FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CHILD SUPPORT
EXPERIENCED ARIZONA CHILD SUPPORT ATTORNEYS
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Regardless of your relationship with your child’s parent, your child has a right to adequate financial support from parents who are able to provide it. It is a parent’s legal responsibility to financially support their child. Having a child support order ensures that payments will be consistent, timely, and fair, and there will be legal recourse if a parent fails to pay.
ANSWER:
The judge for your case will use state guidelines as a basis for determining your child support payments. Factors they will consider include both parents’ income, both parents’ other children, costs for the child’s healthcare, education, and childcare, and the amount of parenting time each parent has. The judge can use their discretion to deviate from whatever amount they calculate. If you think you have been ordered to pay an unfair amount, you should consult with an attorney to analyze your case.
ANSWER:
Yes, the court will not hesitate to enforce a child support order. Your ex’s past-due child support balance is referred to as “arrearages” and your ex is “in arrears.” Your ex can be charged interest on their arrearages. The court can find a parent in contempt of court for failure to pay child support, which can result in a jail sentence. However, the court will typically use less drastic means before resorting to the threat of jail time.
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If the paternity of the child in question is unclear, you can request a paternity test from the court. The judge will choose which parent, if not both, will pay for the test. It should only take a few business days after testing to determine if you are the father.
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The judge will consider a variety of factors while determining what the child’s basic support needs are. One of these is parenting time. The parent with less parenting time typically is the one who pays support, but this isn’t always the case. Time periods of 12 hours or more will count as a full day of parenting time. Time spans of 6-11 hours will be half a day, and 3-5 hours a quarter of a day.
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Child support can be modified as to current and future payments, but not retroactively. If you believe your support payments are too high, you can only have them lowered going forward. To obtain a modification, you must prove that there is a “substantial and continuing change” that requires the support order to be modified. A change is not considered substantial by the courts unless it is a change of at least 15%. You must wait at least one year before modifying child support orders.