A child support lawyer in Phoenix AZ can help you establish, modify, and enforce a child support order. A child support obligation is not a matter to be taken lightly; the law looks harshly on spouses who fail to fulfill their court-ordered responsibilities.
The law requires parents to provide their children with financial support in accordance with the needs of each individual child and the standards of living enjoyed by the family prior to separation. In general, the parent who has primary custody of a child files a petition to have the noncustodial parent ordered to pay an agreed upon amount. If the parties cannot agree on a reasonable sum, a hearing is held in front of a judge or “Support Magistrate.” Both parents are expected to bring to the court’s attention copies of their most recent tax returns, some recent pay stubs, a completed financial disclosure statement and proof of income and expenses. The judge or magistrate will examine each party and any witnesses and then issue a child support order. Usually, the court will also order the noncustodial parent to pay the cost of health insurance for the children and to share the costs of any unreimbursed medical expenses and child care expenses.
While most states adhere to strict guidelines for determining the amount of child support, there are situations that allow the judge to depart from those guidelines. These include high or unusual incomes, extraordinary expenses and the cost of providing extra care for children with special needs.
In many cases, the amount of the child support obligation is determined through a mathematical formula set forth by state statutes that consider the monthly gross income of both parents, any other children for whom they have legal custody or physical or shared parenting, each parent’s relative time spent with each of the children, and any extraordinary expenses. The statutes also provide that each parent must contribute to the educational and other special needs of the children in proportion to their ability to do so.
Critics of child support argue that being required to pay a specific amount reduces the paying parent’s ability to directly meet other needs for his or her children. Responding to these concerns, the courts point out that allowing the paying parent to account for how the child-support monies are used would result in abusive and controlling behavior.
If a parent fails to pay the child support ordered by the court, the Department of Economic Security will pursue all legal remedies available, including garnishing wages, seizing financial assets, creating formal property liens and intercepting tax refunds. A Phoenix child support attorney can facilitate aggressive enforcement of existing orders and past judgments ordering payment of back child support. In many cases, back support is owed because the custodial parent was financially harmed because of delays by the noncustodial parent or because the noncustodial parent concealed his or her income and assets. In these circumstances, the court may award substantial back support to the custodial parent.