Understanding Arizona's Child Support Laws
(This article first appeared in
the February, 2003 issue of Arizona Child magazine.
Copyright
© 2003 by Louis Lombardo.)
Most parents recognize that
they have a moral obligation to support their children. All parents should know
that they have a legal obligation to do so under Arizona law. What many parents
do not understand, however, is what legally constitutes child support, how much
support is enough to satisfy the law, and how to enforce a parent's legal duty
to support their children. This article will help parents understand the basics
of Arizona's child support laws.
Arizona law states that "every person has the duty to
provide all reasonable support for that person's natural and adopted minor,
unemancipated children, regardless of the presence or residence of the child in
this state." A child becomes "emancipated" when he or she reaches the age of
eighteen and graduates from high school, or when the child reaches age nineteen
regardless of whether the child is still in school. The court may, under some
circumstances, order child support to continue beyond the age of majority. For
instance, if a child is mentally or physically disabled, the court may order
support to continue past the child's nineteenth birthday if the court deems it
appropriate.
Until the child becomes emancipated, the duty of
support terminates only if the child is adopted by someone else, or by court
order. The obligation to pay child support takes precedence over all other
financial obligations, and a child support order cannot be discharged in
bankruptcy.
It is important to note that the legal system usually
makes no effort to verify that a person is adequately supporting their children
unless a parent or a state agency brings the matter to the court's attention by
filing a lawsuit to establish a child support order. The issue of child support
typically arises in the context of a divorce or paternity case, or where the
State is seeking reimbursement for public assistance benefits provided to one of
the parents on behalf of a child.
After a lawsuit is filed, the court will determine the
exact amount of child support a parent must pay. Arizona uses a set of
guidelines approved by the Arizona Supreme Court to determine the support amount
in dollars. The guidelines require the court to use a mathematical formula to
calculate child support that takes into consideration a number of different
factors. A free program is available online at the Arizona Supreme Court's
website for parents who wish to run their own calculations for child support.
The internet address is
http://www.supreme.state.az.us/childsup/ .
Many of the variables used in the child support
calculation have a significant impact on the amount of support to be paid. These
variables include such things as the gross monthly income of the parents, the
cost of day care for the children, the cost of medical insurance premiums for
the children, the age of the children, and how much time each parent spends with
the children. Other extraordinary costs may also be taken into consideration,
such as nursing care or transportation costs for special needs children.
When lawyers argue how much child support a parent
should be ordered to pay, what they really are arguing about are the numbers the
court should use for the different variables in the child support formula. For
example, if one parent is unemployed and the other parent argues that the court
should attribute an estimated income to the unemployed parent, the lawyers will
often argue how much gross monthly income should be attributed to the unemployed
parent. The amount of income attributed could make the child support amount vary
by hundreds of dollars. The court may deviate from the amount suggested by the
guidelines, but it usually does so only if the parties agree to a deviation or
if it is in the best interest of the child.
The court generally does not recognize contributions of
food, clothing or shelter as child support. If one parent attempts to meet his
or her support obligation by providing groceries to the other parent, paying the
other parent's utility bills or giving the other parent some type of assistance
not in the form of money, the court will often consider these contributions to
be gifts, and no credit will be given toward the child support obligation. It is
important for the parent who is ordered to pay support to send their payment in
the form of a check or money order to the Support Payment Clearinghouse (an
agency set up to process support payments). Payments made through the Support
Payment Clearinghouse will be recorded and forwarded to the parent who is to
receive support, and a small handling fee deducted for processing.
For medical and dental bills not covered by insurance,
each parent is usually ordered to pay a share of the bills in proportion to
their incomes. The uncovered medical bills are not factored into the child
support calculations, and it is up to the parent who incurs a medical or dental
expense on behalf of the child to seek payment from the other parent. Usually
the court directs the parent who receives the bill to send a copy to the other
parent, and the other parent is expected to pay their share directly to the
parent who sent the bill. Payments for medical and dental expenses not covered
by insurance do not go through the Support Payment Clearinghouse.
After the court enters the first child support order in
a case, it usually takes no further action to ensure that the parents obey the
order. If one parent fails to pay the child support amount ordered, the burden
is usually on the other parent to bring the matter to the court's attention.
Many different remedies exist for collecting unpaid
child support. Wages can be garnished and bank accounts may be seized. Some
parents who owe child support may have their tax returns intercepted while
others may have a lien placed against their property. In cases where the failure
to pay is particularly unreasonable, professional licenses may be suspended or
jail sentences imposed. Again, it is up to the parent who is to receive support
to inform the court of the other parent's non-compliance before any of these
remedies will be available.
If the parent who is supposed to receive the support
does not promptly seek enforcement of the child support order, the non-paying
parent is not relieved of the responsibility to pay support. Interest will be
added to the amount of unpaid child support, and a day of reckoning may come
where the non-paying parent is ordered to pay several thousands of dollars in
unpaid support, interest and legal fees.
I strongly encourage parents with child support issues
to contact a competent attorney to discuss their particular concerns. Only the
court has the authority to make a final determination of your legal rights and
responsibilities, and only an attorney is qualified to give you legal advice.
____________________________________
Louis Lombardo was admitted to the Arizona State Bar Association in 1995 and has
practiced primarily in the area of family law for more than seven years. Mr.
Lombardo attended the University of Missouri-Columbia (B.A. 1988, M.A. 1991) and
Arizona State University College of Law (J.D. 1995). His achievements include
membership in Phi Beta Kappa and former appointment as an editor of the Arizona
State Law Journal.
Law Office of Louis Lombardo, PC
700 E. Baseline Rd., Ste. D-3
Tempe, AZ 85283
(480) 413-9300
www.azdivorceattorney.com
