State Republican Lawmakers Advance Bill to Eliminate Court Power Ordering Paid Therapy After Divorce

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                          

Friday, March 28, 2025                     

State Republican Lawmakers Advance Bill to Eliminate Court

Power Ordering Paid Therapy After Divorce

PHOENIX, ARIZONA— Senator Mark Finchem and Representative Rachel Keshel are working to eliminate unnecessary financial burdens for Arizona families navigating divorce, with legislation to block courts from demanding therapy on a grieving family's dime.

In a 4-3 vote Wednesday afternoon, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a "strike everything amendment" from Senator Finchem on HB 2256, sponsored by Representative Keshel. The adopted amendment prohibits a court from ordering a party, against their will, to pay for any type of therapy, treatment, or counseling program designed to improve the parent-child or parent-parent relationship in a legal decision-making proceeding. In turn, will prevent one parent from waging legal warfare, using the court as a tool.

In cases where parents struggle with their interpersonal relationships, the court can order visitation limits as a tool to compel "bad actor" parents to attend counseling for their alienating issues. Senator Finchem and Representative Keshel recognized the imperative concern, prompting them to work together on a solution to ensure families have the right to choose when they or their children obtain therapy, without being forced by court order.

"After speaking with many families and professionals, it appears the court has assumed authority not specified in law, forcing people to change through "therapeutic intervention," said Representative Keshel. "This is called by some "the golden goose," since the process can be unending and can even result in greater harm to child-parent relationships. The tens of thousands of dollars spent by parents forced into questionable "therapeutic intervention" would be better spent on childcare, keeping households on stable financial footings in such a trying time."

"There are reasons people get a divorce. Generally, their relationship is irredeemably broken, and they cannot get along, but the answer is not pushing one or both parents into bankruptcy with forced therapy and litigation costs," said Senator Finchem. "It has never been the intention of the Legislature to give the court such power to ruin an individual financially by forcing them into counseling or therapy. Even judges, who wish to remain anonymous, admit the court might as well set a pile of cash in the middle of a courtroom and set it on fire, because we will get the same result. A significant number of parents and parent advocates express their belief that a cartel has developed between family court judges, therapeutic interventionists, and lawyers. I expect this to be a matter that the Legislature will closely examine in the coming months."

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For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus kquintero@azleg.gov