New Arizona Child Support Guidelines: What You Need to Know

Effective January 1, 2022, Arizona adopted new child support guidelines designed to ensure each parent contributes a proportional share toward their child’s total support.

The goals of these guidelines include complying with state and federal law, providing guidance to courts and parents, and establishing reasonable, consistent standards of support. The guidelines apply to all natural and adopted children, whether born in or out of wedlock.

Arizona Child Support Guidelines

According to Arizona family law code § 25-501(A), both custodial and non-custodial parents are required to provide reasonable financial support to their children. In an effort to secure the best interest of the child, Arizona created guidelines that help determine the appropriate amount of support.

What Is the Priority of the Child Support Obligation?

Child support takes priority over any other financial obligation, even the support of your own parents or stepchildren. This is because parents have a legal duty to support their natural or adopted children.

Does Child Support Negate Spousal Maintenance?

No, the parent entitled to spousal maintenance may also receive child support. In addition, the court determines spousal maintenance first when both are required. However, spousal maintenance is included as gross income. In addition, the spouse paying spousal maintenance may include this as an adjustment in his or her gross income, assuming maintenance is actually being paid.

What Is the Basic Support Obligation?

The Center for Policy Research reviewed the Arizona Child Support Schedule to arrive at the Schedule of Basic Support Obligations. The table below describes the basic monthly support amount, which is based on the combined adjusted gross income of both parents. This is the minimum monthly amount a child is expected to “cost” his or her parents and includes standard items such as food and clothing.

This amount forms the basis of the parents’ monthly child support obligation. However, it is not the “final” amount; it may be adjusted to include expenses such as childcare, health insurance, and other recurring incidentals (see the next section).

How Are Adjustments to the Child Support Obligation Determined?

The court uses yearly figures to determine adjustments rather than assigning varying amounts for each month. In other words, expenses that occur only during certain months are calculated yearly and then divided by 12 to arrive at a monthly expense. One example is differences in childcare costs. If before- and after-school care costs $150 per month during the nine months of the school year, the yearly cost is $150 x 9 or $1,350. Divided by 12, the monthly adjustment for this expense is $113 (all amounts are rounded to the closest dollar amount).

This calculation is how you arrive at all adjustments, including fees for sports programs, extracurricular activities, and other occasional expenses.

The Schedule Shows the Basic Child Support. Do Adjustments Make It Higher?

Typically, adjustments increase the child support obligation. Of course, gross income adjustments typically lower the basic child support amount.

Common adjustments include expenses for daycare, education, health insurance, and extraordinary child needs. In addition, the Older Child Adjustment for children 12 and older adds around 10 percent to the basic child support obligation.

What Is the Presumed Support Amount?

The amount suggested by these new guidelines is the presumed child support ordered. However, the court will consider whether applying these guidelines presents an inappropriate or unjust order and will deviate from the guidelines accordingly.

Who Is the Primary Residential Parent?

This is the parent who has the greatest amount of parenting time during the year.

When Will the Court Deviate from these Guidelines?

The court considers all relevant factors when determining an order for child support. If the new Arizona Child Support Guidelines are inappropriate or unjust in your case, or if it is in the best interests of your child, the court will deviate from these guidelines. If this happens, the court makes a written ruling, including what the order would have been without the deviation and what the order is after the deviation.

The court MAY deviate from the guidelines if all parties agree, the agreement is in writing and according to statute, and all parties entered into the agreement with complete understanding of the amount that child support would have been pursuant to these guidelines. If the court is sure all parties entered into the agreement free of duress, it makes a written ruling as above.

Deviations are more common in cases where there is a significant income disparity between parents.

What Is the Duration of Child Support?

When entering a child support order (either initial or modified), the court establishes a presumptive date for termination of the order. This is the last day of the month that the youngest child turns 18 UNLESS the child completes high school after age 18. In that case, the presumptive termination date is the last day of the month he or she is expected to graduate high school or when the child turns 19, whichever comes first. If circumstances change, this date may be modified.

The Order of Assignment issued by the court includes this date. The entity withholding funds for the payment of this order will discontinue withholding after the final pay period of the month of the presumptive termination date. However, if the current payment includes arrearages, the payor will continue withholding until a further order.

The court determines the presumptive date based on two assumptions. First, that the child begins 1st grade if he or she turns 6 on or before September 1. If not, he or she enters 1st grade the following year. Second, that the child will graduate from high school during the month of May, after completing the 12th grade. Examples:

• If your child turns 6 on June 20, 2019, the child support order ends June 30, 2031, the month he or she turns 18.
• If your child’s birthday is February 20, 2019, the child support order ends May 31, 2031, because his or her 18th birthday occurs during the school year.
• If his or her 6th birthday is September 30, 2019, the child support order ends May 31, 2032, since he or she turned 18 during the school year and that is the presumed month of high school graduation.

How Is Gross Income Determined?

The combined gross income of both parents forms the basis of the amount of child support, so it’s important to know what the court considers “income.”

In essence, this includes all income, not just wages from traditional employment. Gross income may include, but is not limited to:

• Salaries, wages, bonuses, and commissions
• Annuities
• Capital gains
• Dividends and interest
• Recurring gifts
• Self-employment
• Severance pay and pensions
• Spousal maintenance
• Unemployment benefits
• Workers’ compensation benefits

Non-cash benefits are assigned a cash value and seasonal income is annualized the same way adjustments are.

Child support is not considered part of income (because the funds are owed to the child, not the parent receiving them on behalf of the child). Public assistance is also not counted as income, including SSI and TANF.

My Job Pays a Per Diem. Is that Counted as Income?

Yes, payments from your employer that reduce living expenses significantly are counted as income.