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Hi, I'm Chris Hildebrand of Hildebrand Law. I want to answer your question on whether
there's a benefit to being the first to file a divorce petition in the state of Arizona.
The spouse who files the divorce petition is referred to as the petitioner. The spouse
that's responding to that divorce petition is referred to as the respondent. If you find
yourself in a trial because you haven't been able to resolve all of the issues, the petitioner
always starts the presentation of their case first. They present the evidence, form of
witness testimony, exhibits, documents, anything that may be helpful or relevant to the issues
that the judge is going to decide. The respondent then presents their case. Same thing, they
present witnesses, documents and evidence in an attempt to convince the judge that their
position is correct. But, the petitioner gets to also present rebuttal evidence after the
respondent ends their case. What does that mean? That means the last thing the judge
is going to hear before making a decision on your case is the petitioners witnesses,
evidence and rebuttal. So, that's the difference between being the petitioner and respondent,
the benefits of filing first. If you have any other questions regarding any divorce
matter, please feel free to email me at chris@hildebrandlaw.com.