If you have questions about how your state's laws may address the issues in your marriage or family, contact our firm to schedule a consultation with an experienced family law attorney.
Family Law Information Center
The law office of Rebecca L. Owen, PLLC, in Phoenix, Arizona, offers comprehensive divorce and family law legal representation. Our firm focuses exclusively on family law matters. We bring a depth of experience and understanding of the issues that our clients face that is based on more than 12 years' experience.
To learn more about our legal services, please call our law firm to schedule a consultation to discuss your divorce, military divorce or other family law matter at 602-635-2765 or toll free at 877-463-0922. You may also contact us online.
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Phoenix, Arizona, divorce lawyer Rebecca L. Owen is a sole practitioner who has a reputation among her clients as being straightforward, clear-spoken and honest. Clients appreciate her candor and her ability to help them set realistic expectations as they move through one of the most difficult times in their lives.
Please call 602-635-2765 or toll free at 877-463-0922 or e-mail our law firm to arrange a consultation to discuss your specific family law matter, including child custody, divorce when you are in the military and property division matters.
With more than 12 years' experience in family law, divorce attorney Rebecca L. Owen can assist you with a broad spectrum of divorce and family law matters. Whether you are dealing with a military divorce and your spouse is overseas or you have questions about how to proceed with an amicable divorce, our law firm can help. Please call 602-635-2765 or toll free at 877-463-0922 or e-mail our law firm.
Child Support
There are millions of divorced parents who pay or receive child support. Federal legislation and uniform state laws exist to make enforcement and collection of child support easier for America's single parents. Because every state uses its own guidelines for establishing child support and each has various methods to set support amounts and recover support when it is overdue, it is often important to consult with a family law attorney who is familiar with the child support guidelines and child support enforcement laws in your state. If you have questions about the child support laws in your state, the rules for child support collection and enforcement that apply to your particular situation, or the process to establish paternity, contact a family law attorney at Rebecca L. Owen, PLLC in Phoenix, Arizona, to schedule a consultation.
Child Support Basics
In general, parents owe their children a legal duty of financial support until the child reaches the age of majority (usually 18 or 21 years old) or becomes self-supporting. When only one parent has primary custody of the child, the other parent's obligation for financial support is usually fulfilled through the payment of child support. Child support is owed whether the child lives with his or her other parent or a third party and whether or not the person with whom the child lives can afford to support the child on his or her own. Depending on the state, child support may be owed even if the parents share custody.
Each state has adopted its own set of guidelines for determining child support. While individual guidelines differ, most arrive at the amount of support owed through a consideration of the needs of the child and the income of the paying parent. Family courts use the guidelines to establish the amount of support required and presume the amount the guidelines indicate is correct unless persuasive evidence to the contrary exists.
Enforcement of Child Support Orders
The duty to pay child support generally starts with an order for support from a state family court. The order may be issued in a temporary or final divorce proceeding or, following establishment of paternity, after a request for support is received from an unmarried custodial parent.
Child support payments are often due at specific times each month and in many jurisdictions may be directly withheld from the paying parent's wages. In most states, the paying parent may be able to make his or her payments to a child support registry that will forward the payments to the custodial parent and keep track of payments that are made.
When child support is owed but not paid, a variety of measures exist to collect past due amounts and protect against future non-payments. To ensure payment of child support, many states have laws that allow a family court judge to suspend professional or business licenses, to take away driver and recreational licenses, to require pre-payment of future child support, or to order incarceration for the failure to make court ordered child support payments.
All states have also created offices of child support enforcement. These federally supported state agencies help locate responsible parents and create and enforce child support orders. There are also federal laws that criminalize non-payment of child support when the paying parent lives in a different state.
Modification of Child Support Orders
Both the parent receiving child support and the parent paying child support may request changes in child support orders. Some states require regular review of existing child support orders while others review child support orders only upon request. Parents receiving support may have the amount increased upon a showing that the paying parent's income has increased, especially if the current amount of ordered support does not meet the child's needs. Support may also be increased because of a child's specific needs for things like tutoring, medical treatment, or therapy.
Paying parents may be able to decrease the amount of future support payments if they face the loss of a job, a reduction in income or when the custodial parent's income increases. Federal law prohibits states from forgiving past due child support payments. Courts are reluctant to reduce child support awards and paying parents may have an earning capacity imputed to them whether or not their actual earnings reflect that amount.
Conclusion
A family law attorney at Rebecca L. Owen, PLLC in Phoenix, Arizona, can help you to obtain a child support order, enforce a child support order, or request a child support order modification. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
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