Ask a family law attorney: What a’ prenup’ can and can’t do

By Kaine Fisher, Rose Law Group partner and director of Family Law, and Audra Petrolle, family law attorney “I’m just getting engaged and want to propose a prenuptial agreement. Are there any assets that legally in Arizona I cannot protect?”  Arizona is a community property state, meaning that any income or property acquired during a marriage is generally considered joint marital property. In …

Rose Law Group family law attorney Audra Petrolle condemns rule that would let adoption agencies exclude gay parents

The Trump administration’s proposed rule would allow adoption agencies that refuse to place children with LGBTQ families to still collect federal dollars. By Tim Fitzsimons | NBC During an event celebrating National Adoption Month, Vice President Mike Pence praised a proposed Trump administration rule that would allow federal funding to flow to adoption agencies that refuse to place children with …

Ask a family lawyer: Prenups

By Kaine Fisher, Rose Law Group partner and director of Family Law, and Audra Petrolle, family law attorney If I don’t have a prenuptial agreement, will all the income that my husband and I earn and all the property that my husband and I acquire during marriage be considered community property? And, would it then be split 50/50 if we were to …

Woman can’t use fertilized embryos without ex-husband’s consent, Arizona Supreme Court rules; nevertheless a balanced ruling, says Rose Law Group family law attorney Audra Petrolle

By Maria Polletta | Arizona Republic A Phoenix woman who preserved fertilized embryos before undergoing cancer treatment cannot use them without the consent of her ex-husband and must donate them instead, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled. In an opinion released Thursday, the five justices who considered the case reversed an Appeals Court decision that found Ruby Torres’ right to …

A daughter’s journey: Years of heartache fade as Aliyah chooses her new family; Rose Law Group Family Law Attorney Audra Petrolle: adoption is a ‘beautiful gift’

Two and a half years after moving to Phoenix, the chaos ends for Rihanna Agnew. She can only hope her biological mother finds her way home. By Karina Bland | Arizona Republic The Agnews felt like everything Aliyah Randle wanted in a family. When she learned a judge had terminated her biological mother’s parental rights, Aliyah asked the Agnews to …

Paul Petersen’s wife files for divorce; a successful claim could be Pyrrhic victory, says Rose Law Group family attorney Audra Petrolle

Raquel Petersen alleges Maricopa County assessor hid and spent their money for his own benefit. Prosecutors have seized both their assets as potential restitution By Brahm Resnik | 12 News The wife of suspended Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen has filed for divorce, accusing her husband of hiding and spending their money for his own benefit, 12 News has learned. …

Hoffman says vaccine exemption, Pledge of Allegiance bills unnecessary; ‘exemption could invite litigation,’ says Rose Law Group family attorney Audra Petrolle

By Jessica Swarner | KTAR Arizona’s top education official says there’s no need for two education-related bills being pushed by a state representative. Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman said Thursday that Republican Rep. John Fillmore’s bills concerning vaccines and the Pledge of Allegiance attempt to solve problems that don’t exist. The first bill, which Fillmore told KTAR News 92.3 FM is meant …

When dad turns out to be the fertility doctor. ‘Tech outpacing laws,’ says Rose Law Group family attorney Audra Petrolle

By Adam Liptak | The New York Times Magazine Scores of families, using commercial DNA testing kits, have learned in recent years that, decades ago, their doctors lied to them. The doctors told infertile couples seeking artificial insemination that they would use sperm from a medical student, from someone who resembled the husband or simply from an anonymous donor. Instead, …

Arizona Department of Child Safety doesn’t give foster parents information needed to keep kids safe; new portal will help, says Rose Law Group family attorney, Audra Petrolle

By Dianna M. Nanez The Arizona Department of Child Safety isn’t giving foster parents the information they are legally entitled to, so they can properly care for children the state places in their homes, according to a state auditor general report.  Because DCS did not inform a foster parent of a child’s medical conditions, one child went into anaphylactic shock “due to …