My spouse stopped paying me, how do I legally enforce the current or modified Child Support Order?
You have a few options such as filing a PetitionThis is a court document that someone files to start a case.Read more about Petition, or you can request an assignment order under A.R.S.A.R.S. is an abbreviation for Arizona Revised Statutes. It is most commonly used as a reference. For example, if one types in, ARS 25-403 into Google or Bing, they'll likely be returned with links to Arizona's statute on the best interests factors and articles, web sites, and…Read more about A.R.S. § 25-323 and § 12-2454.
If you take the petition route, you will file a Petition to EnforceA document that starts a case where the person filing is asking the court to make additional orders to force compliance with an already existing order.Read more about Petition to Enforce Child SupportBy law, every person has a duty to support their biological or adopted children. See A.R.S § 25-501(A). This applies without or without a court order. The term “child support,” though, generally refers the Court-ordered amount one parent is required to pay to the other parent.Read more about Child Support, Child Support ArrearsA more informal way of saying “arrearage.” See Arrearage.Read more about Arrears and Medical Expense Reimbursement. All three of these issues should go in the one PetitionThis is a court document that someone files to start a case.Read more about Petition because you want the Court to enforce the current order in effect, have the Court enforce the amounts not paid by your former spouse, along with any medical expenses. Ask for attorney’s fees in the petition if you choose to hire an attorney to draft your petition.
If you take the assignment order route, you will request an IncomeAs defined by A.R.S. § 25-500(6), “any form of payment owed to an individual, regardless of source, including wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, workers' compensation, disability payments, payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program and interest.” See also child…Read more about Income Withholding Order for Support. The court form is available on the Superior Court website to be filled out and filed with the Court. This will require your former spouse’s employer or other payor to withhold the amount from his or her wages or money owed to you and to send that amount through the Arizona Clearinghouse to get to you.
We always recommend using the Arizona Clearinghouse for support payments to ensure tracking is available in the future if needing to provide a timeline of payments or lack thereof.
