Q: Can parental rights be terminated for nonpayment of child support? “Deadbeat dads”– – or “deadbeat moms” for that matter – – earn that harsh title when they fail to pay child support or follow a predetermined visitation schedule after divorce. But as emotionally and financially devastating as this behavior may be on the children…

Q: What happens if I stop paying court-ordered child support? In Arizona, child support arrest warrants are serious business. Failing to pay required child support or to show up for a hearing at which the amount of the monthly child support payment was to be set, could make a parent a fugitive, subject to arrest….

Q. How is paternity established? While establishing the identity of a child’s biological mother is virtually always easy, establishing paternity –or fatherhood – – is not always simple. “Who’s your daddy?” is an emotionally-charged question especially if asked in the context of a prospective divorce. Paternity lawsuits may be brought when the identity of a…

Q: Can child support arrears be collected against a missing delinquent parent? Along with having children, comes the obligation to financially support them—whether you are married to the co-parent or not. When couples who don’t have children together get split up or divorce, they can often make a clean break from each other (with the…

Q: What happens if I fall behind in child support? Under Arizona law, custody and visitation are known as “legal decision making” and “parenting time,” respectively and the courts strongly encourage both parents to support and be actively involved in their children’s lives. Sometimes that isn’t possible. Like when one parent is incarcerated or in…

How can I enforce a child support order? One of the key issues in a divorce is child support that a non-custodial parent is required to pay. Far too often, however, so-called deadbeat parents are delinquent and owe back child support. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are state and federal…

This summer we got a brutal reminder of just how contentious custody disputes can become.  A man in Navajo County recently shot and killed the mother of his grandchildren and her mother on the courthouse steps after a custody hearing. According to a report in The Republic, the children at the heart of this dispute…

Is it fair to use Facebook and Twitter to publicly shame “deadbeat” parents? It is no secret that Arizona has a high rate of unpaid child support. The state has used various methods, including issuing warrants for arrest, in an attempt to collect back payments. Unfortunately, these methods haven’t worked for the worst offenders, and…

Who pays for college of offspring in a divorce? Divorcing parents have a number of issues to resolve in co-parenting, particularly regarding how to pay for their children’s college expenses. This requires combining their income power to handle rising tuition rates. During the time a couple was married, there may have been a savings plan…

I recently lost my job and would like to decrease my child support amount. How is this accomplished? Under Arizona law, orders involving legal decision-making (child custody) parenting time, child support, or spousal support (spousal maintenance) may be modified by citing a “substantial and continuing ” change in circumstances. Of course, each area requires a…