| Mr. Richard has been a shareholder at Mariscal Weeks McIntyre & Friedlander, PA since 1991. He has been a Certified Specialist in Family Law since 2002 and has previously served as a pro tem judge and mediator in Family Law for the Maricopa County Superior Court. His practice focuses almost exclusively on family law/domestic relations matters of all types, including divorce, legal separation, annulments, paternity, child custody and visitation, grandparents’ rights, and various post-divorce matters such as modification and enforcement of child custody/visitation, modification and enforcement of child support and spousal maintenance, enforcement of judgments and decrees, and relocation of children. Mr. Richard also has over 20 years experience in handling appellate cases involving Family Law matters and also does extensive work negotiating and drafting Premarital/Prenuptial Agreements between future spouses.
Mr. Richard has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® with regard to his work in the Family Law field. He has also been selected for inclusion in Southwest Super Lawyers since 2010 for his work in the Family Law area. Mr. Richard has also been listed in Continental Who’s Who since 2007. He has served on various Arizona State and County Bar Committees concerning Family Law and lectures at seminars on Family Law topics.
Mr. Richard received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arizona in 1982, graduating with high distinction and as a member of the University-wide honors program. During his undergraduate years, Mr. Richard was admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.
Mr. Richard received his law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1985, graduating with distinction. During his law school career, Mr. Richard served as an Associate Editor to the Arizona Law Review and was the recipient of an American Jurisprudence Award.
Mr. Richard joined Mariscal Weeks McIntyre & Friedlander, PA in 1986 after serving as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable J. Thomas Brooks of the Arizona Court of Appeals. He is admitted to practice in the Arizona courts and in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
Mr. Richard routinely handles complex Family Law cases involving such matters and issues such as the following:
- Business valuations for all types and sizes of businesses and professional practices, including issues regarding business or professional “goodwill”;
- “Tracing” the history of monies and assets for the purpose of determining value and/or their character as separate or community property;
- Differing legal and equitable interests in real property and all forms of business enterprises;
- Vested and unvested stock grants, stock options, restricted stock, incentive stock and other forms of deferred or alternative compensation;
- Retirement, pension, and profit sharing plans, both qualified and non-qualified, and spouses’ respective interests therein (e.g., beneficial survivorship rights);
- Trusts and estate planning matters as they pertain to divorce;
- Claims for spousal maintenance and child support, including claims under UIFSA and the collection of past-due child support;
- Enforcement of judgments and decrees, including the domestication and enforcement in Arizona of judgments and decrees entered by other states or jurisdictions;
- Establishing and/or enforcing legal custody and visitation rights, including claims arising under the UCCJEA;
- Appeals and special actions regarding Family Law matters in the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court;
- Negotiating, drafting and reviewing premarital/prenuptial agreements and exploring the purposes and goals for such agreements and how they can be best tailored to suit the client’s particular needs.
As a member of a full service law firm, Mr. Richard also has the ability to draw upon the expertise of other shareholders in the firm who specialize in such diverse areas as real estate law, business and corporate law, tax law, employment law, and probate and estate planning.
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