Effective January 2, 2022, Arizona has adopted new Child Support Guidelines which may help equal the playing field between divorced spouses with disproportionate incomes. Beginning in 2022, Courts will now be forced to consider modifying the existing child support payments if “a significant disparity of income exists between the parents.”
By way of background, Arizona courts make all child support determinations using the Arizona Child Support Guidelines (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines are a simple mathematical formula and follow the “Income Shares model” which Arizona courts use to make a final determination on any child support payments.
While it is not an easy process, there are occasions where the courts will review the payment amounts and approve a modification (ie. Deviation) of child support payments in Arizona. Here is a quick link to the most recent Child Support Guidelines. Microsoft Word – Child-Support-Guidelines-030121-FCIC-CSGRS (azcourts.gov)
How This Change in the Law May Help You
This new change in the Guidelines will help you if you are struggling to take care of your children with your current child support order and feel that your divorced spouse makes significantly more than you in terms of income.
This is because, prior to this change in January 2, 2022, Courts were not forced to consider the divorced parents’ disparity in income when seeking to deviate from these Guidelines. As such, divorced spouses with 10-20x the income of the other spouse had their child support capped at a lower amount. Beginning in January, 2022, and seeking to cure the imbalance, Courts will now be forced to consider this impactful condition of “significant disparity of income” and modify child support payments by potentially, thousands of dollars a month.
A Real Life Example “Assisting” in the Change
Remember the NBA Suns legendary point guard and assist king, Steve Nash? Well, in 2010, he and his wife divorced and although they agreed on custody, they could not agree on the appropriate amount of child support. Litigation ensued and, seeking to evade the consequences of California’s more liberal child support guidelines where “disparity of income” was greatly considered by the Courts, Mr. Nash’s attorneys fought vigorously to apply Arizona law where disparity of income was effectively “capped”. Considering that Mr. Nash made tens of millions of dollars a year playing for the LA Lakers, while his wife was a ‘stay at home’ mother, the consequences of the forum selection were immense.
Although his lawyers were successful in applying Arizona law, the Arizona Court of Appeals significantly changed Arizona law by taking the parties’ lifestyle while married and disparity of income into consideration, eventually paving the way for this new 2022 Child support Guidelines. Divorced spouses who feel their child support is negatively impacted by the former Guidelines can now thank Mr. Nash for his assist in changing the law.
RSN Law can help navigate the process and help you consider whether submitting a review of your child support order in 2022 would make sense.
How to Apply for Modification of Child Support in Arizona
Any parent in Arizona looking to modify their existing pre-2022 child support order should understand Arizona courts are rather firm in their general reluctance to change an existing support order. However, should your circumstance warrant a deviation from your current order, the Court will review your evidence at a Child Support Conference of Hearing and, potentially, modify the Child Support. Submitting the Child Support Modification Packet may be time-consuming and difficult to understand. An RSN Law family law attorney can help make the process easier and more understandable.
Work with an Experienced Arizona Family Law Attorney
If you are struggling to take care of children with your current child support order in Arizona, the attorneys at RSN Law can help review your situation and determine the best approach. We can guide you through the process to collect all the data and evidence of a need for a change, submit your request for review, and handle the case through to a judgment. Contact us today at 480-712-0035 to schedule an initial consultation or make an appointment on our contact us page.
RSN Law intends this article to be for informational purposes, not to be relief on a specific legal matter, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.