Children should not be made to suffer when their parents elect to end their marriages in divorce. Courts therefore take special care when they make decisions about where children should live, who may have contact with them, and how they will be financially supported once their parents’ relationships are over. In Arizona, certain factors can be important to a court’s determination of how child support should be paid.
While the state’s child support guidelines provide a framework in which child support decisions may be considered, the unique situation of each family may yield a varying result with regard to how much support a child will receive. For example, one of the most important factors that is considered when child support is under consideration is the incomes of the parents who will share the child after their divorce.
If one parent earns significantly more money than the other, then the higher paid parent may be expected to contribute more to the financial well-being of their child. Additionally, costs associated with child care expenses, medical care, and government benefits received by the child may alter the payments the Arizona guidelines produce for a parent to provide to their offspring.
Child support can be used for many costs related to the upbringing of a child. It is often an important part of a divorce process that involves children and can be revisited through hearings for modifications if the circumstances of the parents or children change over time. However, since all families experience different events through the course of their lives, it is important that individual readers of this post seek their own guidance regarding how their child support and divorce matters may be handled in the courts of Arizona. Our Chandler child support attorneys are ready to help you today.