A divorce or paternity case filed in Maricopa County can produce an Order to Appear for an Early Resolution Conference, a minute entry setting a Resolution Management Conference, or a referral to a settlement conference with a judge pro tempore. Each is a different program with its own rules about who qualifies, what it costs and what happens to an agreement. Private mediation sits alongside all of them.
The programs below are the ones the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County describes on its own website as of October 2026, along with the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure that govern them.
What the Rules Expect of You
Rule 66 of the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure says the rules favor non-adversarial settlement "to the greatest extent possible," whether through a court program or outside the court. It also says parties are encouraged to mediate independently of the court.
The rule also puts a duty on both sides. Within the first 90 days after the respondent appears, the parties have to think about whether some form of ADR would help, what kind, who would provide it and when. Lawyers and self-represented parties share responsibility for a good faith talk about settling or picking a process, and the court can sanction a party who will not take part in good faith. A party who represents themselves does not have to contact the other side in person if a no-contact order is in place or there is a history of domestic violence.
The Family ADR Settlement Conference
The court's Alternative Dispute Resolution office runs settlement conferences for family, civil and probate cases. In a family case, the conference is led by a judge pro tempore, a retired judge or a volunteer sitting judge. Judges pro tempore are attorneys appointed to serve the court, and the court describes these as volunteer, pro bono positions. In this program, the settlement judge is not the judge who will try your case.
Who Qualifies
Administrative Order 2021-144, which took effect October 4, 2021, covers pre-decree cases where at least one side has a lawyer. In those cases, a request goes to the judicial officer assigned to the case. The court's training manual for settlement judges, current as of July 16, 2025, lists the referral criteria: at least one attorney in the case, no post-decree settlement conferences and no second conference for a case that has already had one.
To get a date, the parties file a Joint Request and Certification for Setting of Family Court ADR Settlement Conference. On that form, both sides certify that:
- the discovery and disclosure needed for comprehensive settlement negotiations is done, and no discovery dispute is pending;
- they have traded comprehensive settlement proposals and still could not agree;
- they do not have sufficient financial means to use a private mediator under Rule 67.3;
- they will meet the deadline for settlement memoranda; and
- they understand sanctions can follow if any of this is untrue.
The court's manual calls the third item a means test. If the parties can afford private mediation, the manual says, they should go to a private mediator.
The court explains why the readiness rules exist. Before April 2021, a new request produced a first available date roughly five to seven months out, and many conferences were continued at the last minute because people were not prepared. After the certification requirement started, the court reported that the wait had dropped to one to two weeks. That figure is from the 2021 order, and current wait times may differ.
Scheduling, Format and Cost
The assigned judge picks a date, a settlement judge and a location from the ADR office's calendar, either at a hearing or by a separate referral. The court then issues an Order to Appear. It goes to counsel by email and to self-represented parties by mail. Sessions are booked in two-hour blocks, 9:30 to 11:30 in the morning or 1:30 to 3:30 in the afternoon, and the settlement judge can let a session run longer.
A conference can be held by video or in person. In-person sessions can take place in the settlement judge's own office or at court facilities downtown, in the northeast Valley and in Mesa. The court's materials list no fee for the conference. A party or lawyer who fails to appear without good cause can be sanctioned $100, and further sanctions such as attorney fees are possible.
What Happens at the Conference
Each side sends the settlement judge a confidential memorandum at least seven days ahead. It is not filed with the clerk. The court's form asks about legal decision-making, the regular and holiday parenting schedule, each piece of real estate, vehicles, personal property and any business, including a profit and loss statement for the business. So a settlement conference can address parenting, property and money issues in one sitting.
The court's website describes the settlement judge's job as evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each side's case. The training manual tells settlement judges to comment on how the law applies to the facts and to tell an unreasonable party early when a position will not succeed in court. It also tells them to avoid caucus, the private meetings with one side that many mediators use, because a private meeting could be read as siding with one party.
Agreements and the Report
An agreement reached at the conference has to meet Rule 69. That usually means a signed writing, terms stated on the record, or an audio recording made before the settlement officer. The court's manual tells the settlement judge to swear both parties in and have each say that they understand and approve the terms and consider them fair and equitable. The parties then submit the Decree of Dissolution or stipulated order to the division of the judge assigned to the case for signature.
After the conference, the settlement judge sends the ADR office a short report of the result, and the office updates the court's records from it. The manual tells settlement judges not to write confidential information on the report.
The Early Resolution Conference
The Early Resolution Conference is the court's program for self-represented parties. It is scheduled after the respondent files a Response and pays the response fee. Both parties meet with a Family Law Case Manager, who reviews the issues, helps the parties move toward agreement and prepares the paperwork for what they agree on, including a Consent Decree that ends the case.
The court calls the conference mandatory. Under Administrative Order 2022-113, every Early Resolution Conference is currently held on Microsoft Teams, and the case manager emails the link at least 15 minutes ahead. Plan on two to three hours. Each party must complete and file the Resolution Statement attached to the Order to Appear and send a copy to the case manager and the other party five days before. A party who does not show up can be charged a $100 no-show fee. A request to reschedule has to come at least two weeks ahead, with supporting documents or both parties' signatures, except in an emergency.
The Resolution Management Conference
A Resolution Management Conference, or RMC, is a conference with the court in your case. Rule 76 says its purpose is to help the parties reach agreements. The court may set one on its own and must set one if a party asks, generally within 60 days of the request.
At least five days before an RMC, the parties must confer to resolve as many issues as they can and file a written resolution statement setting out any agreements. The conferring requirement does not apply when there is a no-contact order or domestic violence history and the alleged victim is self-represented. At the RMC the court can enter temporary orders, order evaluations or appraisals, refer the case to a settlement conference, order another ADR process, or set an evidentiary hearing or trial.
After the Decree
Because the ADR office does not hold post-decree settlement conferences, families returning to court after a decree use other services. The Family Conference Center handles establishing, modifying and enforcing child support, along with enforcement of spousal support and parenting time. On a petition to enforce support, the parties get a one-hour conference with a Conference Officer, followed by a 45-minute evidentiary hearing if they do not agree. Conciliation Services, a separate part of the family court, offers mediation of legal decision-making and parenting time, including a post-decree packet.
Confidentiality in Each Setting
Rule 66 defines a settlement conference as a confidential process. Private mediation is confidential under Rule 67.3, which applies Arizona's mediation statute, A.R.S. 12-2238. Under that statute, communications and materials from a mediation generally cannot be discovered or used as evidence unless an exception applies, such as all parties agreeing. Evidence that exists apart from the mediation, like a bank statement, does not become protected because someone brought it to a session. The terms of a signed agreement can be shown to a court to approve or enforce it.
A private mediator's report to the court is also limited. If a private mediation ends with a partial agreement or none, the mediator files a brief report listing any agreements and the unresolved issues, with no account of either side's positions and no opinion on them.
The Early Resolution Conference and the RMC are court proceedings, and the court's pages do not describe them as confidential. Ask your lawyer before you treat anything said there as off the record.
Private Mediation and Court Deadlines
Hiring a private mediator does not pause the case.
- File the notice. When the parties jointly choose a private mediator, Rule 67.3 requires a signed notice that names the mediator and gives the date of the first session.
- Trial dates hold. A trial or hearing will not be continued because mediation was not finished unless the court orders it. Administrative Order 2021-144 says the same about a settlement conference that cannot be scheduled before trial.
- Report the result. Under Rule 67.3(n), the parties must tell the court when the mediation ends and whether any agreement fully resolves their issues. The deadline is 10 days after the mediation ends, and no later than 10 days before the trial or hearing date.
- Defaults wait. Once the court has ordered or referred a case to mediation, a party generally cannot apply for a default until the mediator reports that the mediation has concluded.
Pretrial filings also ask about mediation. A scheduling statement under Rule 76.1 must state each side's position on settlement processes and the estimated timing of any mediation, and a pretrial statement must say whether the parties discussed settlement in good faith.
When private mediation produces a full agreement, the usual next step is a consent decree. In 2023 the Family Department announced a procedure meant to have consent decrees and other stipulated final orders ruled on within 21 days of lodging. They can be e-filed as a single PDF with a Notice of Lodging.
When a Private Lawyer-Mediator Is the Better Fit
A private mediator fits better in these situations:
- You can afford one. The settlement conference is meant for parties who cannot, and the court's certification form asks both sides to say so.
- The estate is complicated. A family business, a professional practice, rental properties, stock options or several retirement plans can be hard to work through in a two-hour block. A private mediation can run as long as the parties want, over as many sessions as it takes, and can pause while an appraisal or valuation comes in.
- You want all issues settled together. A private mediator can take parenting, support and property at once, before or after a case is filed. Rule 67.3 says the parties may privately mediate any issue in dispute.
- You need a facilitative process. Rule 67.3 lets a private mediator meet with the parties jointly or individually, and separate sessions can help when the parties cannot sit in the same virtual room.
- The case is post-decree or has already had a conference. The ADR office does not hold either kind. A private mediator can take a post-decree dispute that mixes issues, such as a support change and the sale of the former home.
- Scheduling or distance is a problem. A private mediator can set sessions around work and child care, and by video it can include a party who has moved out of Arizona.
Rule 67.3 also offers a hybrid. The parties can ask the court to appoint an active judge pro tempore to conduct their private mediation. The appointing order can authorize that mediator to approve Rule 69 agreements, make the findings Arizona law requires and sign a Decree of Dissolution. The parties may pay the judge pro tempore for mediating, but not for approving agreements or signing the decree.
Each setting has rules for domestic violence. Rule 67.4 calls for protective procedures at a settlement conference when there has been domestic violence between the parties, and a private mediator must decline or end a mediation that domestic violence makes inappropriate. The court's ADR page lists recent or ongoing abuse, intimidation and substance abuse among the situations where ADR deserves a hard look before anyone agrees to it.
Mediating With John Laubach
John Laubach has practiced law in Arizona since January 1987 and works as a neutral mediator in family and civil disputes. He conducts mediations by video, so parties anywhere in the Valley, or out of state, can take part without driving downtown. In a Maricopa County case, his role would be private mediation under Rule 67.3, with the notice, reporting and Rule 69 steps described above. The About John Laubach page has more on his background.
Common Questions
Can we get the court's free settlement conference if we can afford a private mediator?
Not by the court's own terms. The Maricopa County joint request form for a family ADR settlement conference asks both sides to certify that they do not have sufficient financial means to use a private mediator under Rule 67.3. The court's training manual for its settlement judges calls this a means test. A false certification can lead to sanctions.
Who signs our divorce decree after a settlement conference?
Under Maricopa County's procedures, the decree goes to your assigned judge. The court's training manual for settlement judges says the parties submit the Decree of Dissolution or stipulated order to the division of the judge assigned to the case for signature. Any extension of the decree deadline also comes from the assigned judge.
Programs, rules and administrative orders checked October 12, 2026, against the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County website and the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure. Court procedures, fees and wait times change, so confirm details with the court or your lawyer. This is general information, not legal advice. As mediator, John is a neutral who represents neither side, so each party should have independent legal advice. His law license is from Arizona. In Michigan he serves only as a certified mediator and is not licensed as a lawyer there.