ASK ANGIE^TM
By Angela Hallier, Esq.
Answers to your divorce and family law questions

Q What do I need to know about child support?

A Child support is calculated pursuant to state-wide guidelines based on various factors, including the gross income of each parent ("gross income" is defined very broadly and, with few exceptions, includes income from any source), the cost of health insurance and day care, and the parenting time schedule. It is paid for natural or adopted children until they are "emancipated," which for support purposes is when they graduate from high school or turn 19, whichever occurs first. In divorce or legal separation actions, monthly child support payments become due commencing the first of the month after the action is filed. Only by agreement can you and your spouse prescribe that support payments continue past emancipation or include college expenses; the court is without authority to enter any orders as to children past their age of emancipation (except in the case of a disabled child). Child support is not taxable to the recipient nor deductible by the payor. Payments are typically made by deduction from the payor’s wages and channeled through a "clearinghouse", where records of payments made and amounts due in each case are kept. Only monetary payments count as support. Gifts to children or payments for their expenses made to someone other than their parent are not "credited" toward child support. To calculate child support in your situation, go to the "Child Support Calculator" on the drop down menu located on the home page of

Child Support: The Straight Story
1. Quitting your job or taking a lower paying job in an attempt to reduce your child support won’t work. The court can impute income to you up to the level you are capable of earning. Any voluntary income reduction will be scrutinized.
2. The income reflected on your tax return is not necessarily your gross income for purposes of calculating child support. Some "tax" deductions are not properly deductible from your income when child support is being calculated. Personal expense reimbursements received in the course of your employment may also count as income. If you are self-employed, only ordinary and necessary expenses required to produce income are deducted from gross receipts to arrive at "gross income" for child support, although such expenses do include one-half of the self-employment tax actually paid.
3. Only your income is part of the support calculation. Child support is based on the earnings and/or earning capacities of the parents, not their new spouses. However, recurring gifts or benefits with a cash value from any third party can increase your "gross income".
4. The spouse to whom you pay support cannot be "forced" to account for the expenditure of the dollars they receive. Child support is not intended solely for the purchase of tangible items for children, but for the cost of living space, utilities, gas for transportation and other expenses which are difficult to measure. No accounting will be ordered by a court.
5. Even if your spouse is refusing to let you see your children, don’t withhold child support. Do take appropriate legal action if you are not being allowed to see your children, but understand parenting time and child support are viewed as two separate issues. Child support is defined, by law, to be your primary financial obligation. The courts have little sympathy for those who neglect making timely payments, nor should they. A knowing failure to pay support is a crime, and can result in jail time and the payment of attorneys’ fees to the other party. It has been my experience that "tent city" works wonders in getting child support caught up - amazing!

And a reminder: If you are considering divorce, don’t forget the Second Saturday series, held at Ottawa College on the second Saturday of every month. You receive 4 hours of divorce-related information from experts including an attorney, certified divorce planner, and psychologist for $40.00. Call 602-569-4764 to register.

It is always advisable to seek the counsel of a qualified attorney who can advise you specifically about your case. The information in this column is provided for general information only in the state of Arizona, is not specific to any one case and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the reader. ©2003 - 2008 Hallier Law Firm PLC

ASK ANGIE^TM is published monthly in Arizona Trends Magazine.