases. That can include controlling a person’s finances, monitoring their movements or communications through technology, isolating them from family and friends, or threatening to report their immigration status. Under the prior law, a domestic violence finding generally required evidence of physical harm or its threat.
“The recognition of coercive control is the part of this law that I expect will surprise the most people,” Taylor said. “Arizona is acknowledging that domestic violence is not always physical, and that patterns of control and intimidation can cause profound harm. Anyone navigating one of these situations, on any side of a case, needs to understand that the definition has genuinely broadened and that the stakes in custody matters, and some other matters, have risen accordingly.”
The law also changes how domestic courts approach parenting time. Arizona has long leaned toward equal, or 50/50, parenting time as a starting point. Under the Alec and Lydia Act, when a court finds that domestic violence has occurred, it must treat that finding as contrary to the child’s best interests and give priority to the safety of the child and the victim, rather than defaulting to equal time. The parent found to have committed domestic violence carries the burden of overcoming a legal presumption against them before custody or significant parenting time can be awarded.
Taylor noted that the law is not limited to new cases. Because its provisions also apply to modification proceedings, families operating under existing custody orders may be affected, and evidence of domestic violence that predates a current order may now be raised. He emphasized that while HB 2995 governs family court rather than criminal court, its passage reflects how seriously Arizona now treats domestic violence findings and how far those findings can reach.
Taylor Law Group in Tucson maintains a library of plain-language resources on its website that explain Arizona domestic violence law, protective orders, and related court procedures, written specifically for the Tucson and Southern Arizona audience. The firm encourages anyone with questions about how the new law or existing domestic violence statutes may affect them to seek qualified legal guidance.
Located in downtown Tucson, Taylor Law Group, PLLC, serves clients throughout Southern Arizona, including Pima, Cochise, Santa Cruz, and Pinal counties, and has earned more than 132 five-star Google reviews from clients across the region.
About Taylor Law Group, PLLC
Taylor Law Group, PLLC, is a Tucson-based criminal and domestic violence defense firm that provides legal representation and educational resources for individuals facing serious charges in Southern Arizona. Founded and led by Doug Taylor, a former Pima County Judge with over 25 years of courtroom experience, the firm focuses on domestic violence defense, criminal defense, restraining orders, post-conviction relief, and DUI defense across Pima, Cochise, Santa Cruz, and Pinal counties.
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