Child Support Enforcement in Arizona

If you have an order for your child's other parent to pay child support, that parent must continue to pay child support on time and in full until the child support obligation ends, which in Arizona is usually when the child turns 19. This article provides an overview of what you, as the custodial parent, can do if your child's other parent, the noncustodial parent, isn't paying child support on time, in full, or at all. If you have questions about how to enforce your child support order, you should speak to an Arizona family law attorney.

What happens when a parent fails to pay child support?

Once you, as the custodial parent, have an order for child support, the noncustodial parent (or paying parent) must pay the amount ordered on time and in accordance with the order, usually every week or every two weeks, until the order ends.

If the noncustodial parent doesn't pay, it is considered a violation of the order. Once the payments are missed, you can "enforce" your order, which means you can ask the Arizona Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) or a court to help you get the financial support that your child needs.

Does it cost anything for DCSS to help me?

If you or your child receives public assistance, DCSS's services are free and you will automatically be referred to DCSS for help.

If you or your child are not receiving public assistance, you will have to apply to DCSS for their services (Form CS-167, Request for Title IV-D Child Support Services). The application is free, but once your case is opened, a minimal fee may apply.

What can DCSS do?

DCSS can use the following methods to encourage or force a parent to pay child support:

• Income Withholding – DCSS is required to issue income withholding orders, which means money is taken directly from the noncustodial parent's income, worker's compensation, unemployment, or retirement benefits. The income withholding order may also include an additional amount for overdue support.
• Credit Bureau Reporting – DCSS reports all support cases to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis. When the noncustodial parent has not paid for 180 days, the balance appears on credit reports as a collection account, which can cause the noncustodial parent difficulty in obtaining a loan or mortgage.
• State Tax Refund Offset – DCSS can intercept, or take, the noncustodial parent's state income tax refunds and redirect it to the custodial parent to cover past due child support payments where the noncustodial parent owes at least $50.
• Asset Seizure – DCSS may seize, or take, bank accounts or other property where the noncustodial parent owes twelve months or more in unpaid support from a court ordered child support judgment.
• License Suspension or Revocation – when at least six months of child support is owed, DCSS may suspend the noncustodial parent's professional license (such as a contractor's license) without going to court. DCSS may also request the court to suspend or revoke the noncustodial parent's driver's license or recreational license (such as a fishing license).
• Liens on Property – DCSS may place a lien for unpaid child support on the noncustodial parent's property, like a car or home, so that the overdue child support must be paid before the property can be sold or refinanced.
• Lottery Winnings Offset – If the noncustodial parent wins $600.00 or more through a lottery, DCSS may intercept, or take, what's owed in overdue child support and give it to the custodial parent.

In order for any of these methods of enforcement to take effect, DCSS must notify the noncustodial parent in advance. The notice that DCSS sends to the noncustodial parent includes instructions on how to challenge the action.

What about going to Court?

You can hire a private attorney to go to court and ask a family law judge to enforce a child support order and issue new orders aimed at collecting overdue payments. This will likely cost much more than DCSS charges for its services, but it may be faster depending on how busy your local DCSS office is.

In addition to the above enforcement methods, there is one additional tool that a judge can use to enforce child support: civil contempt of court. You must go to court and ask a judge to issue a contempt order against the delinquent parent. When a person is held in "contempt," it means that they have not done what a court has ordered them to do.

When an owing parent is at least 30 days behind in payments, then you, your attorney, or DCSS can ask a judge to find the parent in contempt. Again, the owing parent must receive property notice of your contempt request and told to when and where to appear in court. If you or DCSS proves that the other parent has purposefully or intentionally failed to pay the child support order, the owing parent will be found to be in contempt of the order. Possible penalties of being found in contempt include fines or jail time.

Resources

See the DCSS website for more information, including contact information.

For the full text of the laws regarding child support enforcement in Arizona, see Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § § 25-500 through 25-530.