Mesa Child Support Lawyers

Family-Law-Focused Representation for Parents on Both Sides of a Support Order

Child support matters carry real financial and emotional weight, whether you’re seeking an order, responding to one, or trying to change an arrangement that no longer fits your circumstances. At Edwards & Petersen | PLC, we’ve focused exclusively on family law in Mesa and throughout the East Valley since 2013. Our lead attorneys, Joshua R. Edwards and Brian Peterson, have each received consecutive Rising Stars recognition, and Brian Peterson holds a 10.0 Avvo Rating. Most recently, we were named to the “10 Best” for Client Satisfaction in 2025 by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys.

We represent parents on both sides of a child support matter. Whether you’re the parent seeking support or the parent facing an order, you deserve accurate information and straightforward representation. Child support issues arise during divorce and legal separation, and they arise independently for parents who were never married. In every context, the goal is an order that reflects the child’s actual needs and each parent’s real financial situation.

Contact our Mesa child support attorneys at (480) 418-5656 or online to request a free consultation. We serve clients throughout the East Valley.

How Arizona Calculates Child Support

Arizona uses the Income Shares Model to determine child support. The principle is straightforward: a child should receive the same proportion of combined parental income they would have received if the parents were living together. Both parents’ incomes are combined, a base support obligation is calculated from that figure, and each parent contributes proportionally.

Before any hearing, each parent must complete an Affidavit of Financial Information disclosing income, expenses, and financial obligations, supported by current pay stubs, W-2s, and tax returns. Income considered by the court is broad: wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, and, in some cases, spousal maintenance received.

Courts weigh a range of factors when setting the final amount:

• Each parent’s gross income
• The number of children requiring support
• Healthcare costs and medical insurance
• Daycare and childcare expenses
• Education costs and any special needs of the child
• Child support or spousal maintenance required under other court orders

The Parenting Time Adjustment is also significant. The more overnight time the paying parent has with the child, the lower their support obligation may be because direct expenditures during that time are taken into account. When both parents share custody and each has the child at least 40% of the time, the calculation becomes more complex. Arizona courts also review guidelines that govern how these numbers are applied, and they retain the right to deviate from guideline calculations under unusual circumstances or when both parties agree to different terms.

One detail that catches parents off guard: if a parent is voluntarily unemployed or working below their capacity, the court may impute income based on earning capacity rather than actual income. Leaving a job to lower your payment rarely works the way people hope.

Our Child Support Services in Mesa

Our team handles the full range of child support matters for families throughout the East Valley. For parents who were never married, paternity may need to be established before a support order can be entered. We handle that process as well. Filing directly in family court to establish, modify, or enforce an order can move considerably faster than routing everything through a state agency.

Our child support representation includes:

• Calculating support under Arizona guidelines and advocating for an accurate result
• Establishing initial orders for divorcing and non-married parents
• Enforcing existing orders when the other parent falls behind
• Modifying orders when circumstances have materially changed
• Defending parents responding to modification or enforcement actions

Clients consistently describe our team as knowledgeable, professional, and accessible. Our collaborative approach means you have the full attorney group working on your matter, not a single attorney working in isolation. We’re available around the clock if something comes up and you need to reach us.

Enforcing Child Support Payments

Once a court orders child support, the paying parent has a legal obligation to comply. Failure to do so can trigger serious consequences under Arizona law, and the state has a broad set of enforcement tools available to the custodial parent.

What Happens When You Get Behind on Payments

Once the paying parent falls 30 days behind, the custodial parent may file a contempt petition. The paying parent is required to appear in court. Failure to do so can result in a contempt finding, jail time, and fines. Under A.R.S. § 25-511, knowingly failing to furnish reasonable support for a child is a class 6 felony. A warrant for arrest can be issued, and the parent’s photo may appear on the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) website’s wanted list.

Arizona Child Support Enforcement Tools

Arizona law gives custodial parents a wide range of enforcement options, including:

• Wage garnishment: A court order directs the paying parent’s employer to withhold a specified amount from each paycheck and send it directly to the custodial parent.
• Lien on personal property: A lien can be placed on the paying parent’s property when child support is owed.
• Lottery prize intercept: If the paying parent owes past-due support and wins more than $600 in the lottery, the amount owed can be deducted from the winnings and paid to the custodial parent.
• Asset seizure: The child support office may seize assets such as bank account funds, stocks, and bonds to satisfy unpaid support.
• Arizona Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) Child Support Evader Program: DCSS is required by law to publicly identify parents who are delinquent in child support payments, including displaying their photos and profiles in public and private locations.
• Credit bureau reporting: DCSS reports all support cases to credit agencies monthly under federal law aligned with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, showing the required monthly amount, what has actually been received, and any past-due balance.
• Federal Tax Refund Offset Program: A cooperative program between the IRS, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Management Service, and the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) that intercepts tax refunds owed to delinquent parents.
• Passport denial: DCSS partners with the U.S. State Department to block delinquent parents from obtaining or renewing a passport.
• License suspension or revocation: While most states require six months of unpaid support before suspending a license, a contempt order may be enough to trigger suspension in Arizona.
• Going to court: State agency processing can be slow. Hiring a private child support attorney to pursue enforcement directly in family court can be a faster path.

If you’re struggling with child support payments or need help enforcing an existing order, contact Edwards & Petersen | PLC for experienced legal representation in Mesa.

Modifying a Child Support Order in Arizona

Circumstances change, and Arizona law allows for child support modification when they do. To modify an existing order, the requesting parent must demonstrate a substantial and continuing change in circumstances. Courts typically look for a 15% or greater variation in the calculated support amount before granting a modification, though the underlying change must be real and lasting, not temporary.

Common qualifying changes include:

• A significant increase or decrease in either parent’s income
• A meaningful shift in the parenting time schedule
• Changes in medical insurance or childcare costs
• A child reaching emancipation age or a change in the child’s needs
• Loss of income or disability affecting the paying parent’s ability to pay

If a non-custodial parent has lost income or becomes disabled and unable to work, payments may be modified to reflect that change. Arizona courts can withhold up to 50% of a debtor’s disposable income when there are other children or spouses, rising to 60% when there are no other family obligations.

Timing matters. Modifications aren’t retroactive to before the date the petition is filed. If your income has dropped and you delay filing, you’re responsible for the full original amount in the interim. The process involves filing a petition in Maricopa County family court, serving the other parent, financial disclosure, and a hearing or settlement conference.

Mistakes That Cost Arizona Parents in Child Support Cases

A few missteps can create serious financial and legal problems, and they come up repeatedly in child support cases.

Informal agreements don’t replace court orders.
If you and the other parent agree to temporarily reduce or pause payments without going back to court, that agreement has no legal standing. Maricopa County family court will still enforce the original order, and missed payments accumulate as arrears.

Quitting your job to lower payments rarely works.
Courts apply income imputation when a parent appears to be voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. Support is then calculated based on earning capacity, not actual income, which often produces a higher obligation than the parent expected.

Waiting to file a modification petition is costly.
Because modifications aren’t applied retroactively, every month you delay filing after a qualifying change is a month in which you owe the full original amount. File as soon as the change is real and ongoing.

Stopping payments while a modification is pending triggers enforcement.
The original order remains in force until a court enters a new one. Stopping payments while your petition is being reviewed creates arrears and opens the door to the full range of enforcement tools described above.

Talk to a Child Support Attorney in Mesa

Whether you’re establishing a new support order, enforcing one that’s being ignored, or navigating a modification, working with a child support lawyer in Mesa who knows Arizona’s guidelines and Maricopa County family court procedures can make a real difference. At Edwards & Petersen | PLC, we offer free in-person and telephonic consultations, and we’re available 24/7 to take your call. Our entire team is ready to work on your matter from day one.

Discuss your case with us today by calling (480) 418-5656.

Helpful Resources

• Arizona Courts - Child Support Forms
• Arizona Department of Economic Security - Child Support Services