Once child support is set by the court or agreed upon by the parties, the noncustodial parent must pay the required amount each month. Payments that are missed, whether inadvertently or intentionally, are known as child support arrears.
Missed payments can cause financial harm to a family that relies on the money and result in the paying parent owing more because interest can be charged on arrears.
In Arizona, child support payments that go into arrears are charged interest at 10 percent per year, beginning the month after the first missed payment. One of the common reasons paying parents miss child support payments is because they disagree with the amount of the child support order. At times, paying parents may mistakenly believe that the children require less money as they grow older. In any event, these are not legitimate reasons for missing legally binding child support payments.
If your ex has stopped making child support payments, our family law attorneys can take legal action to enforce the order and obtain the arrears. If you are the paying parent and your child support payments are in arrears, we can help to explore your options. If paternity is contested, the court will pay for genetic testing provided that the person in question pays back the cost of the tests if he is determined to be the father.
In Arizona, the genetic test must show a 95 percent probability of paternity to be admissible in court. When the test identifies the father, a court order naming him as the legal father is granted. If you have a child with a person you are not married to and paternity is not contested, you should establish paternity either by filling out CS Acknowledgment of Paternity form, available at the hospital when your child is born as well as at your local DCSS office. The calculator is available online.
Child support payments can be lowered in the case of any change within the household, including change in health insurance, job loss, disability, or a decrease in income for either parent. It can also be lowered if there has been a change in visitation or custody. To request to lower your child support, you must request a child support modification.
The court has no authority to change or reduce the amount you owe in child support arrears. But, who gets the interest on child support arrears when the child turns 18? The custodial parent does. This is a common question, typically among parents that are responsible for making the child support payments.
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