Arizona's New Custody Law: What the Alec and Lydia Act Means for Families 

By Ross Schreiter

Arizona has overhauled how its family courts handle domestic violence in custody cases. Governor Katie Hobbs recently signed House Bill 2995 — called the Alec and Lydia Act — into law. If you share custody of a child in Arizona, this change is worth understanding. 

The Story Behind the Law 

In May 2024, a Surprise, Arizona mother named Hope Hooton lost both of her children to an act of violence committed by their father. Alec was seven years old. Lydia was six. The family was already in family court at the time, and despite a documented history of domestic violence, the father had been granted equal, unsupervised parenting time. 

Rather than step away from public life after the tragedy, Hope became an advocate. She worked with state lawmakers to identify the specific gaps her case had exposed — a legal system that treated domestic violence as just one factor among many, that defaulted to 50/50 parenting time even in high-risk situations, and that put the burden on victims to prove future danger rather than on abusers to prove they posed none. 

The law that resulted now carries her children's names. 

What the Law Actually Does 

The Alec and Lydia Act changes four things in a meaningful way: 

1. Coercive control is now legally defined as domestic violence. 

Previously, domestic violence in custody cases generally meant physical harm or the direct threat of it. Patterns of psychological and behavioral abuse — controlling someone's money, isolating them from family, monitoring their phone — had no clear legal standing. 

Under the new law, coercive control is explicitly domestic violence. The law defines it as a pattern of threatening, humiliating, or intimidating behavior used to harm, punish, or frighten someone. Specific examples written into the statute include: 

• Controlling or monitoring finances and economic resources 

• Tracking someone's location or communications through technology 

• Isolating a person from friends and family 

• Frequent name-calling or demeaning behavior toward a person or their child 

• Threatening to harm or kill the person, their child, or a pet 

• Threatening to release private or explicit material 

• Threatening to report immigration status or withhold immigration documents 

• Using the threat of suicide or self-harm as a form of control 

• Damaging the person's property 

This matters because you do not need a police report, a protective order, or physical evidence to raise coercive control in court. Your own testimony is considered sufficient. 

2. Courts must presume that giving custody to an abusive parent is harmful to the child. 

When a court determines that a parent has committed domestic violence, the law now requires a presumption — meaning a starting legal position — that awarding that parent custody is not in the child's best interests. The burden shifts to the abusive parent to prove otherwise. 

The following cannot be used to overcome that presumption: 

• The child wasn't present when the violence occurred 

• The child didn't know the abuse was happening 

• The child wants to spend more time with the abusive parent 

3. The preference for 50/50 parenting time doesn't automatically apply when domestic violence is involved. 

Arizona courts have long leaned toward equal parenting time as a starting point. That hasn't been eliminated, but under the new law, a finding of domestic violence takes priority. A court cannot simply split time down the middle when there's a safety concern — it must address the domestic violence finding first. 

4. Judges must write down their reasoning in detail — and those decisions face stricter review on appeal. 

Courts must now document their findings specifically and completely in writing whenever domestic violence is raised in a custody case. If a ruling is appealed, a higher court reviews those findings independently rather than simply deferring to the trial judge. 

What an Abusive Parent Must Do to Regain Custody 

The law doesn't permanently bar an abusive parent from having any relationship with their child. But clearing the presumption requires genuine accountability — not just completing a program and presenting a certificate. 

To overcome the presumption, the parent must: 

• Waive confidentiality so the court and the other parent can review their treatment records 

• Show that the treatment program was appropriate for the specific type of abuse that occurred 

• Demonstrate real understanding of how their behavior harmed the family 

• Prove the program addressed any tendency to minimize or rationalize the abuse 

The court must also look at the nature of the violence itself — whether it involved weapons, strangulation, multiple forms of control, or damage to the victim's career or relationships. 

Does This Affect Existing Custody Orders? 

Your current parenting plan stays in place unless a court changes it. But the new law does affect what happens if anyone seeks a modification going forward. 

If domestic violence or coercive control occurred in your relationship and was never addressed in your existing order, you may now have grounds to raise it in a modification proceeding. Importantly, the court must consider evidence of past abuse even if it predates the current order or was never raised in earlier proceedings. 

You should consider speaking with a family law attorney if: 

• Domestic violence or coercive control happened but was never formally addressed in your case 

• Your co-parent completed a treatment program and is using that certificate as leverage 

• You're having trouble enforcing your current order and believe it's being used as a control tactic 

• A prior domestic violence finding was made against you and you want to understand what that means now 

If Your Co-Parent Isn't Following Court Orders 

If your co-parent has a history of domestic violence and is violating your custody order — or is continuing to behave in controlling or threatening ways — the new law gives courts stronger tools to respond. 

Document everything. Under the Alec and Lydia Act, coercive control is domestic violence, and courts must take it seriously. Keep records of dates, screenshots, bank statements, and written accounts of specific incidents. 

If you are in immediate danger, contact law enforcement or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. 

What to Do Now 

Read your existing parenting plan. Know what it says about legal decision-making, parenting time, and any protective conditions already in place. 

Start documenting your situation. Save messages, note incidents with dates, and record anything that feels controlling or unsafe. 

Don't make informal changes to your order. Verbal agreements outside of court aren't legally binding — your order stays in effect until a judge formally modifies it. 

Talk to a family law attorney. The Alec and Lydia Act introduces new standards that courts are still learning to apply. An attorney can tell you what your current order means under the new law and whether any action makes sense for your situation. 

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