Arizona's child support guidelines largely determine the amount owed to a custodial parent.
The guidelines take
into consideration the income of both parties, specific costs of the
children (i.e., health insurance, day care, etc.) and the needs of the
children.
In child support cases, Arizona Guidelines presumes that the
financial burden of raising a child should be shared fairly by both
parents. This does not always mean that the burden should be divided
equally. Depending on factors such as differing incomes, standards of
living, the child's special needs, or any substantial changes in lifestyle,
child support may be apportioned differently to maintain a fair balance
between the parents.
Sometimes that child support amount can be manipulated by
innocent mistakes or intentional omissions. Sadly, there are many parties
(and their attorneys) who will try to unfairly change the outcome. This is
done by a variety of methods, such as incorrectly reporting one party’s
income, forgetting to put down the cost of the children’s medical insurance
or day care costs, or counting the amount of time each parent spends with
the child.
As child support is calculated on a monthly basis, some
costs need to be calculated over the course of a year, then divided by 12 to
get the correct annualized amounts to plug into the worksheet. Other
children (i.e., not common to the other parent) can cause a significant
change in a child support number because the Guidelines strive to treat all
children equally.
On other occasions, there are simply different
interpretations of the law that can be used to change the Guideline amount
of support. Although the Arizona Guidelines should – assuming that you put
in the same, correct numbers - reach the same ordered amount each time, this
is not always so. A number of variances can cause a huge difference in the
final outcome. Issues such as overtime and second jobs can cause a huge
dispute in Court. Similarly, the number of days (and how you count them) can
result in hundreds of dollars differences in how much the other parent will
receive.
An experienced and seasoned lawyer will know what to look
out for when helping you re-calculate support to get a fair number for
support. In addition, an attorney that has performed calculations for years
will know how to fully present your case and argue when something incorrect
or wrong is occurring.
In recognition of the likelihood that parents' financial
situations and resources are subject to change, Arizona law provides for
modifying child support orders under
specific circumstances.
Generally put, the law here in Arizona will allow a party or
the court to seek modification of child support if the has been “a
significant and ongoing change in circumstances.” This means that, if you
are out of work for only two weeks or your ex-spouse wins a one-time $1,000
Power Ball, the court will usually not change the child support orders, as
these examples are not “ongoing” in nature. Similarly, the court usually
wants to see at a minimum a 15% change - up or down - on the final amount
being paid before allowing a change under the “significant” standard.
Finally, Arizona law does not allow for retroactive
modification in child support, unless and until somebody files to modify the
existing order. In other words, a Judge cannot help you if you come into
court and tell him/her that you were out of work for five months last year
because you broke your leg and were laid up. Even if that is true, the Judge
cannot help you unless somebody filed something at the time and asked the
Court for assistance; and, even then, the law will allow modification only
starting from the first of the month from when somebody filed for a change
and served the other parent.
